The article discusses a federal lawsuit filed in the United States seeking the return of 143 paintings taken during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, including works by Dutch Old Masters such as Ferdinand Bol, Pieter Claesz, Jan Steen, and the Rembrandt school; it mentions that pieces were allegedly sold under duress and references figures like Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering in relation to potential display in a Führermuseum or Goering’s collection.
Ambrosius Bosschaert still-life paintings from the Schloss collection were identified as part of a private Old Master assemblage and halted from sale at Apple Tree Auction Center in Newark, Ohio. The two works, copper panels measuring five by eight inches, were seized from unclaimed property tied to the Schloss looting during World War II and subsequently secured by the auction house at the Foundation's intervention.
The Christie’s sale of The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection in New York on 12 December 2018 set multiple world auction records for American Modernists, including Edward Hopper’s Chop Suey at $91,875,000 and Willem de Kooning’s Woman as Landscape at $68,937,500; the auction total reached $317,801,250 with thirteen artist records and two medium records.
Edward Hopper, Chop Suey (1929), oil on canvas, 32 x 38 in, is described as Hopper’s most iconic painting left in private hands. It sold for $91,875,000 (including buyer’s premium) on 13 November as part of An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection at Christie’s New York. The piece has an estimate of $70-100 million.
Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players, painted in 1894–95 and housed at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, is one of five versions of the composition. The painting was stolen in 1961 in Aix-en-Provence and later returned after a ransom; other versions are in the Barnes Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Courtauld Institute, and the Royal Family of Qatar collection. Claude Monet and Fernand Léger are cited evaluating Cézanne, describing him as a revolutionary and a master of realism.
Artist Kazimir Malevich created Suprematist Composition in 1916 and it sold for $85,812,500 on 15 May 2018 at Christie’s New York. Max Carter, head of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s New York, discusses the painting and its record sale as one of art’s great thunderclap moments.
Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone was bought by the National Galleries of Scotland to prevent it leaving the country and will be displayed at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. The work was purchased for £853,000, largely funded by a private fund, with contributions from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and Art Fund.
Katelyn Kraunelis of Christie's reports that Tiffany Studios Pond Lily lamp (circa 1903) sold for $3,372,500, a new world auction record for Tiffany Studios. Other notable results include François-Xavier Lalanne’s Canard aux Nénuphars centerpiece ($250,000), Frank Lloyd Wright urn ($576,500), Nakamoto Collection glass sale ($2,728,000), and Émile Gallé Lys vase ($444,500). The Design sale totaled $8,493,125 with 84% by lot and 96% by value.
Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (1938) was acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland for £853,000 (~$1,077,000); the piece involved a plaster lobster receiver and a red version is in the Tate. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston received the Wan-go H.C. Weng Collection of 183 Chinese paintings and calligraphy. The J. Paul Getty Museum acquired Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior with an Easel, Bredgade 25 (1912).
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1615, was acquired by London’s National Gallery for £3.6 million after selling in Paris the previous December. The gallery notes due diligence on provenance, while a board minutes discussion mentions the work potentially listed as having an incomplete history between 1933 and 1945 amid Nazi-looted art concerns.
Claude Monet’s Enchanting Vision of Venice to Appear at Auction for the First Time discusses Monet’s 1908 painting Le Palais Ducal, with an estimate of £20,000,000–30,000,000, to be offered in Sotheby’s London Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 26 February 2019.
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1615-17, at the National Gallery, London, is highlighted as part of a renaissance of attention to her Baroque work. The painting was purchased by London’s National Gallery for £3.6 million (about $4.7 million USD) and went on public view after conservation and restoration. The article also notes the painting’s inclusion in a broader discussion about women in art and potential Nazi-era looting concerns.
Lobster Telephone (White Aphrodisiac) by Salvador Dalí, one of 11 commissioned lobster phones, will remain in the UK after the National Gallery of Scotland acquired it for £853,000. The acquisition was funded by Art Fund (£100,000) and the Henry and Sula Walton Fund (£753,000). The artwork is on display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Christie’s documents the market development behind Rockefeller sales total $835.1 million — highest ever for a single collection. Its account reports that after a six-month campaign, 10 days of online sales and three days of dynamic live auctions at Christie’s Rockefeller Center HQ, the total for the 1,500 objects comprising The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller reached $835,111,334/ £720,599,874, well exceeding initial expectations and…
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind (RED) Auction in Miami Raises $10.5 Million for the Fight Against AIDS. Its account reports that (RED) Auction Raises… $10.5 Million for the Fight Against AIDS](https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-third-red-auction-is-coming-to-miami-this-december).
Christie’s documents the market development behind One of the most important European royal portraits to come to auction for a generation. Its account reports that on 6 December, Sir Anthony van Dyck’s highly important Portrait of Princess Mary (1631-1660), daughter of King Charles I of England, full-length, in a pink dress decorated with silver embroidery and ribbons will be offered in the Old Masters Evening Sale at Christie’s London, during Classic Week.