Leonardo or Boltraffio? Guess The National Gallery (London) Did Not Care, They Just Wanted It.
Here is a troubling story. According to Martin Bailey’s article in The Art Newspaper: A leading Leonardo da Vinci scholar, Martin Kemp, has stated that London’s National Gallery altered the attribution of a “Leonardo” it was borrowing, in order to … More…
Regardless Of Its Value, It’s A Nice Find!
When I first read this story I thought … WOW, someone hit it big! Then I started to do a little research and discovered that the value might be a little bit over the top. Regardless of what it is … More…
My 2 Cents On Museum Deaccessions
The decisions by the Berkshire Museum and La Salle University to sell off most of their major works of art for financial reasons has caused a real uproar. While I am a firm believer that museums should not sell their … More…
A Yacht For a Painting … The $450M Deal
We all knew two rich people were battling it out for Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ … what we did not know is that the two people (Mohammed Bin Zayed and Mohammed Bin Salman) are friends and each mistakenly thought … More…
A Collector’s Passion For The 19th Century
American Fine Art Magazine recently featured one of our client’s collections. Here is an opportunity to see one of the many collections of 19th & 20th century art we helped build and how it is now displayed. Among the artists … More…
A Possible 1,400,000% Return — A Buy And Hold Story
People are always asking which of the works they are considering will bring the greatest return. Our reply is always the same: nobody has a crystal ball, but if you buy great quality works, in great condition, from the right … More…
Pennsylvania’s AGO Reviewing La Salle’s Planned Sale Of Art
We previously reported on La Salle University’s decision to sell off most of their important works of art (46 in all) for ‘financial reasons’ … these stories are becoming all too familiar. According to Stephan Salisbury’s article in The Inquirer … More…
German Based Russian Avant-Garde Dealer Exonorated
In 2013, Itzhak Zarug (an Israeli born art dealer living in Germany who specializes in Russian avant-garde paintings) was arrested by German police on suspicions of running an international fraud ring. By 2016, authorities began to realize that the case … More…
The Berkshire Saga Continues – April 6th Deadline Is Looming
Berkshire Saga: The end is almost here … or is it? Both sides in the Berkshire Museum case were heard today by Justice David Lowy. The museum and AGO are claiming that without an infusion of $55M, the museum will … More…
Your Door-Way to Someone Famous
Just when you thought things couldn’t get more ridiculous in the auction arena … soon, they will be offering doors from rooms in the Chelsea Hotel. Now, these aren’t just any doors … they are doors to rooms where someone … More…
Picasso, Matisse & Bradford: Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary (London)
There was one last sale in the Contemporary series in London… the Evening sale at Phillips, and while we do not always cover Phillips Auction this one was deserving… In fact, their 20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening sale set … More…
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)
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
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)
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…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 208
Our most recent edition has just been released. In this month’s edition we cover A Collector’s Passion For The 19th Century, our upcoming exhibit “Imagine” opens on the 28th, Stocks, The Dark Side of the Art World, Really (interesting stories … More…