John Jacob Astor’s pocket watch, which he was wearing when his body was found, is now the most expensive Titanic memorabilia purchased at auction. John Jacob Astor, an American self-made millionaire, was a multifaceted individual who excelled as a businessman, … More…

This month’s sales at New York’s auction houses had a decent start last night at Sotheby’s with back-to-back contemporary sales. Things started at 6:30 pm with a short sale called The Now, featuring established giants and the best new artists … More…

Until 1974, an American bank could refuse to issue a credit card to a woman in her own name. And if they approved her, many required a man to cosign for it. Some major universities did not accept female undergraduate students … More…

A story has been making the rounds in the arts and culture sections of many respectable publications about the latest wonder pulled off by an artificial intelligence program. The Swiss company Art Recognition announced that one of its AIs identified … More…

How did a seemingly second-rate Old Master painting end up being declared a lost masterpiece set to go on display at the Prado Museum in Madrid? In April 2021, a sale at Ansorena, a Madrid auction house, featured a seventeenth-century … More…

London’s National Gallery has recently stirred up a storm in the art world by replacing the frame for one of its main attractions, Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Wedding. This seemingly innocuous act has unexpectedly sparked a heated debate, leaving part of … More…

This week saw two confiscated paintings make the news: in the United States, a Monet pastel drawing stolen by the Nazis may be returned to its owners’ descendants. Meanwhile, Britain’s National Crime Agency will auction off an Auerbach painting taken from a … More…