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…
The Case Of The Stolen Salvador Dalí
This past Sunday, a robbery was reported at the apartment of Montserrat Herrera Coromines in Barcelona’s Sarrià-Sant Gervasi neighborhood. Among the items stolen were two original works by Salvador Dalí. The stolen works, two of a series of four, are … More…
19th-Century European Art Sale – Sotheby’s, New York
Look, enough is enough. Auction rooms need a reality check for their 19th-century works of art. Over the past ten years, the market has changed. Most collectors are interested in works in good condition, of high quality, and from an … More…
Spurs Crafted By Edward Bohlin Gallop To A Record Price
Edward Bohlin was born in Sweden in 1895 and heard stories of the American West at a young age. He dreamed of coming to America and making a name for himself in the Wild Wild West. At the age of … More…
Spider-Man Spins His Way To An Auction Record
Spider-Man spins his way to a new auction record as an original artwork by Mike Zeck recently sold at auction. He created the piece in 1984 for the comic book Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars No. 8 (page 25); it set a … More…
Locking Up The Golden Coach
Earlier this week, the Dutch Royal Family announced that they would stop using their official state carriage, known as the Golden Coach. I first heard about the Golden Coach last summer when it was displayed at the Amsterdam Museum. The … More…
American Art Auction – Christie’s, New York
It was nice to have a break from the major auction action in New York. But we are now in a new year, and the sales are starting to ramp up. On January 19, Christie’s offered a selection of 19th … More…
Will the Spice Flow?
I closed out 2021 with a piece about NFTs, mainly about how they would be a good idea if they had the proper regulation and oversight. And yet again, this issue reared its ugly head in the form of a … More…
Behind Every Great Man (Literally in This Case)
Sandro Botticelli’s Christ portrait known as The Man of Sorrows is set to appear on the Sotheby’s auction block at the end of the month. It last came up on the market in 1963, when it sold in London for … More…
A Masterpiece Right Under Your Nose
Christopher Wright, a British art historian, just got some news that may lead him to reconsider how good he is at his job. The portrait that he thought was just a copy of an Anthony van Dyck painting that he … More…
Spain’s Next Great Archaeologist: A Badger
Last year’s winter was unusual for those living in Spain. In early January 2021, the winter storm Filomena raced across the Mediterranean before hitting the Iberian Peninsula, resulting in the heaviest snowfall that the region has experienced in fifty years. … More…