China’s Dissident Artist Who Built The Beijing Olympic Stadium
I first saw the work of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei years ago at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) when I saw parts of his Study of Perspective series. A few black-and-white photographs of different world landmarks hung … More…
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Personal Library Smashes Estimates
Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have been petite, but she was a powerhouse. Ginsburg confronted many obstacles in both her personal and professional life yet worked to overcome them. She passed away in September 2020, and recently many items from her … More…
US Treasury Report: Nothing To See Here, Folks
A report compiled by the US Treasury Department highlights some of the art world’s most significant flaws exploited by criminals. Congress initially commissioned the report as part of anti-money laundering legislation from 2020. It states, “the high-dollar values of single … More…
How To Get Rich? Find A Lost Renaissance Masterpiece
A freshly-discovered masterwork has ended its stay in New York. Three years ago, Clifford Schorer from Massachusetts bought what he thought was just an old drawing. It’s a nice image of a seated woman holding her baby, done using pen-on-paper … More…
Hold Your Horses… or Picassos?
Pablo Picasso was in the news (again) last week, this time because of art’s newest hot topic: NFTs. The artist’s granddaughter Marina Picasso and her son Florian announced that they would be hopping on the NFT bandwagon by minting 1,010 … More…
Old Masters Getting Old?
There was a bit of excitement about the Thursday morning January 27th Old Masters sale at Sotheby’s. This was mainly because of Sandro Botticelli’s Christ portrait known as the Man of Sorrows. Previously, I had written about the painting, namely … More…
European Art Sale – Part II – Sotheby’s, New York
On January 29th, Sotheby’s held The European Art Sale, Part II. Yet again, there were many works with condition issues, and surprisingly, several of them sold. I wonder if people buy works from simply viewing the images and not traveling … More…
Collector Forfeits Antiquities Linked To Douglas Latchford
James H. Clark, the founder of Netscape, has relinquished $35 million worth of South Asian antiquities, purchased between 2003 and 2008, from the disgraced dealer Douglas Latchford. According to reports, Latchford assured Clark that the antiquities were exported before the … More…
A Painting Resurrected – Yves Tanguy
War is nearly never good for the arts. During the Second World War alone, masterpieces by Canaletto, Durer, and Raphael were destroyed or lost, while living artists were suppressed and sometimes persecuted. In Europe, the Nazis clamped down hard on … More…