Auction Rooms: Will They All Do The Right Thing?
Photograph of Antoine Blanchard

Auction Rooms: Will They All Do The Right Thing?

Over the years, I have written several articles about the need for more care in certain auction rooms regarding the authenticity of the paintings they sell. All of them use similar language in their terms and conditions; below are examples … More…

The Met Museum’s Newest Wing
A large museum gallery of African and Oceanic artifacts lit through a glass ceiling.

The Met Museum’s Newest Wing

With the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s European Paintings collection getting a recent rehang, it’s time for another section of the museum to reveal its new look. The Michael D. Rockefeller Wing of the Metropolitan Museum is dedicated to the art … More…

Sculptures Mistaken For Trash
An image of a public trash bin

Sculptures Mistaken For Trash

A Dutch museum employee threw away an art installation after thinking it was trash. The French artist Alexandre Lavet exhibited a piece called All the good times we spent together at the LAM Museum, a food art museum in Lisse, … More…

Van Gogh Experts Identify Fakes
A 19th-century painting of the inside of a restaurant with yellow flowers in bottles decorating the tables.

Van Gogh Experts Identify Fakes

Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum is breaking its normal policy by commenting on the authenticity of three alleged Van Gogh paintings currently held in private collections. For many years, the Van Gogh Museum has refrained from determining which paintings are true … More…

Bonhams London Old Masters
A copy of the Mona Lisa by Da Vinci

Bonhams London Old Masters

On Tuesday, October 1st, Bonhams’ London location at New Bond Street hosted one of the first Old Master sales following a summer slouch in August. While the Old Master market has been progressively weakening in recent years, Tuesday’s sale showed … More…

Heirs Demand Paintings Back From Mauritshuis
Saul & David by Rembrandt (detail)

Heirs Demand Paintings Back From Mauritshuis

The heirs of an art historian who donated paintings to the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague are asking for their paintings back, claiming that the museum violated the agreement made upon accepting the collection. Abraham Bredius was a Dutch art … More…

Christie’s Hong Kong 20th/21st Century Sale
A painting of small boats moored on a river.

Christie’s Hong Kong 20th/21st Century Sale

On Thursday, September 26th, Christie’s hosted one of its 20th/21st Century evening sales from their brand new location in Hong Kong. Christie’s has been operating in Hong Kong since 1986, but last week marked the first round of sales at … More…

Bonhams London 19th Century
A portrait of a bearded man

Bonhams London 19th Century

On Wednesday, September 25th, Bonhams hosted their sale of nineteenth-century paintings at their New Bond Street location. With ninety-seven available lots, the auction did relatively well, except for the highest-valued work disappointingly going unsold. Close to two-thirds of the lots … More…

Monet Makeover: Churchill-Owned Painting Restored
An Impressionist painting of Charing Cross Bridge crossing the River Thames in London.

Monet Makeover: Churchill-Owned Painting Restored

In June, I wrote about how the Courtauld Gallery will open an exhibition dedicated to Claude Monet’s London paintings. The exhibition will open this Friday, September 27th, but not before gallery and National Trust specialists make some last-minute changes. This … More…