Contemporary Front page
Banksy On A Stamp
A postage stamp featuring a graffiti mural of a small boy and a brown man sparring in judo outfits. The boy is throwing the man onto his back. The stamp also features the trident of Ukraine's coat of arms in the top right, and an abbreviated Ukrainian phrase that roughly translates to "Putin is a Dickhead!" in the bottom left.

Banksy On A Stamp

In November, locals in and around Kyiv discovered several murals by the British street artist Banksy. About a month later, eight people were detained trying to remove a wall segment containing a mural, leading Kyiv’s Regional Military Administration to install protective polycarbonate … More…

A Gown, A Penny, And An iPhone
1958 Lincoln double die penny

A Gown, A Penny, And An iPhone

It has been a busy month for me with the new addition to our family and the Palm Beach show. As a result, I’ve had a tough time finding time for my contribution to the weekly blog posts. Nonetheless, I … More…

20 West 55th – Feeling Hopeful
construction photos of the gallery

20 West 55th – Feeling Hopeful

Feeling Hopeful! We had an exciting week beginning with our return from the Palm Beach Show on Wednesday evening and traveling to Manhattan on Thursday, February 23rd, for our bi-weekly update with Sean and Chris, whose invaluable assistance we deeply … More…

Artist’s Estate Going After Louis Vuitton
An abstract painting reportedly inspired by a friend's story of a childhood paradise. Most of the canvas is yellow with spots of green, almost like flowers, with varying shades of blue along the bottom quarter.

Artist’s Estate Going After Louis Vuitton

Joan Mitchell was an American abstract expressionist artist often associated with the New York School of the 1950s and 1960s. Since she died in 1992, her work has become increasingly popular, with hundreds of galleries and museums adding her paintings … More…

Simply Smashing: A Broken Koons Sculpture Goes Viral
A photo of the artist Jeff Koons

Simply Smashing: A Broken Koons Sculpture Goes Viral

Over the weekend, I was minding my own business when something caught my attention on my newsfeed: a video of someone sweeping up a blue-and-white shattered mess among the pedestals of a gallery booth at an art fair. After some … More…

“Utterly Disgraceful”: Indiana College Selling A Priceless O’Keeffe To Fund New Dorms
An impressionist painting showing a promontory painted mainly in blues and greens shrouded in mist and cloud across a body of water.

“Utterly Disgraceful”: Indiana College Selling A Priceless O’Keeffe To Fund New Dorms

Valparaiso University in northwestern Indiana is a relatively small school with barely 3,000 students. However, it is known for its arts center, which houses the Brauer Museum of Art. The museum specializes mainly in nineteenth- and twentieth-century American art, particularly … More…

The Met Recognizes Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage
A red sunset refracted by the clouds over a large expanse of river plain of the Dnieper in Ukraine.

The Met Recognizes Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage

Eleven Western countries are now sending tanks and other military equipment to Ukraine. Meanwhile, a seemingly unending amount of poorly-equipped Russian soldiers are pouring over the border. In the meantime, the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s culture and national identity are … More…

20 West 55th: Buildout Update
construction photo

20 West 55th: Buildout Update

Last week was very busy. First, our daughter’s baby arrived, then we had to pack for the upcoming Palm Beach Show, not to mention we needed to check on the progress of the new gallery’s buildout. Of course, the new … More…

Amsterdam’s Once-In-A-Lifetime Vermeer Show
A portrait of a young woman looking towards the viewer over her left shoulder against a black background wearing a blue and yellow turban as well as a pearl earring.

Amsterdam’s Once-In-A-Lifetime Vermeer Show

On Friday February 10th, the largest-ever exhibition of the works of Johannes Vermeer opened at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Works by Vermeer are few and far between, with scholars often disagreeing on how many completed works of his truly exist. … More…

New York’s Mini-Bean
A large public sculpture on a New York City sidewalk consisting of polished stainless steel panels welded together to create a rounded, smooth surface reflecting and distorting the surrounding area.

New York’s Mini-Bean

Anish Kapoor’s sculpture Cloud Gate, popularly known as The Bean in Chicago’s Millennium Park, was at first despised but has since become one of the Windy City’s most iconic landmarks. And now Manhattan is getting a Bean of its own. On January 31st, … More…

American Art At Bonhams Los Angeles
A landscape painting of a wooded area, with a mountain draped in mist rising off in the distance. At the top of the mountain, a rocky outcropping resembling a person's face in profile stands out as New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain

American Art At Bonhams Los Angeles

On Tuesday February 7th, Bonhams Los Angeles hosted an American art sale called Coast to Coast. The auction featured a wide variety of affordable work from across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including pieces by William Clapp, Mary DeNeale Morgan, … More…

Sotheby’s – Bouguereau And His Circle: Then And Now
william-adolphe-bouguereau-litalienne-au-tambour-de-basque_detail

Sotheby’s – Bouguereau And His Circle: Then And Now

On January 26th, Sotheby’s presented a sale of works by Bouguereau and artists who were either students or followers. The offerings spanned the last 180 years, and while some of the better pieces did fine, overall, the sale did not … More…

Artificial Intelligence In The Arts: A Long Way To Go
A circular painting of a woman and her son, likely a Madonna and Child, against a plain background. The woman is veiled and dressed in a pink robe, while the infant is completely naked. The painting is fit into a square frame, with decorative, triangular wooden pieces inserted at the edges to make the canvas fit the frame.

Artificial Intelligence In The Arts: A Long Way To Go

Over a year ago, I wrote about artificial intelligence used in art authentication. This became a popular subject mainly because of an AI program’s use by researchers who concluded that the Rubens work Samson & Delilah at London’s National Gallery is most likely … More…

Sotheby’s Masters Week: The Fisch Davidson Collection
A 17th century painting of a biblical scene showing the aftermath of St. John the Baptist's execution. The saint lay headless on the floor, with the executioner resting his foot on the saint's back while he sheaths his sword. Several soldiers look on in the background, while Salome's maidservant presents her with the saint's head on a plate, while she also pulls his tongue from his mouth.

Sotheby’s Masters Week: The Fisch Davidson Collection

On January 18th, Sotheby’s New York kicked off its Masters Week. This consisted of a series of auctions, mainly featuring Old Masters and nineteenth-century realist art. But leading up to the Master Paintings sale on January 26th, Sotheby’s held a … More…

Sotheby’s Masters Week: Master Paintings Part 1
A portrait of a young man against a green background. He is dressed in dark colors, with a grey tunic, a black vest, and a black flat cap. He sits at a desk with a quill in hand, pointing to some lines written in Latin on a sheet of paper.

Sotheby’s Masters Week: Master Paintings Part 1

To close out their nearly two-week-long Masters Week, Sotheby’s New York hosted a two-part Old Masters sale on January 26th. While the first sale was far shorter than the second, it contained the greater bulk of the high-value pieces. Probably … More…

20 West 55th – Looking Good
construction image

20 West 55th – Looking Good

On January 31st, we visited our new space and are pleased to report that they are moving along. During our previous visit, Lance noticed some sprinkler lines were a little low in one of the main galleries. The crew was … More…