Kerstin Lindholm is appealing a Connecticut Superior Court ruling that granted Peter Brant ownership of Warhol’s Red Elvis (No.162, October 2005, p.49). Lindholm has been attempting to regain the 1962 multi-image silkscreen since 2000. Her attorney Larry Silverstein of Proskauer Rose says they are appealing the decision and notes Brant’s due diligence concerns; Brant hired Fitz & Co. to publicise his victory after the ruling. Insiders say Lindholm spent upwards of $750,000 on legal fees.
The Art Newspaper reports that the Museum of Modern Art in New York has received a gift of contemporary art from Edward R. Broida, including 12 Philip Guston paintings among 174 works; Christie’s New York will auction 14 works from the collection, including Mark Rothko’s Homage to Matisse (1954), estimated at $15–$20 million.
The Art Newspaper reports that French collectors boosted sales at FIAC, noting François Pinault’s purchases of a Chen Zhen installation from Continua and a Michelangelo Pistoletto mirror from Natalie Seroussi, along with other notable sales and activity at the fair in Paris in early November 2005.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting of a young laundress sold for $22.4 million at Christie’s New York, surpassing the artist’s previous record of $14.5 million set in 1997, contributing to a $160.9-million Impressionist and Modern sale in Manhattan.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's painting titled The Laundress sold for $22.4 million at Christie's in New York, a record for the artist. The sale was part of a modern and impressionist sale that also included Claude Monet’s Water Lilies and Paul Cézanne still lifes, with other works selling for substantial sums.
Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman and Paul McCarthy are among the artists in the 50 works from Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis sold at Phillips, dePury & Company; the sale totaled $6.3 million, or $7.4 million with Phillips's commission, and the princess’s daughters Elisabeth and Maria Theresia attended the sale. The high estimate was $7 million.
The article reports that a prized collection of French paintings from Moscow's Pushkin Fine Arts Museum was seized in Switzerland on behalf of the Noga firm, which claims Russia owes it 680 million. The 54 paintings, including works by Poussin, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Matisse, Cezanne, and Picasso, were being returned to Russia after a three-month exhibit and were impounded by Swiss authorities; later, a second ruling allowed the seizure to stand, keeping the paintings at the border. Igor Petrov of the Russian Embassy confirmed Noga's involvement and the earlier cancellation of the seizure.
The Swiss government ordered paintings from Moscow's Pushkin State Art Museum, including works by Van Gogh, Cezanne and Picasso, returned after police seized them in a debt dispute involving Noga. The 54 paintings had been loaned to the Pierre Gianadda Foundation in Martigny for a five-month exhibit and were insured at $1 billion.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's La Blanchisseuse (1886-1887) was sold for 22,416,000 dollars (18.6 million euros) on November 1 at Christie’s, a world record for the artist, reported by Le Journal des Arts.
David Smith’s Cubi XXVIII, 1965 led Sotheby’s Part One contemporary sale with $23.8 million, the highest in a contemporary art sale. The work came from Sid Bass and was purchased by Larry Gagosian against Dominique Levy for Eli Broad; the sale totaled $114.5 million from 48 lots. Other top lots included Warhol, Twombly, Basquiat, Bacon, Koons, and several guaranteed pieces, with several high-profile works unsold or undersold.
The article discusses the return of three paintings by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir to the National Museum of Fine Arts. The works were part of 17 stolen pieces from the museum in 1980 and were restituted by a French judge and will be exhibited in a special room starting tomorrow.