Beatles Painting Heads To Auction
A painting created and signed by all four members of the Beatles will be up for sale at Christie’s this February. In 1966, Beatlemania was at its height. The group had been touring nonstop for several years, traversing the globe … More…
British Museum & BP Back In Business
Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. As if the British Museum’s reputation couldn’t get any worse, its leadership made an incredibly controversial decision that led to at least one of its trustees resigning. Earlier … More…
Update Up North: The Morrisseau Forgery Trial
A Canadian court has sentenced the main perpetrator of one of the largest art fraud conspiracies. Back in March, I wrote about how police in Ontario had arrested a group of people for creating and selling thousands of artworks being … More…
British Museum Ends The Year On A Low Note
The British Museum has not had the best year. The end of 2023 cannot come fast enough for the museum administration and its supporters. 2023 saw the museum plagued by scandals, the most devastating of which involved a senior staff … More…
Bonhams New York Hartman Collection
Alan Hartman owned Hartman Rare Art on New York’s Madison Avenue for decades until his passing earlier this year. He was considered an expert in Chinese jade carvings, East Asian antiquities, and English silver. When his widow Simone consigned their … More…
Lyft-ed Murillo: Old Master Lost In Miami
I’ve left stuff in taxis before. So have a lot of people I know, from wallets to umbrellas to phones. But I think if I were in a cab with a million-dollar painting, I wouldn’t let it out of my … More…
Paris Prepares For Olympics
Paris will host the Olympic games next summer, and the city’s top spots, particularly its cultural institutions, are battening down the hatches. The city already announced that the famous riverside booksellers, the bouquinistes, will be relocated for the opening ceremonies. … More…
Bouvier Affair At An End (Maybe)
The Bouvier affair has been one of the most prolific feuds the art world has experienced in the past ten years. We’ve been covering it since it first started in 2015. And now it seems like it’s finally coming to … More…
Bonhams Paris Impressionist & Modern Sale
Thursday, December 7th, saw a wave of action across the London and Paris auction houses. Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams all hosted sales ranging from antiquities to Old Masters to early twentieth-century work. It also marked the last day at the … More…
Diego Rivera And How Art Can Create Change
Many famous figures have their own quotes about the power of art and its ability to change people’s minds and the world. However, there are few people whose lives have embodied those kinds of sayings than Diego Rivera. Some people … More…
Lost Botticelli Rediscovered
Often, when I write about a rediscovered long-lost masterwork, the person who had it often had no idea that they owned such a rare, valuable work by a great master. However, when Italian authorities seized a painting from a southern … More…
Second Mona Lisa? Or Just A Copy?
The Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most iconic and enigmatic paintings. Art historians and amateur detectives have combed over the work, looking for answers to everything, from da Vinci’s technique to the possible real location of the fantasy … More…
Macallan Adami 1926 Makes Headlines
In the world of top-shelf whiskies, a bottle of Macallan Adami 1926 recently made headlines for its jaw-dropping sale price, surpassing what most people spend on houses, luxury items, or even a lifetime supply of soda – if you like … More…
Napoleon & David: Historical Painting vs. Historical Accuracy
Ridley Scott’s latest historical epic film Napoleon, released in the US and UK on November 22nd, tries to tell the story of the Corsican-born French artillery general who ascended to rule most of Continental Europe for over a decade. Though … More…
Valparaiso Deaccession Lawsuit Dismissed
At the beginning of the year, news started coming out of Indiana’s Valparaiso University about a local scandal surrounding the deaccession of several paintings from the university’s museum. And now, the university might be able to proceed after a judge … More…
Christie’s London Josefowitz Rembrandt Collection
At the end of the auction marathon on Thursday, December 7th, was another installment from the Sam Josefowitz Collection. The sale in London consisted of sixty-nine lots, all “graphic masterpieces” by the Dutch Golden Age artist Rembrandt van Rijn. Every … More…