ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Madonna to Auction Off Leger Painting for Charity

ArtfixDaily / April 3rd, 2013

Pop singer Madonna will auction off a 1921 cubist painting from her own art collection to raise funds for charity.

Corcoran to Partner with National Gallery of Art and University of Maryland

ArtfixDaily / April 3rd, 2013

The Corcoran Gallery of Art and Corcoran College of Art + Design are taking measures to reduce expenses by partnering with other institutions, according to recent announcements.

Currier Museum Exhibits Rare Loan of Monet Masterpiece from Private Collection

ArtfixDaily / April 2nd, 2013

One of Claude Monet’s most celebrated early paintings—Adolphe Monet in the Garden of Le Coteau at Sainte-Adresse—is now on view at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, for a limited time. The painting, which has been on public view only once in a museum, remained in the artist’s ...

Billionaire Trader Buys Picasso Masterpiece for $155 Million

New York Times / March 27th, 2013

Long coveted by billionaire trader Steven A. Cohen, Picasso's iconic “Le Rêve” is now his to keep, and only two weeks after his hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors agreed to pay the government $616 million in a settlement over insider trading accusations.

FBI Says Thieves Identified in Gardner Museum Heist; Artwork Still Missing

ArtfixDaily / March 18th, 2013

In Boston on March 18, law enforcement officials announced that they have identified the perpetrators in the $500 million art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

Dutch Police Arrest Teenager in Connection to Art Heist

ArtfixDaily / March 4th, 2013

A 19-year-old woman was arrested by Dutch police in connection to the art heist in Rotterdam last fall that netted seven artworks by the likes of Matisse, Gauguin, Picasso and Monet, among others.

Manet Masterpiece Meets Titian Muse in Venice

ArtfixDaily / February 28th, 2013

For the first time since 1890, Edouard Manet's seminal "Olympia" will leave Paris in order to hang alongside a kindred painting in Venice next month, announced Musee d'Orsay.

Greek Fashionista Busted for Swiping Dali Painting

NY Post / February 27th, 2013

A fashion publicist from Greece brazenly snatched a Salvador Dali watercolor off the wall of a Manhattan gallery, stuffed it in his bag and walked away.

Restorers Discover Early Picasso Underneath Another Painting

Olive Press / February 27th, 2013

Staff who were restoring an early Picasso work at Barcelona’s Picasso Museum found an even earlier charcoal drawing by his hand hidden underneath.

First U.S. Exhibition of Pre-Raphaelites Opens at National Gallery in D.C.

ArtfixDaily / February 21st, 2013

The National Gallery of Art has on view the first major survey of Pre-Raphaelite art to be shown in the United States featuring about 130 paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and decorative art objects.

UK Museums Gifted Major Collection of Italian Masterpieces

Reuters / February 20th, 2013

A private collection valued at more than 100 million pounds ($154 million) and consisting of 57 Italian Baroque paintings amassed by the late banking heir Denis Mahon has been formally gifted to six museums and galleries in Britain.

Delacroix Masterpiece Defaced at Louvre Satellite Museum

ArtfixDaily / February 10th, 2013

One of French Romantic artist Eugene Delacroix's most famous paintings was vandalized at the Louvre museum offshoot in Lens, France, last week.

Modigliani, Morisot Lead Christie's $213 Million Sale

ArtfixDaily / February 7th, 2013

Magritte, Miro, Morisot, and Modigliani achieved top prices at Christie's Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist Art evening sale in London. Christie’s said that a Berthe Morisot painting achieved the highest price ever for a woman artist at auction.

Lovers of Picasso, Schiele Soar at Sotheby's

ArtfixDaily / February 6th, 2013

A Picasso portrait of his mistress and muse Marie-Therese Walter fetched $45 million on Tuesday at the beginning of the auction series of impressionist, surrealist and modern art in London. Earlier in the evening, Egon Schiele's 1914 "Lovers (Self Portrait With Wally)" brought...

Married Couple to Lead Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Bowdoin College / January 30th, 2013

Frank H. Goodyear III and Anne Collins Goodyear have been named co-directors of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, announced Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd on Jan. 30. Frank Goodyear currently serves as curator of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery...

Vermeer Masterpieces on Loan to West Coast Museums

ArtfixDaily / January 29th, 2013

Two California museums will offer visitors a rare view of exquisite masterworks by 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, on loan from Dutch museums, this winter.

U.S. Court Weighs Claim for Nazi Looted Art Held in Museums

Los Angeles Times / January 23rd, 2013

In what could be the last of the major Holocaust restitution cases, a three-judge federal appellate court heard oral arguments in a case involving more than 40 artworks valued at $100 million that were stolen during World War II.

3 Arrested for Rotterdam Art Heist

USA Today / January 22nd, 2013

Romanian police have arrested three people in connection to the major art heist in Rotterdam that netted paintings by Monet, Matisse, Picasso and others worth tens of millions of euros (dollars). The stolen paintings are...

Modigliani Expert Arrested in Italy

FT / January 15th, 2013

Rome-based Christian Parisot, one of two rival art historians working on Amedeo Modigliani catalogues raisonnés, was arrested after a two-year investigation by Italian antiques and forgery squads.

Major Auction Houses Expect Blockbuster Season, Again

Reuters / January 15th, 2013

The world's leading auctioneers are anticipating a robust start to 2013. Estimates for artwork in upcoming sales at Sotheby's and Christie's are steep...