Notorious Italian art theft ring foiled by Swedish academic
It is always nice to read about the recovery of stolen art and antiques. This time, a Swedish academic who bought a rare antique Italian manuscript online from a university student in Bologna has helped police uncover a trove … More…
Charging Bull gets Dog Defender
New York-based artist, Alex Gardega’s modification to celebrated Fearless Girl statue on Wall Street saw mixed reactions Monday morning. The short-lived installation, Sketchy Dog, constructed out of clay and faux bronze, appeared to be urinating on the female- empowering statue. … More…
Steve Brennen Indicted On Embezzlement Charges
According to Phaedra Haywood’s article in The New Mexican, a grand jury has indicted former Santa Fe gallery owner and art dealer Steve Brennen on felony embezzlement charges, accusing him of failing to pay five different artists whose work he … More…
The Yusaku Maezawa Bandwagon
Here we go … everyone is going to jump on the Yusaku Maezawa bandwagon. Please tell me why the actions of one young and very wealthy Japanese collector could portend a resurgence of Japan’s interest in contemporary art? This is one … More…
Why Spend $110 Million on a Basquiat? Inquiring Minds Want to Know.
Here is an interview with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the buyer of the $110M Basquiat painting, who watched the sale on his laptop and bid by telephone from his apartment in Japan. What I glean from this article by Motoko Rich and … More…
How To Make Your Own Damien Hirst, Courtesy of: Royal Academy of Arts
I found this very amusing and educational. The Royal Academy of Arts has produced step-by-step instructions (and a video) on how to create: multiple masterpiece spin art paintings (at some point we really need to examine how people are using the term ‘masterpiece’). … More…
The Tax Implications From The Basquiat Sale
I am sure this is a problem most of us would love to be facing … a profit of $85 million and the taxes we will have to pay. There is a big assumption here: an 2009 estate valuation of $13.5M … More…
Available: Louis Aston Knight’s “A Cottage in the Meadow”
Source: A Cottage in the Meadow – sometimes a painting hits all the right buttons and here is one of them, a beautiful French landscape by Louis Aston Knight (1873-1948). Louis was the son of the American expatriate artist … More…