Monthly archive
16 headlines
Source-linked reporting
art-crime.blogspot.com
Eight members of the Amato-Pagano clan were sentenced to prison in Italy, as two Van Gogh paintings recovered in an asset seizure are slated to return to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The case involved a major Naples-area drug trafficking network connected to the Camorra.
theartnewspaper.com
Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine and Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan are part of the Czartoryski collection acquired by the Polish government for 500 million Polish zloty ($118 million). The collection total is thought to be worth more than $2 billion, and ownership transfer followed a December agreement with Piotr Glinski. The board of the Czartoryski Foundation resigned in protest, and some observers question legality and transferability.
news.artnet.com
The article discusses a newly discovered drawing of St. Sebastian attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, valued at €15 million ($15.7 million), for which France has issued an export ban to keep it within the country. The drawing was authenticated in 2016 and is considered a national treasure by the French government. The designation allows up to 30 months for France to raise funds to purchase it.
news.artnet.com
Steven Mnuchin owns a stake in Willem de Kooning Untitled III (1978), which last sold for $14.7 million at Christie’s New York in November 2014, and is listed among his other assets in a public disclosure. The painting’s stake is valued at between $5,000,001 and $25,000,000. The disclosure notes a potential third-party guarantor and mentions a dynasty trust involving Mnuchin, Goldman Sachs filings, and a corporate jet.
news.artnet.com
Brice Marden leaves Matthew Marks Gallery after over 20 years to join Gagosian, a 16-venue empire. The move was reported by the New York Times and discussed by Brice Marden in an interview. The article mentions Gagosian’s expansion in 2016 and notes past artist movements within the gallery network.
theartnewspaper.com
Rothko’s No.1 (1949) estimated at £8m-£12m and Rauschenberg’s Transom (1963) estimated at £4m-£6m lead Christie’s Post-war and Contemporary evening sale in London on 7 March, with both works highlighted in connection to recent exhibitions in London.
press.christies.com
Christie’s press release discusses Mark Rothko’s No. 1 (1949) and Robert Rauschenberg’s Transom (1963) as two giants of Post-War American painting, announced ahead of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London on 7 March 2017. The works are linked to a major Tate Modern retrospective for Rauschenberg and a wider 20thCentury at Christie’s sales series (28 February to 10 March 2017). The release notes exhibition and tour dates including Hong Kong and Shanghai.
theartwolf.com
Mark Rothko’s No. 1 (1949) is noted as one of his earliest mature works; the piece is oil on canvas, 78.3 x 39.7 in., with an estimate on request, and will be offered at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London on 7 March 2017. The article also mentions several Rothko works in major museums and context about Rothko’s 1950 Betty Parsons Gallery show.
news.justcollecting.com
Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London will feature Mark Rothko’s No.1 (1949) and Robert Rauschenberg’s Transom (1963). No.1 was among 12 works from Rothko’s 1950 Betty Parsons Gallery solo show; three remain in private hands, with others in major US museums. Rauschenberg’s Transom is a landmark silkscreen work that helped earn him international acclaim and the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports that MoMA has deaccessioned two works, including Jean Dubuffet’s Topographie Chataine (1959) and Georges Mathieu’s Théorème d’Alexandroff (1955), and will sell them through Paris dealer Applicat-Prazan. The Dubuffet piece will be shown at TeFaF Maastricht (10-19 March) and the Mathieu painting at Art Basel in Hong Kong (23-25 March); proceeds go to MoMA with a limited gallery commission and applicable taxes.
news.artnet.com
David Hockney’s market is rising ahead of a Tate Britain retrospective opening for his 80th birthday. The article notes a record auction price of $11.7 million set in November and mentions sales like The Gate (2000) at just under $7 million in 2016; it also cites quotes from Jean-Paul Engelen of Phillips and Douglas Baxter of Pace Gallery.
ilsole24ore.com
The article discusses Sotheby's New York evening sale on January 25 with 55 works from classical painters, noting a selective market with 21 unsold lots (38%) and a total sale value of $27.2 million. Several high-profile lots exceeded expectations, including a Rubens oil sketch reattributed to Rubens and two Flemish Golden Age female figures; a caravaggesque-influenced figure by Adam de Coster sold for $4.8 million, and a nude bust of Williem Drost titled Flora reached $4.6 million. An Orazio Gentileschi head sold for $1.8 million with commissions, below the low estimate. Dutch and Flemish paintings dominated the catalog with six unsold of 17 lots, while Italian works in the catalog performed modestly.
luxereporter.com
The article discusses Sotheby’s January 25 sale of Old Master works, including a newly discovered Rubens study titled Study of a Horse with a Rider which sold for about $5.1 million. Other artists mentioned include Willem Drost, Adam de Coster, and Botticelli, with high auction activity noted across Dutch, Italian, and Flemish works.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports on strong competition among Old Masters collectors at New York sales, noting top prices for Venetian artists such as Guardi, Tiepolo, and Piazzetta, and highlighting notable results including Rubens’ Renaissance-era drawing selling for $1.56 million and a Burne-Jones watercolour at $343,500. It also mentions the first Old Master Prints sale in New York in 15 years and the Master Drawings exhibition in the Upper East Side.
theglobeandmail.com
The Globe and Mail reports that the S e9ret e9 du Qu e9bec and Montreal police recovered three paintings by Jean-Paul Riopelle from a Montreal home after a tip. The works disappeared in 1999 from a warehouse near Montreal, were being sold by an American gallery to a Montreal-based collector, and no arrests have been announced.
news.artnet.com
Peter Paul Rubens, Study of a Horse with a Rider, sold for $5.1 million at Sotheby’s Masters Week in New York. The painting, previously attributed to a follower of Anthony van Dyck, was reattributed to Rubens after restoration details revealed the true authorship.