Monthly archive
17 headlines
Source-linked reporting
artnews.com
Xu Beihong’s Put Down Your Whip won $9.28 million, a Chinese painting and artist record. Liu Ye’s Sinking Ship sold for $907,000, setting an auction record for the artist. Zhang Xiaogang’s Tiananmen No. 1 sold for $1.99 million to an Asian private collector.
fineartnews.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Taylor wins an US appeals court case regarding a Vincent van Gogh painting. The Orkin family claimed Nazi seizure, but the court ruled they waited too long to pursue return after learning of the painting’s whereabouts.
abc.net.au
Brett Whiteley’s Opera House painting sold in Sydney for a record $2.8 million, including a buyer's premium of $400,000. Sotheby’s had indicated the work could fetch more than $3 million, and the hammer price was $2.8 million; the money raised from the auction goes to state-based scholarships for Australian artists. The Old Time by John Brack sold for $3.36 million, with a previous record of $3.1 million.
playbill.com
A painting by Edvard Munch, Sommernacht am Strand (Summer Night on the Beach), was returned by the Austrian government to Marina Fistoulari-Mahler, granddaughter of Gustav Mahler, after a 60-year legal battle. The work had been held by the Belvedere museum in Vienna since Alma Mahler-Werfel loaned it there in 1937; its history involves Anschluss-era dispossession and later restitution discussions.
today.com
Elizabeth Taylor can keep the 1889 Van Gogh painting Vue de l Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy, after a U.S. appeals court ruled the Orkin family waited too long to seek return. Taylor purchased the work at Sotheby’s in 1963 for 92,000 pounds and keeps it at her Los Angeles-area home.
cbc.ca
The article concerns an Ontario man and his cousins who sued actress Elizabeth Taylor for the return of Vincent van Gogh's Vue de l'Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy, claiming it was confiscated by the Nazis. A U.S. federal Appeals Court ruled they had no right to sue due to the statute of limitations and related issues.
reuters.com
Reuters reports that actress Elizabeth Taylor can retain the 1889 van Gogh work View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint-Remy after a U.S. appeals court ruled the Orkin family waited too long to pursue ownership. Taylor purchased the painting at Sotheby’s in London in 1963 for 92,000 pounds.
english.radio.cz
Frantisek Kupka's Abstract Composition sold for 13.4 million Czech crowns (about $642,500) in Prague, setting a Czech auction record for a work by a Czech painter; the bidder was anonymous and the work was titled Abstraktni kompozice (Abstract Composition).
slate.com
Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) sold for 72.8 million dollars at Sotheby’s, setting a new record for a contemporary artwork at auction. The piece had a clear provenance linked to David Rockefeller and MoMA connections, and Rockefeller pledged to donate the proceeds to charity.
theartwolf.com
Mark Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) sold for $72,800,000 and Francis Bacon’s Study from Innocent X, 1962 sold for $52,680,000 at Sotheby’s New York spring evening sale, totaling $254,874,000 for the Contemporary Art sale in May 2007.
nzherald.co.nz
Emily Kame Kngwarreye's Earth's Creation sold for A$1.056 million, setting a new world record for an Aboriginal artwork; the painting relates to Australia's indigenous creation myth and Kngwarreye began painting at 80, producing more than 4000 works before her death. The previous record was A$778,000 for Rover Thomas' All That Big Rain Coming From The Top Side in 2001.
artnews.com
The article reports Phillips, de Pury & Company’s main evening sale on May 17, where 74 lots totaled $33.3 million, setting a Phillips record and achieving 14 new records. Notable works include Anselm Reyle’s 2005 painting on foil, John Chamberlain’s 1962 sculpture, Andy Warhol’s Colored Campbell’s Soup Can, Gerhard Richter’s Three Grays One Upon the Other, Donald Judd’s Untitled (Swiss Box Progression), John Baldessari’s Hands/Horses (To Agree), and Baldessari’s Street Scene and Reclining Person (with shoes) from the Overlap series; the sale highlighted strong results for young or mid-career artists.
artnews.com
Warhol’s $71.7M Crash crowns Christie’s Contemporary Auction. The article discusses Christie’s postwar and contemporary sale, totaling $384.6 million with day sales bringing the combined total to $477.7 million, and notes Warhol’s Green Car Crash and Had Lemon Marilyn performances, with Warhol’s works leading the market alongside pieces by Mark Rothko and others.
theartnewspaper.com
Polke paintings were bought by Francois Pinault for his Venice museum, with plans to open in 2009; Gordon VeneKlasen of Michael Werner commented on the deal and the room designed for the works.
Christie’s
Four photographs of Kate Moss sold for a combined £183,000 at Christie’s London. Chuck Close’s six-print set led at £84,000, followed by an Albert Watson image at £54,000 and Irving Penn’s Kate Moss (Hand on Neck) at £38,400.
Christie’s
Christie’s announced a ten-work American collection for its June Impressionist and Modern Art sales in London, estimated at £14–19 million. Claude Monet’s Les arceaux de roses, Giverny led at £9–12 million, joined by works from Pissarro, Signac, Renoir and Chagall.
Christie’s
Christie’s announced what it called Europe’s most valuable Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale, carrying a £54–74 million estimate. Lucian Freud’s Bruce Bernard led a major School of London group, while works by Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol were each estimated up to £7 million.