The Art Newspaper reports on the revocation of beliefs around Wolfgang Beltracchi and his forgeries, noting a new list of 53 alleged forgeries and involvement by Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Dickinson gallery, and other parties; Beltracchi and associates were convicted forgeries tied to the fictitious Werner Jägers and Wilhelm Knops collections. The piece names a forgery of Bateaux à Collioure by André Derain sold at Christie’s London in 2007 for £2m.
Laurence Stephen Lowry paintings led Christie’s sale, including Piccadilly Circus, London, 1960, which sold for £5.6 million ($8.9 million). Christie’s total for the sale was £28.1 million ($44.3 million) from 132 lots sold (72% of 183 offered). Bonhams’ modern British art sale brought £4.1 million ($6.5 million) from 98 of 141 lots (69%). Other notable results included Town Centre, 1966 selling for £713,250 ($1.1 million) to dealer Richard Green, Sandsend Near Whitby, 1953 bought by Paul Green, and notable prices for Nicholson, Ben Nicholson, and Patrick Caulfield works; seven of Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency pieces were sold as part of a €600 million ($800 million) recoup plan.
Diego Velazquez painting fetches 4.7 million USD at a London auction; the work was attributed to Velazquez after analysis and is one of around 100 known works by the painter. Bonhams Oxford sale also featured Adriaen Coorte and other Old Masters.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez portrait of a Gentleman sold in London for 4.7 million dollars after a change of attribution from Matthew Shepperson. The painting was part of a sale of works from Shepperson’s descendants at Bonhams in London, with the Velazquez discovery highlighting the auction’s Old Masters sale.
Johann Zoffany’s The Garden at Hampton House with Mr and Mrs David Garrick Taking Tea and The Shakespeare Temple at Hampton House were the top lot pair at Sotheby’s Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, realizing £6,761,250 / $10,563,777 / €7,893,784. Joseph Wright’s Virgil’s Tomb by Moonlight (1779) sold above estimates, approaching £1.5 million. Jan Steen’s Interior with Figures Playing Cards at a Table set an auction record for the artist at £4.8 million.
Patricia Cohen reports for The New York Times on hearings in Manhattan related to a federal lawsuit over Pollock works sold by Knoedler Gallery, including a painting bought by Pierre Lagrange for $17 million that was later deemed possibly fake; the gallery closed shortly after a forensic report; the case involves Glafira Rosales and others tied to the Knoedler investigation.
National Galleries of Scotland acquires J. M. W. Turner’s watercolour Rome from Monte Mario, 1820, allocated to the Scottish National Gallery through the Acceptance in Lieu of Tax scheme. The work will appear in the Turner-focused January exhibition and is part of the gallery's Turner collection, which includes 38 Turner watercolours bequeathed by Henry Vaughan in 1899.