Hey Dutch Restitution Committee – Are You Serious?
Anne Webber, from the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, and Wesley Fisher, of the Jewish Claims Conference, are calling out the Dutch Restitution Committee (DRC) for establishing a “hierarchy” for dealing with art that was looted by the Nazis. … More…
Sotheby’s London – Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist
On the afternoon of December 13th, Sotheby’s offered up a sale of 19th & 20th-century British art — guys and gals, come on … it is time to scale back. I understand that the auction rooms want to grab as … More…
How To Safely Navigate The Art Market – Expertise
Many people in the art world use (and sometimes abuse) the word ‘expert’ – “Is he an expert?” “Who is the expert?” “Did you show it to the expert?” “I am an expert!” The real question is – What, or … More…
Christie’s, London – Small Works Steal The Show
On December 11th, Christie’s presented their offering of British and European Art in London… it’s become the norm for these low-mid level sales to yield high BI-rates along with many works selling for under the estimate… this time around was … More…
Sotheby’s: Art of Travel and Exploration – A Really Hard Lesson
The market’s flood continued with Sotheby’s, London, presenting two sales on the 13th of December. First up was a small one they call Art of Travel and Exploration. Why they needed to break these out into a standalone sale is … More…
Sometimes They Go Too Quickly
Here is a nice story, in Forbes, about an important painting by Adrien Moreau (1843 – 1906) that our gallery recently sold. We know that “La Réception au Château” was originally sold by Boussod, Valadon & Cie in 1888, and … More…
19th Century European – Thank Goodness for Caspar!
On December 12th, Sotheby’s (London) offered a group of 19th Century European Paintings and the results, in keeping with the works being offered, were less than stellar. I will start by saying that they did have a few interesting works, … More…
Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist – Christie’s London
On the afternoon of December 11th, Christie’s presented their Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art sale. That covers a long span of time considering the earliest work dated from the 1820s and there was at least one artist in the … More…
National Gallery of Canada Acquires 19th Century French ‘Masterpiece’ by Tissot
News broke today that the National Gallery of Canada acquired James Jacques Joseph Tissot’s 1870 masterpiece The Partie Carée (The Foursome) from the estate of David R. Graham, for an undisclosed amount. Tissot was a 19th-century French academic artist specializing in highlife genre paintings … More…
From RETNA, Without Love – Graffiti Artist Gone Wild
Los Angeles based graffiti artist RETNA took his artistic styling off the canvas and onto his gallery’s walls….windows…doors….etc. According to a report posted on TMZ, RETNA became enraged when he noticed that his gallery (Maddox Gallery, who opened a new … More…
Koons – The King Of Plagiarism
Plagiarism… a word that haunts us throughout our education. If anything you submit to the teacher closely resembles the words or work of another writer, not only did you likely get an “F’, but there was the threat of being … More…
Einstein’s God Letter
“The word God is for me nothing but the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of venerable but still primitive legends.” Albert Einstein A handwritten letter by Albert Einstein, known as the God Letter, was promoted … More…
Christie’s American Art – A Nice Finish
The final sale we will cover this month is Christie’s American Art that took place on November 20th … thankfully, they waited until the week after the chaos to present it. In addition, they took one painting that should have … More…
They Stole This Renoir … Why?
Golfe, mer, falaises vertes (est. $130-180K), by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, was scheduled to be sold at Dorotheum in Vienna; however, it appears that three gentlemen walked into the auction house and decided they really wanted it – right now, so they took … More…
The Day Sales: Going, Going, Gone…Not So Fast
The week of November 13th was REALLY big here in NY as the evening fall auctions were setting records and making headlines. I spent the week glued to my chair, watching the day sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s to see … More…
18 Years And Still Going Strong – Comments on the Art Market – Volume 216.
Volume 216 marks the end of our 18th year bringing you news, auction reviews, and events from the art world. This edition is a long one (probably our longest) since it covers many of the sales that took place in … More…