Nazi-Looted Schiele Works Seized
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has been rather busy as of late. Several weeks ago, they confiscated an ancient Roman sculpture from the Cleveland Museum of Art believed to have been looted from an archaeological site in Turkey. And now, … More…
Lost Old Master Confirmed: Guercino’s Moses
Last November, I wrote with some surprise that a lost Old Master painting may have been found at a Paris auction house. Those suspicions have more or less been confirmed. In November 2022, at the Paris auction house Chayette & … More…
Freddie Mercury Rocked The Auction World
I wanted to briefly update you on the sale that ROCKED the auction world! The six-series auction of Freddie Mercury’s personal items managed to defy all expectations by generating an astonishing £39.9 million ($50.4 million). This astronomical figure vastly surpassed … More…
Stolen Van Gogh Found
Two months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern, one of the most recent major art thefts of note took place. On March 30, 2020, a lone thief broke into the Springer Laren … More…
Art History Myths: Broken Down
Myths, stories, and apocrypha have always surrounded art and artists. Some start with a grain of truth, while others are just made up entirely. Here is just a short collection of some of my favorites… What is The Scream? Edvard … More…
Raphael Attribution Causes AI Battle
Some months ago, I wrote about how a pair of British scientists used a facial recognition AI program to positively attribute a Madonna and Child painting to the Italian Renaissance master Raphael Sanzio. While this gained an incredible amount of … More…
New Dalí Museum
Salvador Dalí already has a museum dedicated to him. The Dalí Theater and Museum is located in the Catalonian town of Figueres, his hometown about 70 miles northeast of Barcelona, close to the border with France. It was originally the … More…
Picassos Or Pikachus: Fakes Seized In Spain
Art forgery is one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in Spain. The Spanish government takes the country’s national heritage and culture very seriously, so reports of police seizing forgeries are far more frequent. This past April, I wrote about … More…
British Museum Theft: The Root Cause?
This is an update on the situation at the British Museum. Last month, it was revealed that Peter John Higgs, the museum’s former curator of Greco-Roman art, was fired after he was found to have stolen and/or damaged 1,500 to … More…
A Queen’s Ransom
Freddy Mercury was a rock legend who sang his heart out in “Somebody to Love” as if he was composing a personal ad for love. However, he probably didn’t realize that while searching for someone to love, countless somebodies were already … More…
Christie’s Cancellation Over Nazi Fortune
Christie’s has canceled an upcoming jewelry sale after complaints of Nazi connections. At their Geneva location, Christie’s hosted a successful sale in May called the World of Heidi Horten, featuring the Austrian billionaire’s jewelry collection. Among the collection highlights were … More…
Cleveland Confiscation: More Antiquities Seized
In April, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York wasn’t having a particularly good time, especially after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office seized many items from its antiquities collection. It is believed that, in the 1960s, local farmers looted … More…
Lost Painting Found At A Thrift Store
I’ve written about works by famous artists being rediscovered in some unusual places, or at least where people least expect. Whether it’s on the wall of your family home, tucked away in storage, behind a door, or in a criminal … More…
The Latest Climate Protest In Canada
A climate activist, mirroring similar incidents in Europe last year, has defaced a painting kept at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Kaleb Suedfeld, age 28, is a member of the Canadian environmentalist group On2Ottawa, which uses “nonviolent civil … More…
No Copyright For AI Art
Last week, a judge in Washington DC ruled that AI-created art is not copyrightable. Judge Beryl Howell of the District Court for the District of Columbia released her decision settling a dispute between Stephen Thaler, creator of the computer program … More…
Banksy Sold Piece By Piece
A British company is now offering fractional ownership of a Banksy work. Valentine’s Day Mascara first appeared on the wall of a house in Margate, a seaside town in Kent, this past Valentine’s Day. It shows a woman dressed like … More…