Should We Paint Over The Sistine Chapel?
All of this political correctness is getting out of hand. The National Gallery in Washington cancelled a Chuck Close exhibition because the artist has been accused of sexual misconduct. Seattle University removed Close’s “Self-Portrait 2000” from display citing concerns over … More…
A Stupid Publicity Stunt!
It was recently reported in The Guardian that the curator of contemporary art at the Manchester Art Gallery removed a true masterpiece of Victorian art – John William Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs – from the wall in order “to prompt … More…
Master Paintings — OK, the Old Masters!!
Tonight, Sotheby’s presented their Master Paintings Evening Sale … in the pre-millennial days this would have been called Old Master Paintings … and the results were positive – with the top 14 works all selling in excess of $1M. Taking … More…
I’ll make [her] an offer [s]he can’t refuse
That’s what Igor Toporkovski must have said when he donated 26 questionable works to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent. According to The Art Newspaper, every piece from an exhibition of Russian Avant-Garde works has issues. Experts and researchers … More…
Could A Deal Be In The Works?
Yesterday, January 29, was the deadline for the AG’s investigation into the Berkshire Museum’s decision to sell 40 important works of art. According to an article in The Berkshire Eagle by Larry Parnass … In a one-page motion to a … More…
Landscape Painting – Corot to Monet!
For those of you who, like us, are fans of 19th century French landscape art, here is an interesting exhibition that is currently on view at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum in Winter Park, FL. — Towards Impressionism: Landscape Painting … More…
AVAILABLE: Louis-Joseph Courtat’s “Le Réveil de Vénus” (The Awakening of Venus)
We recently posted to our available online inventory one of the most important paintings by the 19th century French artist Louis-Joseph Courtat to have ever appeared on the market – Le Réveil de Vénus (The Awakening of Venus) … painted and then … More…
Rybolovlev vs Bouvier … And Now Sotheby’s!
There is a new twist in the case between Rybolovlev and Bouvier. According to Steve Bird’s article in The Telegraph, Lawyers for Sotheby’s are preparing for Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian fertiliser and potash salesman, to use the British courts to … More…
Cracking Down On Stolen Antiquities
The Antiquities Trafficking Unit, recently formed by the New York District Attorney, is moving along at a brisk pace. Earlier this month, the team seized 6 artifacts from Phoenix Ancient Art (valued at $450K) and another 10 objects from collector … More…
Guess They Did Not Like The Numbers!
After Clare McAndrew jumped ship, moving over to Art Basel, TEFAF hired Rachel Pownall to produce their 2016 report on the health of the art market. Pownall’s numbers were very different from McAndrew’s … she actually revised downward the McAndrew’s … More…
What to say when lightning strikes twice…
“I was shocked.” That’s what the foundry owner said when he learned that a 7 ½ foot tall sculpture went missing from his shop. The work, Athena, by German Neo-Expressionist artist Markus Lüpertz, is a brightly painted bronze weighing over … More…
Van Gogh’s Missing Link!
It was just reported that a ‘new’ drawing has been added to the Van Gogh oeuvre. According to an article in The New York Times the drawing, The Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quarry (which dates from 1886 – the year … More…
Sexual Harassment Allegations Surface Across The Pond
An article in today’s Guardian, by Ben Quinn and Cristina Ruiz, covers the sexual harassment allegations against one of Britain’s most important contemporary art dealers … 78 year old Anthony d’Offay. According to the report, the ‘inappropriate behavior’ began in 1997 and D’Offay … More…
One Out Of Twenty One Ain’t Bad … Right?
Last year it was reported that an exhibition of paintings by Modigliani at Genoa’s Palazzo Ducale included a number of dubious works. Now, the experts have provided proof that all but one of the paintings are forgeries. According to an article … More…
You’ve Got A Leonardo, And You’ve Got A Leonardo, We All Have A Leonardo!
Really? This is a Leonardo? I need to go back for some more art history lessons. I cannot wait to see how many more people claim to have a Leonardo! I am digging through our inventory bins right now!! Source: A … More…
Comments on the Art Market – Volume 206
We are pleased to announce that Volume 206 of our Comments on the Art Market was just released. This month we cover our Upcoming Shows (Palm Beach & Naples), the ever gyrating Stock & Crypto Markets, The Dark Side of … More…