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Art Market Opacity – Guarantees
An image of da Vinci's painting Salvator Mundi

Art Market Opacity – Guarantees

Art Market Opacity: Since the da Vinci sale, more information about the backroom deals auction houses make has been coming to light.  Katya Kazakina gives us an overview of the benefits and risks of auction guarantees.  As Ed Dolman (Phillips … More…

AVAILABLE: Fritz Zuber-Buhler’s “Jeune fille”
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AVAILABLE: Fritz Zuber-Buhler’s “Jeune fille”

A very recent addition to our available online inventory.  An exquisite study of a young girl by the 19th century Swiss artist Fritz Zuber-Buhler (1822-1896). The artist was born in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1822 and by the age of … More…

Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist sales in London
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Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist sales in London

Christie’s and Sotheby’s offered up their Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist art earlier this week over in London and the results were uninspiring. Without the buyer’s premium, neither sale made it into the pre-sale estimate range and both left a … More…

Dumb Things People Do at Art Fairs
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Dumb Things People Do at Art Fairs

Dumb Things People Do at Art Fairs was published in The Epoch Times a few months after my article Dumb Things People Say To Art Dealers .  I am still not sure why these links popped up the other day, but they … More…

Dumb Things People Say to Art Dealers
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Dumb Things People Say to Art Dealers

I have no idea why, but for some reason a link to an article of mine, that was published on The Epoch Times’ website, popped-up this morning.  While I wrote it a few years ago, it still rings true. I … More…

Christie’s London: 19th Century European
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Christie’s London: 19th Century European

Christie’s, London, presented their 19th century painting sale on the 14th and as I have said in the past, what a difference one painting can make!  Taking the top spot here was a preparatory study for Eugene Delacroix’s famous painting … More…

AGO Gets More Time – Saga Continues
AGO Gets More Time – Saga Continues

AGO Gets More Time – Saga Continues

On Wednesday the Massachusetts Appeals Court granted the AGO and their investigators more time to finish reviewing the Berkshire Museum’s planned sale of some 40 works of art.  While he gave them until January 29th to finish, he also required … More…

Sotheby’s London: 19th Century European
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Sotheby’s London: 19th Century European

Today we had Sotheby’s sale of 19th century works of art.  While this sale covers the same period of art we see in the New York sales, they usually contain a slightly different mix of works – more Spanish, Swedish, … More…

AVAILABLE: Andre Hambourg’s “À Trouville an Août”
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AVAILABLE: Andre Hambourg’s “À Trouville an Août”

We just added this little gem by the 20th century French artist Andre Hambourg to our available online inventory. According to Wikipedia: Trouville-sur-Mer, commonly referred to as Trouville, is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in … More…

This Divorce Is Heating Up!
This Divorce Is Heating Up!

This Divorce Is Heating Up!

The divorce of Maurice Alain Amon and Tracey Hajailan-Amon is heating up … quite literally.  Maurice is claiming that his wife runied part of their art collection when she tried to open a safe in their Paris apartment with a … More…

My 15 Minutes Of Fame!
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My 15 Minutes Of Fame!

Glenn Dixon gives a nice overview of the Internal Revenue Service’s Art Advisory Panel in The Washington Post.  This one is definitely worth the read since I am mentioned a couple of times … it’s my 15 minutes of fame! … More…

How Do They Know?
An image of da Vinci's painting Salvator Mundi

How Do They Know?

An article on Bloomberg quotes Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism: “We worked very closely with the broker on this piece and we bid on it and it was acquired, thank God, … More…

The Berkshire Museum Saga Continues
Berkshire Museum

The Berkshire Museum Saga Continues

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has requested, from the Boston Appeals Court, an extension until the end of January to finish their investigation into the Berkshire Museum’s desire to sell 40 important works of art.  I do not believe that … More…

You Know What? I Do Not Care Anymore!
An image of da Vinci's painting Salvator Mundi

You Know What? I Do Not Care Anymore!

Another twist in the da Vinci sage.  Today it was reported that the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi had authorized Prince Badr bin Abdullah al Saud to bid up to $500M hammer for the work .. guess … More…

Christie’s Old Master Sale: Like I Have Said, Size Does Not Matter
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Christie’s Old Master Sale: Like I Have Said, Size Does Not Matter

Tonight, Christie’s presented their selection of Old Master works and if my calculations are correct, it seems to have been a huge hit! Taking the top spot here was El Greco’s Saint Francis and Brother Leo in Meditation which hammered at £5.9M … More…

So, He Really Didn’t Get His Feet Wet
So, He Really Didn’t Get His Feet Wet

So, He Really Didn’t Get His Feet Wet

According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, Prince Bader was only the front man for the purchase of da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi.  According to U.S. Intelligence and a Saudi art world figure, it was Crown Prince Mohammed bin … More…