The article reports a lawsuit in Manhattan against R. Scott Cook and his wife, accusing them of arranging for eleven modernist works to be consigned to Christie's without the consigners’ knowledge, with the artworks disappearing and proceeds allegedly not fully paid. The works include three drawings each by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, a Kandinsky watercolor, an Egon Schiele ink drawing, and works on paper by Paul Delvaux, Paul Klee, and Fernand Khnopff; Christie’s sale was said to have occurred in London in June, with a total auction value cited as $5.3 million. The case highlights issues of protection, insurance, and recourse when consigned artwork is sold without the seller’s consent and the dealers fail to pay the consignor.
Nicolas Poussin's Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter) was purchased by the Kimbell Art Museum for $24.3 million. The painting is described as one of the museum's most important acquisitions and is attributed to Nicolas Poussin, a 17th-century French classicist.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir landscape Paysage Pres de Cagnes is the subject of a preemptive restitution lawsuit filed by the estate of a Chicago couple who owned it since 1956. The suit, against unnamed heirs, notes the painting’s provenance concerns dating to a 1933 sale in Amsterdam and a subsequent withdrawal from Christie’s 2011 catalogue. Christie’s has declined comment.
The article discusses a potential restitution claim involving Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Paysage Pres de Cagnes. Newton Korhumel and his wife Irene owned the painting for over 50 years, purchasing it in 1956 from Hammer Galleries, with Redfern Gallery, London and Acquavella Galleries, New York listed on the invoice. After the Korhumel couple's deaths, the estate's executor, Herbert J. Theisen, contacted Christie’s in 2011 regarding the painting, which Christie’s then withdrew from an auction catalogue and refused to return until the claim is resolved. The suit names the Estate of I.K. and John Does as defendants and discusses a possible link to Richard Semmel, who allegedly owned the work and left the Netherlands for New York. Christie’s declined to comment.
Kehinde Wiley’s Alios Itzhak is a 2011 canvas from the World Stage: Israel, depicting an Ethiopian-Israeli man in casual dress; the piece was acquired by the Jewish Museum in New York after curators were impressed by its scale and impact, with funding supported by the Lisa and Steven Tananbaum Family Foundation.
Sebastian Smee reports that the Museum of Fine Arts plans to buy a painting by Gustave Caillebotte, Man at His Bath, and will fund the purchase by deaccessioning eight works from its collection, including pieces by Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, and Auguste Renoir.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has acquired Gustave Caillebotte's Man at His Bath (1884), a major Impressionist nude now in the MFA collection. The work is on display in the Rabb Gallery for Impressionism through September 25 and will be included in the Degas and the Nude exhibition running October 9 to February 5, 2012.
Jennifer Aniston spent $450,000 on Glenn Ligon's Stranger #44 at Christie's Artists for Haiti auction in New York, with Justin Theroux bidding on her behalf. The work is by Glenn Ligon and was estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.
Jennifer Aniston purchased Glenn Ligon's Stranger #44 for $450,000 at Christie’s Artists For Haiti auction, part of a sale that totaled $13.7 million. The event featured several new auction records for Adel Abdessemed, Raymond Pettibon, Nate Lowman, and Glenn Ligon, with prices realized all at hammer and no buyer’s fees.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has acquired Frank Stella’s Palmito Ranch (1961) from the artist’s Benjamin Moore series, funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accession Endowment and a gift from Frank Stella in memory of former MFAH director Peter C. Marzio. The work is on view in the Audrey Jones Beck Building, with statements from MFAH officials and curators about the acquisition and its significance to Stella’s minimalist work.
Irma Stern's Two Arabs sold in Cape Town for R21 166 000, setting a new record for a work of art in South Africa; the sale total was over R50 million with several new records. The previous record was R13 368 000, set by Strauss & Co a year earlier, and Two Arabs was painted by Irma Stern in 1939 during her first visit to Zanzibar.
The MFA Houston acquired Frank Stella’s Palmito Ranch (1961), from the artist’s Benjamin Moore series, funded by a combination of a purchase and a gift from Stella in memory of Peter C. Marzio. The work is on view in the Audrey Jones Beck Building’s American galleries.
Frank Stella Palmito Ranch (1961) is acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston from the artist’s Benjamin Moore series. The work, executed in 1961, is part of Stella’s Benjamin Moore series and is described by the MFAH as having an understated, stacked composition with painted line and raw canvas.
Jennifer Aniston is reported to have spent 450,000 dollars on a painting by US artist Glenn Ligon at a Haiti charity sale in New York, organized by dealer David Zwirner; the sale was part of a larger 13 million dollar event. The article notes Aniston’s involvement and mentions the artist and the charity context.
Gustave Caillebotte, Man at His Bath, 1884 (oil on canvas, 6 by 4½ feet) has been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The work is noted as the first Impressionist nude in the MFA collection and had been on loan since April. The MFA plans to deaccession eight late-19th century European paintings to facilitate the purchase, with the works to be sold at Sotheby’s New York.