Monthly archive
13 headlines
Source-linked reporting
artobserved.com
Ezra Merkin, associated with Bernie Madoff, is forced by New York State to sell an art collection appraised at $310 million. The sale involves fifteen pieces, including two Alberto Giacometti sculptures and twelve Rothko paintings, with profits reportedly around $191 million to be held in escrow as part of the Attorney General’s suit.
reuters.com
Ezra Merkin agreed to sell his art collection for $310 million to help potentially compensate investors who lost money in the Bernie Madoff fraud, as announced in New York court papers. The sale, which could yield at least $191.9 million after liens, taxes and fees, includes works by Mark Rothko and Alberto Giacometti, and proceeds may be placed in escrow during litigation led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
artobserved.com
Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ sold for £4.6 million, above estimates of £2.5-3.5 million, via Sotheby’s. Old Masters Week at the auction houses in London finished solidly within estimates, with Christie’s Old Masters and 19th Century Art Evening Sale realizing £20.5 million, and Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Evening Sale totaling £26.1 million; Barbara Piasecka Johnson’s Renaissance & Baroque Masterworks collection brought £9.9 million, pushing the night’s total to £36 million.
artnews.com
The article discusses an ARTnews investigation into the alleged fakes in a 192 Russian avant-garde exhibition at the Château Museum in Tours, France, focused on Aleksandra Ekster. It highlights claims by Andrei Nakov and the involvement of Paris dealer Jean Chauvelin, the police seizure, and prior similar incidents, noting the prevalence of fakes in the market and citing opinions from scholars and dealers.
artinvestment.ru
Ezra Merkin, a New York financier connected to Bernard Madoff, is reported to be selling his collection, including seven Mark Rothko paintings acquired with PaceWildenstein and two Alberto Giacometti bronzes, with proceeds possibly around 310 million dollars. The sale was linked to a New York attorney general lawsuit and aims to compensate investors affected by Merkin and Madoff-related activities.
artnews.com
Art collector J. Ezra Merkin is liquidating part of his collection in a $310 million private sale to an unidentified buyer, including works by Mark Rothko and Alberto Giacometti. The sale is described in New York State Supreme Court filings amid ongoing fallout from Merkin’s investments with Bernard L. Madoff.
soitu.es
Ribera's painting Prometeo sold for 3.84 million pounds (6.15 million dollars) at Sotheby’s in London, setting a new artist record. Goya’s Portrait ecuestre de Don Manuel Godoy, duque de Alcudia sold for 2.61 million pounds (3.3 million euros), becoming the third most expensive work by Goya sold at auction. Zurbarán’s Portrait del doctor Juan Martínez Serrano sold for 825,000 pounds (957,000 euros).
artsjournal.com
Fisk University’s press release describes a Tennessee Court of Appeals decision that keeps alive the possibility of selling a half-interest in Fisk’s Stieglitz Collection to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for $30 million. The ruling found Georgia O’Keeffe Museum lacked standing to participate, effectively allowing Fisk to proceed, though the deal faces potential further appeals and unresolved questions.
artsjournal.com
David Rockefeller’s 1909 Cubist Picasso, The Reservoir, Horta de Ebro, will return to view at MoMA. The work is part of the Cézanne to Picasso: Paintings from the David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection exhibition running July 17–Aug. 31. The article discusses MoMA’s deaccession of a similar 1909 Picasso bequeathed by Nelson Rockefeller and the broader context of deaccessioning.
artinvestment.ru
The article discusses an incident aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise where Sharon Day and Julian Howard bought 11 Dalí prints as part of a boxed set of Illustrations for the Divine Comedy, believing them authentic and valuable. After paying $422,621, they later had the works evaluated by Sotheby’s, which concluded the prints were not exceptionally rare and did not justify the price.
visionsarts.com
Asian collectors seek Warhol’s Mao and Hirst butterflies as Western art gains popularity in Asia. The piece mentions Warhol’s Mao portrait sold in Hong Kong in 2006 and Hirst’s Butterfly Series work sold in Hong Kong, with markets expanding in Asia and competition among auction houses.
artforum.com
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquires the Ludwig and Rosy Fischer Collection of German Expressionism, providing more than two hundred works from 1905–1925 by artists including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, Wassily Kandinsky, and August Macke. The gift-purchase was arranged fourteen years ago by Ludwig and Rosy Fischer and became final last year; the collection is now property of the state.
Christie’s
Christie’s launched an iPhone and iPod Touch application offering mobile sale previews, catalogues, real-time results and image-based appraisal submissions. The company described it as the first mobile-access strategy from an international fine-art auction house.