Contemporary Front page
A Collector’s Passion For The 19th Century
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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
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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
Pennsylvania’s AGO Reviewing La Salle’s Planned Sale Of Art

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
German Based Russian Avant-Garde Dealer Exonorated

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 Museum

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
Your Door-Way to Someone Famous

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)
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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?
The Mona Lisa

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)
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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
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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)
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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…

Why Are We Just Now Learning About This Theft?
Why Are We Just Now Learning About This Theft?

Why Are We Just Now Learning About This Theft?

Why is this news just surfacing when the owner discovered, back in August of 2017, that the 6 of his Hudson River School paintings (including works by David Johnson, Thomas Cole, Thomas Moran, and Jasper Francis Cropsey) were missing from … More…

A Last-Ditch Effort To Save The Collection
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), "Shuffleton's Barbershop," 1950

A Last-Ditch Effort To Save The Collection

Opponents of the Berkshire Museum’s decision to sell 40 works are making a last-ditch effort to stop the sale. A few weeks ago, the museum, along with the AGO (Maura Healey), presented a proposal to the courts that would allow … More…

Green + Greed = The Dark Side
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Green + Greed = The Dark Side

Early this month, news broke of a multi-count indictment over a $50 million international securities fraud and money laundering scheme.  Based on a release from the New York Department of Justice, six individuals and four brokerage/management corporations are involved … … More…

Are Bonfoey Gallery & Neil Morris in Hot Water?
a landscape painting with a woman standing near a river by George Inness

Are Bonfoey Gallery & Neil Morris in Hot Water?

In January, Richard and Becky Hearty, from Cross Plains, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit against the Bonfoey Gallery, of Cleveland, for coercing Richard’s mother into consigning an important painting by George Inness to them.  According to the complaint, Richard is the … More…

Comments on the Art Market – Volume 207
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Comments on the Art Market – Volume 207

We just released Volume 207 of our Comments on the Art Market.  This month we cover the Charleston Show, an upcoming gallery exhibition titled Imagine (works from the Ani Art Academies and some special guests), Stocks, Tales from the Dark … More…