Art for Breakfast – European Art (Part 1)
Being that Christie’s is along my walk to work every day, I decided to spend the first bit of my morning watching the auction action in person… Part 1 of Christie’s European Art sale kicked off at 10 am and … More…
Drama At The Upper Levels Of The Art Market… cont.
Back in our Volume 209 Comments on the Art Market, we briefly touched upon a suit filed against Gagosian Gallery by contemporary art collector, Steve Tananbaum. According to multiple reports, Tananbaum purchased 3 works by Jeff Koons through Gagosian… after … More…
How To Safely Navigate The Art Market: Title
In the art world, title has two meanings – the name of a work and legal ownership. For now, I will be discussing the latter. Title is a legal term used to describe, in our case, the ownership of a work … More…
Bonhams London – Foujita Dominates
We often talk about an auction’s ability to either meet or beat its estimate. Most times, salerooms struggle to hit the mark … often requiring the addition of the buyer’s premium to settle in range. Then, there are those rare … More…
2 Minute Rant: YOU ARE NOT #BANKSY!
Geez! Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard that anti-consumerist, anonymous street artist, Banksy, recently pulled-off his greatest publicity stunt yet… Shredding one of his most iconic works, “Girl With A Balloon” as it hung on Sotheby’s wall just … More…
Rybolovlev Turns His Sights On Sotheby’s
As Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev continues his legal battle against art agent Yves Bouvier, he has now turned his sights on Sotheby’s pocket. A quick recap…Rybolovlev purchased 38 masterpieces (12 of which passed through Sotheby’s), totaling over $2 billion, from … More…
“I am a good person who did terrible things”
The gavel struck, and swindling art dealer, Ezra Chowaiki, is heading to prison. Don’t remember this case? Here is a quick reminder… Several duped investors/collectors filed fraud charges against Ezra Chowaiki after paying/investing hundreds of thousands of dollars for works … More…
How To Safely Navigate The Art Market: Authenticity
Over the next year, we will revisit some of the things we feel are important for people to consider when looking to buy a work of art – condition, size, title, value, price, etc. (topics from many of my very … More…
Bonhams – 19th Century European, Victorian & British Impressionist
There was another warm-up sale in London – this one at Bonhams. As you can tell by the title, it covered a wide range of styles and periods… a good indication that the salerooms are having trouble prying loose enough … More…
Not Exactly a Pot of Gold – Irish Art (Sotheby’s London)
There wasn’t much auction action in the month of September, but Sotheby’s did host a rather eclectic Irish Art sale over in London a few weeks back. Let’s see what changed hands… Works in the sale ran the gamut, ranging … More…
University scammed out of $19,000 in fake acquisitions
Former Emory University employee Travis Myers and a non-Emory-affiliated friend, Maicah Hendrix, have been arrested and charged with theft and forgery. According to the school newspaper, The Emory Wheel, officials at the Michael C. Carlos Museum contacted local police when … More…
Salvator Mundi – A Provenance Update
For those of you who are thirsting for more about da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, here is some new information on the painting’s provenance — how and when it traveled from Europe to the United States. It is sad to think … More…
Art, New Taxes & Market Opacity
Scott Reyburn touches on a number of interesting topics in his New York Times article. First, there is a growing belief that art is a great alternative asset. While most historically important art will achieve some level of price appreciation, … More…
The Damien Hirst Market
Over the past few years, I have written about the decrease in value many works by Damien Hirst have experienced. His market peaked around 2008 and now prices continue to drop. Hirst’s works were once the darling of the Contemporary evening sales. Today, many … More…
A Mess-toration!
It appears that another amateur artist has decided to try their hand at restoration. María Luisa Menéndez, a shopkeeper in Rañadorio, Spain, felt that the figures in a 15th-century wood sculpture were in need of some tender loving care. The results were … More…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 214
We are pleased to present Volume 214 of our Comments on the Art Market. In this issue, we cover two upcoming shows: Texas Contemporary (which opens on October 4th in Houston) and The Modern Muse (opening at the gallery on … More…