Monthly archive
12 headlines
Source-linked reporting
theartnewspaper.com
The article reports that a spoliation claim against the Courtauld Gallery over three Rubens paintings was rejected. The Spoliation Advisory Panel concluded that Franz Koenigs had lost possession for business reasons, not due to Nazi actions. The works mentioned are St Gregory the Great, The Conversion of St Paul, and The Bounty of James I, initially acquired by Count Seilern in 1940 and donated to the Courtauld Gallery in 1978.
theartnewspaper.com
The article reports that MoMA and the Guggenheim Foundation filed a joint lawsuit in New York federal court on 7 December to assert ownership of two Picasso works, Boy Leading a Horse (1906) at MoMA and Le Moulin de la Galette (1900) at the Guggenheim, in response to claims by Julius Schoeps related to Nazi-era transfers.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports that the third and final auction of the World War II collection of Jacques Goudstikker in Amsterdam raised E1.2m ($1.8m), contributing to a total of E12.4m ($20.8m) for the 128 works across three sales. The top lot was Salomon van Ruysdael’s Ferry Boat with Cattle on the River Vecht near Nijenrode, 1649, which sold for $2.3m in New York on 19 April.
artobserved.com
Richard Prince’s untitled cowboy photograph sold at Sotheby’s in New York on November 14, 2007 for $3,401,000, the highest price for a photograph sold at auction, surpassing Andreas Gursky’s record of $3,340,000.
artnews.com
Strong German auctions reflect vibrancy of European art market. The page discusses Lempertz and other German houses reporting solid autumn sales, including Vernet's Les baigneuses sold for €620,000 and Campendonk, Jawlensky, and Macke works realizing notable prices, with overall strong outcomes across Old Masters, modern and contemporary art.
artnews.com
Ten works from André Lefèvre’s collection sold at Aguttes for €21.8 million, about $32 million. The sale highlighted Miró’s Blue Star at €11.6 million ($16.6 million) and included other notable prices such as Miró’s L’oiseau at €6.2 million and Henri Laurens’ L’étang-la-ville: halte at €607,000; Gris’ Harlequin with Guitar sold for €2.17 million, while Picasso’s L’Absinthe, Le poète Cornuty remained unsold.
abc.net.au
Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari paintings stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art were recovered in Brazil. The works are Portrait of Suzanne Bloch by Picasso and The Coffee Worker by Portinari, valued together at $US56 million ($63.4 million).
artforum.com
Pablo Picasso’s Portrait of Suzanne Bloch and a painting by Candido Portinari, valued at a total of $55 million, were recovered after being stolen three weeks earlier from Brazil’s most valuable art collection. The works were confirmed to be original and were found in Ferraz de Vasconcelos, near Sao Paulo, along with two suspects arrested.
thetimes.com
The Times reports that Britain may lose a Rubens painting, The Apotheosis of King James I, with Sir Hugh Leggatt urging the Prime Minister to prevent its sale to foreign collectors as the 6th Viscount Hampden’s heirs consider Glynde Place. The work, loaned to the National Gallery since 1981, was drafted for Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House and is deemed Britain’s most significant painting by Rubens.
independent.co.uk
Francis Bacon paintings are set to auction next month with Christie’s and Sotheby’s aiming for new records. One work, Triptych 1974-77, is described as being “in the region” of £25m, while Study for Innocent X previously sold for £26.5m. The auctions could elevate Bacon among the post-war greats and come as Tate prepares a retrospective and a new Michael Peppiatt biography.
artnews.com
The article discusses Eli Broad’s decision to donate the bulk of his art collection to an independent foundation rather than to LACMA, amid broader implications for the museum, Broad’s relationship with LACMA, and reactions from critics including Christopher Knight and a New York Times opinion piece. It also notes LACMA’s past expansions and gifts from Broad and his wife and references related exhibitions and plans for the Broad Contemporary Art Museum.
Christie’s
Christie’s said specialists found Charles Gillot’s collection intact in a Paris apartment more than a century after the collector’s death. Estimated around €5 million, the ensemble included Mamluk art, medieval sculpture, antiquities, Asian works and pieces by Gillot’s artistic contemporaries.