Modigliani’s Note Makes An Impression
The Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani is always popular at auction. Normally it’s his paintings that fetch large sums, but a recent Sotheby’s sale saw bidders fighting over a scrap of paper. Modigliani was born in Livorno, Italy, on July 12, … More…
Sotheby’s London Orientalist Sale
On Tuesday, October 24, Sotheby’s London hosted one of its Orientalist sales, featuring fifty-five paintings by various nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American artists. For the lots that sold, Sotheby’s experts did a rather good job predicting which paintings would … More…
Cleveland Museum Sues Over Seized Antiquities
The Cleveland Museum of Art is now suing the Manhattan district attorney’s office over confiscating allegedly looted antiquities. Over the past year, the Manhattan DA’s office has been rather busy, looking all over the country for potentially stolen or looted … More…
Lost And Found: More From The British Museum Theft
Yet again, this is another installment in the series of unfortunate events plaguing the British Museum since August. Previously, the museum announced it had fired one of its most senior staff members. This employee, a curator named Peter John Higgs, … More…
Berlusconi Art Collection Deemed Worthless
The late former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has a complicated legacy. Even after his death this past June, he continues complicating things, mainly through his large estate. Berlusconi was worth approximately €6 billion at his death, made primarily in … More…
Sotheby’s London Modern Discoveries
On Tuesday, October 17th, Sotheby’s London hosted its Modern Discoveries sale, featuring over a hundred works by mainly twentieth-century artists, including Lucien Pissarro, André Brasilier, and Salvador Dalí. The sale started rather poorly, with some portraits by Suzanne Fabry bringing … More…
“Unlocated”: Rodin Sculpture Reported Lost
In another incident of a major British museum messing up, the Glasgow Museums have recently admitted that it has misplaced its plaster copy of one of the most famous works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Glasgow Life, which oversees … More…
Upside-Down Anniversary
Last November, the State Collection of North Rhine-Westphalia in the German city of Düsseldorf received attention after it came to light that a work by the Dutch modernist Piet Mondrian had been hanging in their galleries upside-down for several decades. … More…
Christie’s London Sam Josefowitz Collection
On Friday, October 13th, Christie’s London hosted a sale featuring selections from the Sam Josefowitz collection. Sam Josefowitz was a Lithuanian immigrant to the United States who, along with his brother David, founded the Concert Hall Society, a mail-order club … More…
When Will This Stop? Probably Never!
Over the years, we’ve written numerous posts addressing the persisting issue of auction rooms and dealers selling fake artworks. Unfortunately, this problem shows no signs of abating. Almost every historical artist whose works we buy and sell has had inauthentic … More…
On-Again-Off-Again: Reattributing The Princeton Rubens
Humans are far from perfect, so the decisions we sometimes make aren’t as set in stone as we think. And the Princeton University Art Museum found this out recently. Its curators attributed a small oil-on-panel work to the Flemish Old … More…
Who Wants Theatre Tickets To A Show That Closed In 1865?
Who wants theatre tickets to a show that closed in 1865? At a recent auction, an anonymous buyer made a remarkable acquisition by securing a pair of tickets for the April 14, 1865 performance of ‘My American Cousin’ at Ford’s … More…
Ukrainian Soldiers Recreate Repin
The arts have assumed a prominent role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All over the world, the conflict has caused both individuals and institutions to recognize and help remedy some of the effects of Russian cultural hegemony over Eastern … More…
Pokémon Meets Post-Impressionism At The Van Gogh Museum
As part of its fiftieth anniversary, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is teaming up with Pokémon to stage a new series of exhibits. This partnership will bring the creatures from the popular Japanese video game franchise into the vibrant … More…
Munich Museum Thief Sentenced
A German court has sentenced a former museum employee for stealing paintings and then replacing them with forgeries. German privacy laws protect the man’s identity, but the former museum technician was convicted of illegally selling cultural property, for which he … More…
Jussi Pylkkänen Leaving Christie’s
After thirty-eight years with Christie’s, the auction house’s global president Jussi Pylkkänen will step down next year. Even before becoming Christie’s global president in 2014, he was one of the company’s most well-known figures. A native of Finland, Pylkkänen studied … More…