The rediscovered Guercino painting Moses (ca. 1618–19) was acquired by the Rothschild Foundation and will be shown publicly at Waddesdon Manor, England, in the exhibition Guercino at Waddesdon: King David and the Wise Women. The work previously sold at auction in Paris for €2 million ($2.2 million) after an entry price around €6,000, and was restored by Moretti Fine Art, which bought it. The other works in the exhibition include King David and three sibyls from major repositories.
Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi sold for $450 million at Christie’s in New York in November 2017. Prince Bader of Saudi Arabia participated via telephone with proxies, and the auction involved multiple bidders including anonymous participants; a final $30 million jump brought the price to $400 million before further bids culminated in a $450 million sale settled in installments.
René Magritte The Empire of Light (1940-1960) referenced; artworks involved include Le Domaine d’Arnheim by René Magritte, Wasserschlangen II by Gustav Klimt, Tête by Amedeo Modigliani, Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. The jury found Sotheby’s acted legally and did not collaborate with Yves Bouvier to deceive Rybolovlev, who sought $190 million in damages. The trial noted private sales practices but concluded no wrongdoing by Sotheby’s in these transactions.
Claude Monet, Matinée sur la Seine, temps net (1897) is being offered at auction for the first time in 45 years by Christie’s. The work is part of the London Evening Sale on 7 March, with prior display in New York, Hong Kong, and London venues mentioned. The painting is from Monet’s Matinées sur la Seine series from 1896–1897, which traces light across summer mornings.
André Derain, Matisse et Terrus, 1905. Estimate: €2,000,000 – 3,000,000 is presented in a Christie’s France press release dated 8 February 2024, announcing its appearance in the Art Impressioniste & Moderne - Œuvres choisies auction in Paris on April 9, 2024. The work is from the collection of Etienne Terrus and highlights the genesis of Fauvism.
Marc Chagall's painting Over Vitebsk, once in MoMA's collection, is discussed as being returned to heirs of a gallery once led by a German Jew after a payment described as unreasonable. The work's provenance during the Nazi era and its transfer to a German bank are noted, with MoMA having held the painting for decades.
The article discusses MoMA returning Marc Chagall's 1913 painting Over Vitebsk to the heirs of German gallerist Francis Matthiesen after a 2021 deal that included a $4 million fee. The heirs are in a separate dispute with Mondex Corporation over contract terms and fees related to provenance research, with Mondex allegedly due an $8.5 million fee.
The article reports that a new work believed to be by Paul Cézanne was found on the walls of his childhood home in Aix-en-Provence during renovations. The piece, measured at about 64 square feet and not included in the 1996 Rewald catalogue raisonné, was discovered in the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan in August 2023 and depicts a maritime scene with pennants and ship masts. Aix-en-Provence plans to celebrate the restoration with the Société Paul Cézanne in 2025, and notes that the public will be able to explore the site along with Cézanne’s Card Players.
L.S. Lowry’s painting Sunday Afternoon (1957) will be a leading highlight of Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale on 20 March. The work is presented from the Collection of Sir Keith and Lady Showering and has not been publicly exhibited for 57 years; the estimate is £4,000,000-6,000,000.
Berkeley Law hosted “Nazi-Confiscated Art and Its Recovery,” organized by the Art, Law, and Finance Project of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, to discuss the research and restitution processes for Nazi-looted art. Former federal prosecutor Sharon Cohen Levin highlighted the Lea Bondi case involving Portrait of Wally by Egon Schiele. Richard Aronowitz-Mercer of Christie’s described the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art and the importance of provenance research.
Brice Marden’s painting Event, created between 2004 and 2007, is expected to break the artist’s auction record with an estimated price between $30 million and $50 million at Christie's. The work is part of The Propitious Garden of Plane Image series, and its public debut is planned for February.
Francis Bacon's Landscape near Malabata, Tangier (1963) is scheduled for Christie’s 20th/21st Century Evening Sale in London on March 7. The painting previously sold for $517,000 at Sotheby’s New York and has not appeared on the market for about four decades; the presale estimate is £15 million to £20 million ($18.8 million to $25 million).
René Magritte’s L’ami intime, 1958, oil on canvas, 28⅝ x 25½ in (72.6 x 64.9 cm), appeared in Christie’s London sale The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale on 7 March 2024 and sold for £33,660,000. The work depicts a bowler-hatted man seen from behind on a balcony with a levitating baguette and a glass of water, in a fusion of figure, landscape, and still life with Surrealist elements.
Adam Schrader reports that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed an order in the New York Supreme Court seeking the return of Egon Schiele's drawing Russian War Prisoner (1916) to Fritz Grünbaum’s heirs Timothy Reif, David Fraenkel and Milos Vavra. The work remains seized-in-place at the Art Institute of Chicago as part of investigations into Nazi-looted art trafficked to the United States, a dispute tied to broader restitution efforts.
Egon Schiele's Russian War Prisoner (1916) was seized from the Art Institute of Chicago, as New York authorities investigate the museum’s acquisition and sale history in the context of Nazi-looted art restitution. The case is linked to Fritz Grünbaum’s heirs seeking 80 works from his collection; prior related rulings addressed whether Grünbaum’s collection was looted or legally sold.
Banksy’s Flower Thrower Triptych leads Christie’s New York sale of Elton John’s collection, achieving $1,925,500. Keith Haring’s Untitled sold for over $750,000, and Tracey Emin’s And That’s How I Feel - Nov 2, 2004 is also highlighted.
The Collection of Sir Elton John: Goodbye Peachtree Road at Christie’s totals $20,537,842. Elton John collection totals and related press release from Christie’s; includes note that total realized amount exceeded low estimate and that photography accounted for about one third of the lots. Artists mentioned include Elton John (subject of collection) and Banksy (referenced in sale by Tash Perrin).