Contemporary Front page
Getty Museum Acquires an Important 19th-Century Painting by Giovanni Segantini
segantini spring in the alps

Getty Museum Acquires an Important 19th-Century Painting by Giovanni Segantini

The J. Paul Getty Museum announced this week that they have acquired a major work by the 19th-century Italian artist Giovanni Segantini.  The painting was originally commissioned by Toby Rosenthal on behalf of Jacob Stern (1851-1927) – the San Francisco … More…

‘Wow Factor’ Lures Immediate Buyer Of 19th Century French Painting That’s Been Unseen For 118 Years
daniel ridgway knight e1276 on theterrace rolleboise wm

‘Wow Factor’ Lures Immediate Buyer Of 19th Century French Painting That’s Been Unseen For 118 Years

Daniel Ridgway Knight’s painting On the Terrace, Rolleboise recently surfaced, after about 118 years in hiding, and quickly found a new home.  Over the past 12 to 18 months, we have seen more and more interest in great academic works … More…

Comments on the Art Market – Volume 217
Comments on the Art Market

Comments on the Art Market – Volume 217

Happy New Year!  We just released Volume 217 of our Comments on the Art Market (the beginning of our 19th year).  Included are links to a couple of articles the gallery was featured in, a schedule of upcoming fairs (with … More…

20th Century Painting Ruled 2018 Art Market, More ‘Rare, Superb Quality Works’ Could Emerge in 2019
Modigliani-Nu-couche

20th Century Painting Ruled 2018 Art Market, More ‘Rare, Superb Quality Works’ Could Emerge in 2019

Below is a link to Natasha Gural’s summary, on Forbes.com, of the top works sold at public auction during 2018.  Will we see more impressive results in 2019?  The auction room machines need to be fed, so if they continue … More…

Hey Dutch Restitution Committee – Are You Serious?
kandinsky_bild_mit_ha_usern_website

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
david roberts waterloo bridge

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
john bentham_dinsdale_e1223_the_flag_the_flag_the_precious_flag_BLACK_AND_WHITE

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
gerome - arnaut and two whippets

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
musin_hms_resolute

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
adrien_moreau_e1266_la_reception_au_chateau_framed_wm

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!
friedrich

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
sir_edward_coley_burne-jones_danae_in_the_brazen_tower

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
tissot

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
From RETNA, Without Love – Graffiti Artist Gone Wild

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
Koons – The King Of Plagiarism

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
albert-einstein-god-letter

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…