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Saving The Art – They Did It Once … Why Not Again?
The Mona Lisa

Saving The Art – They Did It Once … Why Not Again?

Saving The Art – They Did It Once … Why Not Again? Rory Tingle assembled a nice group of photographs in the Daily Mail showing how some of the works of art in the Louvre were packed up and carried … More…

Doig, Richter & Wool: Sotheby’s Contemporary (London)
1- Doig

Doig, Richter & Wool: Sotheby’s Contemporary (London)

This week also saw Sotheby’s London take a crack at the Post-War and Contemporary arena… with 61 works up on the block and a presale estimate of £85.9-118.7M, we knew they were not going to rival the prior night’s showing … More…

Precious Stones Turn Out To Be Nothing More Than A Bunch Of Rocks
fake_sapphire

Precious Stones Turn Out To Be Nothing More Than A Bunch Of Rocks

During an inspection of the Czech National Museum’s gem collection a number of fakes were found.  So far, only 400 of the 5000 stones have been checked and a 5-carat diamond acquired by the museum in 1968 has been revealed … More…

Warhol, Basquiat & Doig: Christie’s Contemporary (London)
1 - warhol

Warhol, Basquiat & Doig: Christie’s Contemporary (London)

Earlier this week, Christie’s London offered up their evening selection of Post-War and Contemporary art… As you may expect, the results were pretty impressive, as evening sale results often are. The sale as a whole was expected to bring between … More…

Why Are We Just Now Learning About This Theft?
Why Are We Just Now Learning About This Theft?

Why Are We Just Now Learning About This Theft?

Why is this news just surfacing when the owner discovered, back in August of 2017, that the 6 of his Hudson River School paintings (including works by David Johnson, Thomas Cole, Thomas Moran, and Jasper Francis Cropsey) were missing from … More…

A Last-Ditch Effort To Save The Collection
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), "Shuffleton's Barbershop," 1950

A Last-Ditch Effort To Save The Collection

Opponents of the Berkshire Museum’s decision to sell 40 works are making a last-ditch effort to stop the sale. A few weeks ago, the museum, along with the AGO (Maura Healey), presented a proposal to the courts that would allow … More…

Green + Greed = The Dark Side
Untitled

Green + Greed = The Dark Side

Early this month, news broke of a multi-count indictment over a $50 million international securities fraud and money laundering scheme.  Based on a release from the New York Department of Justice, six individuals and four brokerage/management corporations are involved … … More…

Are Bonfoey Gallery & Neil Morris in Hot Water?
a landscape painting with a woman standing near a river by George Inness

Are Bonfoey Gallery & Neil Morris in Hot Water?

In January, Richard and Becky Hearty, from Cross Plains, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit against the Bonfoey Gallery, of Cleveland, for coercing Richard’s mother into consigning an important painting by George Inness to them.  According to the complaint, Richard is the … More…

Comments on the Art Market – Volume 207
comments-on-the-art-market-300x100-300x100

Comments on the Art Market – Volume 207

We just released Volume 207 of our Comments on the Art Market.  This month we cover the Charleston Show, an upcoming gallery exhibition titled Imagine (works from the Ani Art Academies and some special guests), Stocks, Tales from the Dark … More…

Dali, Dali & Magritte: Sotheby’s Art of the Surreal (London)
jockey

Dali, Dali & Magritte: Sotheby’s Art of the Surreal (London)

Sotheby’s also presented a sale devoted to Surrealist art and it was a compact, carefully curated, one.  Taking first and second place was the master of Surrealism … Salvador Dalí.  His Maison pour erotomane (a tiny work measuring just 5 … More…

Picasso, Picasso & Derain: Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern (London)
pablo_picasso_femme_au_beret

Picasso, Picasso & Derain: Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern (London)

As with Christie’s, Sotheby’s pinned their hopes on Picasso, and the gamble paid off when his Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée sold for £49.8M ($69.4M – est. on request – they were figuring $50M) and Le Matador … More…

Magritte, Miro and More Picasso: Christie’s – Art of the Surreal (London)
joan_miro_painting

Magritte, Miro and More Picasso: Christie’s – Art of the Surreal (London)

On the evening of February 28, Christie’s also presented their Art of the Surreal. Taking top honors here was …. drum roll please … Picasso! His painting titled Figure (a 26 x 19 inch work created on February 2, 1930 … … More…

Picasso, Degas & Monet: Christie’s – Impressionist & Modern (London)
claude_monet_vetheuil

Picasso, Degas & Monet: Christie’s – Impressionist & Modern (London)

Tonight, the auction action began in London at Christie’s and unlike some previous sales, there were no blockbuster ($50, $80 or $100 million) works.  The first 9 lots all did very well … selling either within or well above their … More…

Talk About Luck!
Talk About Luck!

Talk About Luck!

In 2009, the  Cantini museum in Marseille presented an exhibition of 20 works by Edgar Degas.  On December 31st of that year, one of the works, Les Choristes, went missing.  Since there were no signs of a break-in authorities assumed … More…

What do Lo Mein and Warhol Have in Common? Mr. Chow!
What do Lo Mein and Warhol Have in Common? Mr. Chow!

What do Lo Mein and Warhol Have in Common? Mr. Chow!

They say you learn something new every day … well, today I learned that Mr. Chow was an influential figure in the art world.  Even artists need to eat! Source: How Mr Chow became an art world mecca – CNN … More…

Should They Be Gifted or Sold?
Should They Be Gifted or Sold?

Should They Be Gifted or Sold?

According to Catherine Hickley’s article in The Art Newspaper: The widow of Erhard Göpel, an art historian who worked as a dealer for Adolf Hitler in occupied Europe during the Second World War and was embroiled in Nazi art-looting, has bequeathed … More…