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copyrightlitigation.blogspot.com
Egons Schiele Town on the Blue River (1910) is announced for the November 5, 2014 Impressionist and Modern sale at Christie’s in New York, following a restitution settlement with the estate of Fritz Grünbaum. The work, a rare watercolor landscape, ties to the broader history of Nazi-looted art and restitution efforts surrounding Grünbaum and MoMA's Dead City III.
news.artnet.com
Liu Xiaodong Disobeying the Rules (1996) sold for $8.49 million, a new record for the artist. Zao Wou-Ki Debut d’Octobre (1995) sold for $7.63 million after a bidding war at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
news.artnet.com
The article discusses Christopher Wool’s painting Apocalypse Now and its extraordinary price trajectory, including a 26.5 million dollar price at Christie’s in November 2013, as detailed in a Bloomberg Businessweek story by Vernon Silver and James Tarmy.
press.christies.com
Artists mentioned include Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Georg Baselitz, Martin Kippenberger, Cindy Sherman, Frank Stella, Louise Bourgeois, Morris Louis, Maria Lassnig, and Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The artwork titles mentioned include Aggregate (2004), Der 7. Bezirk / The 7th District (1966), and Zwei Maler, drei Leinwände / Two Painters, Three Canvases (1986). The sale totals reported are £46,861,500 / $75,306,431 / €59,420,382, with individual prices such as £1,258,500 / $2,022,410 / €1,595,778 for Aggregate (2004) and £266,500 / $428,266 for Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s Der 7. Bezirk / The 7th District (1966) and £182,500 / $293,278 / €231,410 for Maria Lassnig’s Zwei Maler, drei Leinwände / Two Painters, Three Canvases (1986).
meinbezirk.at
The Christie’s London auction featured selected works from the Essl collection, with a total of 66 million euros realized. Notable pieces include Gerhard Richter’s Wolken (Fenster) which achieved 7.92 million euros, Maria Lassnig’s Zwei Maler, drei Leinwände at 230,000 euros, and Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s Der siebente Bezirk at 336,000 euros; several works by Martin Kippenhauer, Eduardo Chillida, and Paul McCarthy were not sold.
zeit.de
The article reports that Karlheinz Essl’s collection's sale at Christie's in London yielded about 60 million euros, with notable results for Gerhard Richter, Antony Gormley, and Sigmar Polke. The highest estimate was for Richter’s Netz, which finally sold for 7 million euros, while Polke’s five works brought 20.6 million euros in total.
spiegel.de
The article reports that 40 works from Karlheinz Essl’s collection sold in London for more than 66 million euros, with three unsold and one pulled before the sale. Gerhard Richter’s Net z (1985) sold after the auction for about 7 million euros, while Richter’s Wolken (Fenster) (1970) fetched 7.9 million euros, and five Polke paintings brought 20.6 million euros, including Indianer mit Adler (1975) at 6.5 million euros.
news.artnet.com
Polke, Indianer mit Adler (Indian with Eagle) (1975) featured in Christie’s Essl Collection sale in London, with an estimate of £1.5–2 million and achieving strong results. The five Polke works sold for a total of £16.3 million, contributing to a sale total of £46.9 million (including premium) against a presale estimate of £39.9–£56.8 million. Gerhard Richter’s Netz (1985) failed to sell, though later private sale reports indicated a premium-inclusive £5.5 million price.
news.artnet.com
The Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland is reported to accept the collection of about 1,300 works bequeathed by German collector Cornelius Gurlitt. The report cites Sonntagszeitung and notes that an official announcement was expected on November 26, with decisions to be made by the museum’s board. The trove, assembled by Hildebrand Gurlitt, includes works by Matisse, Liebermann, Dix, and Chagall, and earlier estimates valued the collection at over €1 billion before revisions; some pieces are linked to restitution claims.
press.christies.com
Edouard Manet’s Le Printemps and Fernand Léger’s Les constructeurs avec arbre are highlighted as pivotal works in Christie’s November 5 Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in New York, with estimates of $25-35 million and $16-22 million respectively.
news.artnet.com
Pablo Picasso portrait d’homme, Dionís Renart (1899) by Pablo Picasso is being offered at Stockholms Auktionsverk after being rediscovered in Sweden. The work, created when Picasso was 18, depicts his friend Dionís Renart i Garcia and is signed with the moniker P. Ruiz P. It carries an estimate of 8–10 million kronor (about $1.1–1.4 million).
nytimes.com
Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills go to auction; the works will be auctioned by Christie’s in New York as part of a single lot in the November sale, with an estimated total of $6 million to $9 million. The collection was assembled by Ydessa Hendeles and later acquired by Mitchell P. Rales and his wife for Glenstone in Potomac, Maryland, including works by Louise Bourgeois, Maurizio Cattelan, Hanne Darboven, Katharina Fritsch, Jenny Holzer, Bruce Nauman and Jeff Wall.
news.artnet.com
Peter Doig’s The Heart of Old San Juan (1999) sold for £4.6 million, or $7.3 million, including premium, at Christie’s London. Basquiat’s Love Dub for A (1987) sold for £4 million low estimate to achieve £4.3 million ($6.9 million) including premium, and Gerhard Richter’s Haus (1964) sold for £962,500 ($1.5 million) including premium.
paulfrasercollectibles.com
Peter Doig's The Heart of Old San Juan sold for £4.5m ($7.2m) at Christie's Post War and Contemporary Art auction in London on October 16. The work was created in 1999 in Puerto Rico just before Doig moved from London to the Caribbean.
nytimes.com
The NYT article discusses lawsuits by relatives of Ludwig and Margret Kainer challenging UBS and a Norbert Levy foundation over proceeds from restitutions related to degas monet renoir works previously owned by the Kainers, including claims that their inheritance was cheated and that a foundation was used as a sham.
news.artnet.com
Pierre Soulages is mentioned in the article as part of Sotheby’s contemporary sale in London. The piece discusses overall sale results and several lots, including Lot 29: Pierre Soulages Peinture 125 x 202 cm, 30 October 1958, with a stated estimate of £2,000,000–£3,000,000.
fadmagazine.com
The article reports that Parasol unit’s 10th Anniversary sale at Sotheby’s raised £2,092,250 from 31 donated works by artists including Michaël Borremans, Luc Tuymans, Chris Ofili, Antony Gormley and others, with a new record for Borremans and several other records. Michaël Borremans’ The Skirt sold for £926,500, Luc Tuymans’ The Barrel (Triptych) sold for £290,500, Charles Avery and Hans Josephsohn set new records, Paddle8.com handled online bidding raising £126,700, and combined with a private sale of £160,000 the total reached £2.37 million for Parasol unit’s programme.
telegraph.co.uk
Caravaggio's original Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy has been claimed discovered in a private European collection by Mina Gregori, the world's leading Caravaggio expert. The painting is dated to 1606 and is described as having a reclining Magdalene with hands clenched and tears in her eyes, with clues including a wax Vatican customs stamp and a note on the back mentioning delivery to Cardinale Borghese.
collectiongruenbaum.com
EgON Schiele Town on the Blue River (1910) is set to be auctioned at Christie’s New York on November 5, 2014, following a restitution settlement with the estate of Fritz Grünbaum. The work is a rare watercolor landscape by Egon Schiele (1890-1918). The case traces back to Grünbaum’s 1938 arrest and death in Dachau, and to prior seizures and claims regarding Nazi-looted art, including MoMA’s Dead City III. The note mentions Ilona Gerstel’s estate and charity beneficiaries, and references public interest in Holocaust-era asset restitution.
news.artnet.com
The article discusses a lawsuit by a relative of Lancelot Thwaytes against Sotheby’s London over a painting attributed to a follower of Caravaggio, claimed to be the real Caravaggio painting The Cardsharps (c.1595). Denis Mahon had previously asserted it was an original Caravaggio valued around £10 million, and similar work was purchased by the Kimbell Art Museum. Sotheby’s denies the attribution, asserting the painting is not by Caravaggio and is of inferior quality to the Kimbell original.
sputnikglobe.com
The Cardsharps by Caravaggio is involved as Sotheby’s is sued in British High Court over claims it sold an original Caravaggio painting as a copy for £42,000; the painting was attributed by Sotheby’s to a 17th century follower rather than the master Caravaggio.
news.artnet.com
Jordan Wolfson created Female Figure (2014), an animatronic sculpture at David Zwirner, and Eli Broad acquired it. The article notes the Broads’ acquisition comes after earlier purchases including Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room and other works by Ragnar Kjartansson and William Kentridge.
Christie’s
Christie’s reported £46.9 million for 43 works from the Essl Collection, its highest-value single-owner Post-War and Contemporary art sale in London.