The Giacometti Boys Bring Out The White Gloves
Today we had Christie’s Day Sale, which they broke into three sales. The first was a group of Diego and Alberto Giacometti bronzes. I bet they wish last night’s sale went as well as this one. Diego had the pleasure … More…
Taking It On The Chin – Bonhams’ 19th Century
We always talk about quality vs quantity, and then there are times when you do not have the quality or the quantity. The question is: what should you do? My opinion, cancel or face the consequences. That is what happened … More…
MFAA, Inc. Gets The Boot
METROPOLITAN FINE ARTS ANTIQUES INC v. 10 WEST 57TH STREET REALTY LLC The doors are closed, the glitz and glamour have been removed and the lights are out. Let’s back up for a minute… in 2016, three dealers from Metropolitan Fine … More…
Selfie Destruction
Same story… Different work of art. Two works of art came crashing to the ground last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia, as a woman, caught on surveillance, knocked over a structure while taking a selfie. The works, an etching from the Los … More…
Forgeries – One Artist Did All Of Them?
Earlier this week Kati Marjatta Karkkiainen, 46, and Reijo Pollari, 75, art dealers from Finland, were each found guilty of 30 charges of aggravated fraud, and sentenced to four and five years’ imprisonment respectively. A further eight people were also found … More…
Art For Lunch Too – European Art (Part 2)
Christie’s followed up yesterday’s morning sale with European Art Part 2 in the afternoon… this would offer more of the lower to mid-level material. Surprisingly, the sale got off to a quick start as the first 18 lots found buyers; … More…
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…
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…
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…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 215
Volume 215 of our Comments on the Art Market was released today. In this issue we cover our Current Shows, Tales from the Dark Side, Really, Stocks, How to Safely Navigate the Art Market (Title), and the all important Art … More…