Paul Gauguin, Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) (1892) is coming to the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. The painting reportedly sold for nearly $300 million to Qatar Museums, setting a new record, and surpassing Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players. The show Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland, The Staechelin and Im Obersteg Collections also features works by Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Marc Chagall.
Gerhard Richter, Imi Knoebel, Katharina Fritsch, Candida Höfer, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, and Thomas Schütte are among more than 70 German artists who donated works for a charity sale to benefit Düsseldorf’s homeless charity fiftyfifty. The auction is curated with a accompanying exhibition at Eon’s Düsseldorf headquarters, with proceeds supporting the purchase of temporary housing and apartments for the homeless.
The article discusses Sotheby’s plan to offer the collection of former chairman A. Alfred Taubman, valued over $500 million, across multiple sales. It highlights key works by Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Amedeo Modigliani, and Mark Rothko, with estimated prices ranging from $20–35 million for several modern and contemporary pieces.
Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu Couché (Reclining Nude) (1917-18) is announced by Christie’s as a fall sale consignments with an estimated value around $100 million, aiming to surpass the previous Modigliani record of $68.9 million set by Nu assis sur un divan (La belle romaine) in 2010. The announcement was initially hinted on Instagram by Brett Gorvy and Loic Gouzer before a Christie’s press release confirmed the news.
Michael H. Hodges reports that seven key Baroque paintings on long-term loan to the Detroit Institute of Arts will be removed and sold at auction. The works come from A. Alfred Taubman and Sotheby’s will auction his private collection in four sales starting Nov. 4 to cover estate taxes and fund the Taubman Foundation; the DIA’s Caravaggio painting Martha and Mary Magdalene is among the pieces, with other works by Guercino, Pietro da Cortona, Giovan Battista Caracciolo, Valentin de Boulogne, Matthias Stom, Hendrick Maertensz Sorgh, and Domenico Beccafumi.
The article discusses a London ruling by Judge Richard Arnold that a Banksy mural titled Art Buff, once valued at about $720,000, must be returned to Folkestone, UK, after failing to sell in the US. The work was painted on Dreamland and was exhibited with a price around £470,000 or $720,000 in Miami; it is currently held in a New York storage unit and will be delivered to the Creative Foundation in Folkestone.
Pablo Picasso paintings and related drawings were allegedly stolen and Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier was charged after bail set at 30.48 million dollars. The paintings cited include Tete de femme, profil and Espagnole a l'eventail, which were reportedly sold to Russian oligarch Dmitri Rybolovlev; Bouvier and Rybolovlev have ongoing legal disputes.
Yves Bouvier was fined €27 million ($30 million) in a Paris court, with €5 million ($5.6 million) to be paid immediately, over reportedly stolen Picasso works previously owned by Catherine Hutin-Blay. The case includes past sales to Dmitry Rybolovlev and details about authentication through the Zervos catalogue raisonne and the Art Loss Register.
The Spoliation Advisory Panel reports on an oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir titled The Coast at Cagnes, now in the possession of Bristol City Council. The report assesses a claim by Margraf & Co GmbH, a Nazi-era entity, concluding the painting’s loss was due to Margraf’s indebtedness and bankers’ rights rather than Nazi persecution; the Margraf claim was deemed weak.
Cy Twombly blackboard painting, circa 1968, is being offered by Sotheby’s for about $60 million. The work comes from Audrey Irmas and could challenge the current Twombly auction record of $69.6 million set in 2014 at Christie’s New York. Proceeds from the sale benefit The Audrey Irmas Foundation for Social Justice.
Peter Doig, Cabin Essence, 1993–94, is the centerpiece of Christie’s October 16 contemporary evening sale in London. The work belongs to a private American collector and is described as the largest piece in Doig’s Concrete Cabins series (1991–1998) and depicts Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation. Christie’s notes that a significant portion of the proceeds will benefit the World Justice Project, with an expected price above £9 million (about $13.8 million).
Calder’s stabile “Long Brass Tail on Black and Red,” 1956, sold for $845,000 at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Other highlights included Francoise-Xavier Lalanne’s “Moutons de Pierre” at $257,000, Jack Goldstein’s untitled (Lightning) at $161,000, Bill Taylor’s “Self Portrait Blue-House” at $137,000, and Asian paintings such as Hisao Domoto’s untitled work at $75,000 and Chuang Che’s untitled work at $30,000.
Marc Chagall, Le Bouquet d’Amour, gouache, crayon, pastel, oil and collage on paper laid down on canvas, 23 by 17 ¾ inches, signed lower left, sold for $785,000 at Shapiro Auctions in New York City on September 26. The work came from a private Geneva collection and had been acquired from William A. Findlay, Chicago.