Monthly archive
8 headlines
Source-linked reporting
thetimes.com
Dalya Alberge reports that a Canaletto view of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto, a 1730s Venice view once hung in 10 Downing Street, is expected to fetch about £8 million at Sotheby’s in London on July 7. The painting was owned by Robert Walpole and has since passed through several collectors.
artnews.com
The article discusses Britain’s plan to implement the resale royalty for living artists (droit de suite) starting January 2006, and the concerns from auction houses and dealers that it could push sales abroad. It notes the EU directive’s background, potential impact on competition, and concessions such as applying the levy only to living artists for the first years and a reduced rate of 4 percent with a cap of €12,500 (about $16,000).
ots.at
The Hypo Alpe-Adria Group purchased eight panels from the Carinthian Baroque painter Josef Ferdinand Fromiller for 330,000 euros, securing their return to Carinthia. The eight large panels, based on Peter Paul Rubens designs for Maria de Medici, were to be shown in a 2005-06 exhibition at the Carinthian Landesmuseum and later housed at the Schloss Velden hotel. The purchase was arranged through Friedrich Leitner of the Landesmuseum Kärnten, with restoration also under the Landesmuseum Kärnten.
aljazeera.com
The report concerns Iran blocking Christie’s from selling a 2500-year-old relief fragment believed to be smuggled from Persepolis. The piece, a limestone relief featuring an Achaemenid soldier, is said to have originated from Apadana palace stairways and may have been taken between 1933 and 1974, with Sotheby’s mentioned as a prior auction venue.
fosters.com
The article reports that L. Dennis Kozlowski, former Tyco CEO, and his wife Karen bought paintings valued at more than $14 million in 2001 with the help of art dealer Christine A. Berry. Invoices were sent to Tyco offices, and the purchases included works by Renoir and Monet, with additional purchases discussed at the Richard Green Gallery in London for about $1.975 million.
artnews.com
The article covers Christie’s and Sotheby’s sales of 19th-century European art, noting Sotheby’s total of $20.5 million and Christie’s $8.9 million. It highlights top lots and records, including Gustave Moreau’s Desdémone selling for $1.1 million at Christie’s and two Christie’s record prices for Dehodencq and Schreyer, with American buyers featuring prominently in top lots.
theartnewspaper.com
The article reports that heirs of Kazimir Malevich filed a claim against the City of Amsterdam over 14 works loaned to the Guggenheim in New York and the Menil Collection in Houston, arguing illegal expropriation by Amsterdam. A March 2005 US court ruling did not dismiss the case, enabling further proceedings under FSIA.
Christie’s
The Maspro Art Museum consigned 37 paintings to Christie’s sales in New York and London, including works by Cézanne, Picasso and van Gogh. Proceeds from the Western art group were intended to support further acquisitions of Japanese ceramics.