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Sotheby’s New York “The Now” & Contemporary
A banana duct taped to a wall

Sotheby’s New York “The Now” & Contemporary

On Wednesday, November 20th, Sotheby’s hosted their contemporary evening sale, including what, for the past several years, they have referred to as “The Now.” While it did not breach into the top lots, most of the talk surrounding this sale … More…

How To Safely Navigate The Art Market: Attributed To
john bentham_dinsdale_e1223_the_flag_the_flag_the_precious_flag_BLACK_AND_WHITE

How To Safely Navigate The Art Market: Attributed To

In the old days, dealers and auction rooms would only use the phrase Attributed To for works that, in an expert’s opinion, were more than likely by the artist in question. Of course, there was still a little uncertainty, since … More…

Titanic Pocket Watch Sails To A New Auction Record
Tiffany & Co. gold pocket watch

Titanic Pocket Watch Sails To A New Auction Record

The gold pocket watch belonging to one of the main characters of the Titanic tragedy recently sold at auction for a record price. Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, a distinguished British naval officer, was born on May 14, 1869, in the … More…

Sotheby’s New York Sydell Miller Collection
A Monet water lily painting

Sotheby’s New York Sydell Miller Collection

The November sales at the New York auction houses kicked off on Monday at Sotheby’s with the evening sale featuring the collection of Sydell Miller. Having made a name for herself in the hair care business, Miller passed away at … More…

MoMA Going Back To Its Roots
The entrance to the exhibition Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

MoMA Going Back To Its Roots

This past Sunday, November 17th, the Museum of Modern Art in New York opened a new exhibition called Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern. The show focuses on a fascinating story: the contributions of one of the … More…

Dazzling Diamond Necklace Dances Across The Auction Block
300 carat diamond necklace

Dazzling Diamond Necklace Dances Across The Auction Block

A dazzling 300-carat diamond necklace played a key role in an eighteenth-century scandal and is rumored to have played a significant role in the fall of the French monarchy. Recently, it took center stage at a Geneva auction. With nearly … More…

Bouvier Sent To Trial Over Missing Picassos
A half-length photograph portrait of a middle-aged Caucasian man in a suit.

Bouvier Sent To Trial Over Missing Picassos

On top of his tax troubles, Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier seems to be in even more legal trouble. This time, it concerns some missing Picassos. On November 7th, an appeals court in Paris quashed Bouvier’s attempts to dismiss the … More…

Forgery Conspiracy Unveiled In Italy
A pair of Italian police officers posing beside easels with forged paintings,

Forgery Conspiracy Unveiled In Italy

In June, I wrote about how Italian authorities confiscated a drawing being passed off as an original by Amadeo Modigliani. It is based on a real Modigliani drawing from his Caryatid series, sketches he made between 1912 and 1914 as … More…

Donatello Restoration Underway
A large bronze statue of a man on horseback in front of a cathedral in Italy.

Donatello Restoration Underway

In October, I discussed how restoration efforts on the Apollo Belvedere have recently finished. The ancient marble sculpture will be displayed at the Vatican Museums. Now, another prominent Italian sculpture will get its own makeover: Donatello’s statue of Gattamelata. Gattamelata … More…

NFT Scammers Convicted
An example of blockchain code for an NFT, made of white digits on a black background.

NFT Scammers Convicted

The creators of an NFT series have recently been convicted of operating a ‘rug pull’ scam to steal investors’ money. Berman Jerry Nowlin Jr., known by the screen names Repulse and Zayous, is a 21-year-old man from the Tampa area … More…

Royal Warhol Heist
A color photograph of Andy Warhol in a suit and red tie standing in front of a colorful work featuring the faces of the Marx Brothers.

Royal Warhol Heist

Last Friday, some royal portraits by Andy Warhol were stolen from a gallery in the Netherlands in an ‘explosive’ heist. In 1985, Andy Warhol created a series of large prints known as the Reigning Queens series. The series consists of … More…

An Extraordinary Roosevelt Dime
1975 Roosevelt dime in a holder, detail

An Extraordinary Roosevelt Dime

In Toledo, Ohio, an extraordinary dime sat tucked away in a vault for over forty years! What makes this dime minted in 1975 so special? It is missing its mint mark. All coins in the United States have a small … More…

Greg Hildebrandt (1939 – 2024)
Greg Hildebrandt

Greg Hildebrandt (1939 – 2024)

We learned that yesterday, October 31st, the great fantasy artist Greg Hildebrandt passed away at the age of 85. His wife Jean announced his death yesterday afternoon, describing him as “the sweetest man I ever knew”. Along with his twin … More…

The Clark Institute’s Grand Gift
A 17th century portrait of a young man with a large white ruff.

The Clark Institute’s Grand Gift

The Clark Art Institute, a museum in a small western Massachusetts town, has recently received a priceless treasure trove of European art. The Tavitian Foundation, established by the Bulgarian-born software executive Aso Tavitian, has made a historic donation to the … More…

Satirical Statues Pop Up In DC
The National Mall in Washington, DC, a stretch of green space between the US Capitol and the Washington Monument.

Satirical Statues Pop Up In DC

Washington, DC, has some very strange, very funny brand new public works of art, one of which “commemorates” the events of January 6, 2021. Pedestrians have noticed a new bronze statue near the walkways on DC’s National Mall, partway between … More…

A Rare Copy Of The U.S. Constitution Fetches Millions
paragraph of the U.S. constitution from 1769

A Rare Copy Of The U.S. Constitution Fetches Millions

A rare 237-year-old copy of the U.S. Constitution sold at a North Carolina auction, becoming one of the most expensive historical documents to recently change hands. Printed in 1787, shortly after the Framers drafted the nation’s governing blueprint, copies were … More…