Jackpot or Bust?
In case you missed it, news broke this week about a New York dealer who bought the contents of a storage locker in New Jersey for $15,000. What did he get/find? Supposedly 200 works of art, including six painting by … More…
Blockchain: Everyone Wants A Piece Of The Action
Scott Reyburn’s article in The New York Times touches on how new technologies like blockchain’s decentralized record-keeping can change the art market. I, for one, have a difficult time believing that the art world will truly embrace it. The art … More…
Motherwell Comes Home
In 1978, several dozen works by the Modernist master Robert Motherwell went missing when he hired a moving company to transport his art from one storage site to another. After 40 years, one of the missing works, “Untitled, 1967″ (a … More…
Vic Pics: Christie’s London – Works On Paper Rule
The auction action never stops. This week saw a trio of sales across the pond in London… Two at Christie’s and another at Sotheby’s. Both took their shot at the Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist art market and Christie’s also … More…
Sometimes, Looking For A Second Opinion Just Does Not Help
In 2012, Sotheby’s sold an Old Master painting of Saint Jerome cataloged as “the circle of Parmigianino” for $842,500. By 2016, pigment analysis performed by Orion Analytical (a materials analysis firm founded by James Martin in 2000) had shown the work contained … More…
Christie’s Old Masters – London
On July 5th Christie’s presented their group of Old Master works of art … and from the results, it appears they were not as successful as their main competitor. Taking the top slot here was Carracci’s Portrait of Carlo Alberto Rati … More…
Sotheby’s Old Masters, London
On July 4th, while we were celebrating our Independence, a group of dealers and collectors were enjoying a fairly successful evening at Sotheby’s Old Master sale in London. Taking the top position was Rubens’ Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman at … More…
Guy Wildenstein – Breathing A Sigh Of Relief.
For years, the French tax authorities have been after the Wildenstein family for tax fraud. In January 2017, the court found evidence that Wildenstein tried to hide hundreds of millions of euros worth of art, real estate, racehorses, etc. However, … More…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 211
We just released Volume 211 of our Comments on the Art Market. In this issue, we cover our four upcoming shows (Aspen, Newport, Nantucket, and Baltimore), The Dark Side, Stocks, some Really good stories, and The Art Market – the recent … More…
Sotheby’s Contemporary In London. So Close, Yet So Far.
This week, Sotheby’s London presented their Contemporary works of art and it began with an evening sale that went pretty well. Taking top honors was Lucian Freud’s’ Portrait on a White Cover which carried a £17-20M estimate and hammered for £19.7M or £22.5M ($29.8M) … More…
The Berkshire Decimation Continues
The Berkshire Museum just announced that it will be selling 9 more works (seven paintings, one sculpture, one Chinese vase, and one Chinese screen) … hoping that it will reach its goal of $55M. That will bring their total to … More…
Christie’s Impressionist & Modern — Another Day, A Lot More Money.
In addition to Sotheby’s sale last week, Christie’s also took it’s shot at the Impressionist and Modern market over in London… the results were a stark contrast from the evening prior… while both sales had similar pre-sale estimates, Sotheby’s realized … More…
Impressionist & Modern – Sotheby’s London
Earlier this week over in London, Sotheby’s offered up a selection of Impressionist and Modern works in a compact evening sale consisting of just 36 lots… let’s just get it out of the way now as it is going to … More…
Anish Kapoor Sues The NRA. By The Way, Who Are “They”?
Anish Kapoor is suing the National Rifle Association (NRA) for copyright infringement after the promotional video, The Violence of Lies, was released with images of his Chicago sculpture, Cloud Gate (2004). According to the suit, filed in Illinois, Kapoor demanded … More…
Letting Your Kids Run Free Near Some Art, Might Just Cost You A Lot!
In case you missed this one, a 5-year-old boy damaged a glass sculpture that was on display at an Overland Park community center. A surveillance video shows the young ‘art lover’ hugging the work of art before it fell to … More…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 212
We are pleased to announce that Volume 212 of our Comments on the Art Market was just released. This month we cover our upcoming Nantucket and Baltimore shows, Stocks & Crypto, The Dark Side of the Art World, Really (other … More…