Sad News
We received a phone call, early this morning, informing us that the victim of the fire at Trump Tower, Todd Brassner, was the brother of Howard Brassner – a friend and fellow art dealer. Our thoughts and prayers go out … More…
It Is Time To Take A Tough Stand
The Indian Arts and Crafts Act, first passed in 1935 and revised in 1990, made misrepresenting retail arts and craft items as Native American, when in fact they were not a federal crime. For a first time violation of the … More…
Nagy Loses In Court
Back in 2015, two Nazi looted drawings by Egon Schiele turned up in London dealer Richard Nagy’s booth at a New York show (estimated value was about $5M). Papers were filed on November 16, 2015 to recover the works. After … More…
It’s Finally Over – Berkshire Museum Can Sell
Justice David Lowy has ruled that the Berkshire Museum can move forward with the planned sale of up to 40 works of art. Norman Rockwell’s Shuffleton’s Barbershop will be sold to another museum and then the Berkshire can sell additional … More…
Leonardo or Boltraffio? Guess The National Gallery (London) Did Not Care, They Just Wanted It.
Here is a troubling story. According to Martin Bailey’s article in The Art Newspaper: A leading Leonardo da Vinci scholar, Martin Kemp, has stated that London’s National Gallery altered the attribution of a “Leonardo” it was borrowing, in order to … More…
Regardless Of Its Value, It’s A Nice Find!
When I first read this story I thought … WOW, someone hit it big! Then I started to do a little research and discovered that the value might be a little bit over the top. Regardless of what it is … More…
My 2 Cents On Museum Deaccessions
The decisions by the Berkshire Museum and La Salle University to sell off most of their major works of art for financial reasons has caused a real uproar. While I am a firm believer that museums should not sell their … More…
A Yacht For a Painting … The $450M Deal
We all knew two rich people were battling it out for Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ … what we did not know is that the two people (Mohammed Bin Zayed and Mohammed Bin Salman) are friends and each mistakenly thought … More…
A Collector’s Passion For The 19th Century
American Fine Art Magazine recently featured one of our client’s collections. Here is an opportunity to see one of the many collections of 19th & 20th century art we helped build and how it is now displayed. Among the artists … More…
A Possible 1,400,000% Return — A Buy And Hold Story
People are always asking which of the works they are considering will bring the greatest return. Our reply is always the same: nobody has a crystal ball, but if you buy great quality works, in great condition, from the right … More…
Pennsylvania’s AGO Reviewing La Salle’s Planned Sale Of Art
We previously reported on La Salle University’s decision to sell off most of their important works of art (46 in all) for ‘financial reasons’ … these stories are becoming all too familiar. According to Stephan Salisbury’s article in The Inquirer … More…
German Based Russian Avant-Garde Dealer Exonorated
In 2013, Itzhak Zarug (an Israeli born art dealer living in Germany who specializes in Russian avant-garde paintings) was arrested by German police on suspicions of running an international fraud ring. By 2016, authorities began to realize that the case … More…
The Berkshire Saga Continues – April 6th Deadline Is Looming
Berkshire Saga: The end is almost here … or is it? Both sides in the Berkshire Museum case were heard today by Justice David Lowy. The museum and AGO are claiming that without an infusion of $55M, the museum will … More…
Your Door-Way to Someone Famous
Just when you thought things couldn’t get more ridiculous in the auction arena … soon, they will be offering doors from rooms in the Chelsea Hotel. Now, these aren’t just any doors … they are doors to rooms where someone … More…
Picasso, Matisse & Bradford: Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary (London)
There was one last sale in the Contemporary series in London… the Evening sale at Phillips, and while we do not always cover Phillips Auction this one was deserving… In fact, their 20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening sale set … More…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 208
Our most recent edition has just been released. In this month’s edition we cover A Collector’s Passion For The 19th Century, our upcoming exhibit “Imagine” opens on the 28th, Stocks, The Dark Side of the Art World, Really (interesting stories … More…