ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Interconnected Beauty: Ariadne Galleries to unveil Christian and Islamic antiquities collection

ArtfixDaily / August 29th, 2010

A rare and beautiful collection of Early Christian and Islamic artworks will be debuted by Ariadne Galleries at the Grand Palais in Paris as part of the 25th Biennale des Antiquaires this September. “In all of my years collecting and dealing in ancient art, this is the first time that I have ...

King Tut tour raises funds for a grand new Cairo museum

ARTFIXdaily blogs / May 23rd, 2010

Egypt's outspoken crusader for cultural objects, Dr. Zahi Hawass, has been demanding the repatriation of Egyptian antiquities from museums worldwide. At the same time, he has endorsed two touring exhibitions of Egypt's most prized ancient treasures. On June 25, Dr. Hawass, former Secretary ...

Bid-less Indonesian auction folds

BBC / May 5th, 2010

No bidders registered for an Indonesian auction of more than 270,000 treasures recovered from a 10th-century Chinese shipwreck. A $16 million deposit was required of bidders. The sale was only announced one week ago. The auction included mostly ceramics as well as some delicate jewel-studded ...

Kirman catapults to record $9.5 million

The Economist / April 21st, 2010

Frenchwoman Martine Marie-Pol (1870-1939), Comtesse de Béhague, a noted collector of antiquities and Islamic art, once owned an exquisite Kirman rug. The rare rug descended in her family, returned to the market in the 1980s, and was consigned by a dealer to a Christie's Islamic and Indian sale ...

Egypt leads multinational efforts to restitute relics

BusinessWeek / April 7th, 2010

This week, Egypt hosts an international conference centered on the retrieval of disputed antiquities from Western museums to their land of origin. On the target list are such objects as the 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti from Berlin’s Neues Museum and the Rosetta Stone from London’s ...

King Tut returns to NYC

Huffington Post / March 23rd, 2010

A 25-foot statue of the Egyptian jackal-headed god Annubis arrived at New York City's South Street Seaport by barge. The ceremony announced the coming arrival of artifacts from King Tut's tomb, in a show opening April 23 at the Discovery Times Square Exposition, after traveling from San ...

The best of the best lures collectors to Maastricht

Financial Times / March 2nd, 2010

From a newly discovered “Winter Landscape with Skaters” (1611) by Adam van Breen – one of the earliest winter landscapes by any Dutch painter - offered by exhibitor John Mitchell, to a stunning Cycladic marble head from 2500-2400BC from dealer Rupert Wace, word is getting out about the treasures ...

TEFAF aggregates the world's best art for sale

Hello Magazine / February 25th, 2010

Over 30,000 works of art, from antiquities to modern paintings, much of it desirable for pedigree, rarity, and beauty, will descend upon the Dutch town of Maastricht from March 12 to 21. With 263 top-tier exhibitors bringing the best of their blue-chip art, plus special sections for design, works ...

Signs of Rebound in Antiques Market

New York Times Art / February 17th, 2010

After 12 months in which antiques sales were down and prices fell, collectors and dealers again flocked to major antique shows last month in New York. Red dots were plentiful, but according to some of the shows' exhibitors, there are still good buys to be had in certain categories, such as ...

Italian judge demands return of the Getty Bronze

Los Angeles Times / February 11th, 2010

A judge in Italy has ordered the confiscation of the famed Statue of the Victorious Youth, which is also known as the Getty Bronze. The artwork, which dates from 300 B.C. to 100 B.C., is currently a star in the collection at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. In the past, the Getty has stated that ...

Google to post Iraq's national museum collection online

Reuters / November 24th, 2009

Google is putting 14,000 images of ancient artifacts at Iraq's National Museum online, part of a U.S. bid to entice foreign firms to invest in Iraq, and to help document the collection after widespread looting. The Baghdad museum's millennia-old artifacts from Babylonian, Assyrian and Sumerian ...

Anglo-Saxon hoard on show in London as another trove found

Reuters / November 3rd, 2009

The most important treasure trove found in Britain for decades went on display in London on Tuesday, the same day that another discovery valued at a million pounds ($1.6 million) was reported found in Scotland. Four Iron Age gold neckbands were discovered in a Scottish field, just as the British ...

At the Grand Palais: Istanbul exhibit seeks to reveal city's soul to Parisian public

Associated Press / October 22nd, 2009

The glories of Istanbul have arrived in Paris. From white marble statues of Greek and Roman gods to gleaming medieval Christian icons to a huge red Ottoman tent, an exhibition devoted to Istanbul seeks to expand French awareness of the city's multicultural heritage in a country deeply skeptical ...

Angered over Antiquities: Egypt demands return of Nefertiti

New York Times Art / October 18th, 2009

Celebrations of the reopening of the Neues Museum in Berlin have been marred by a dispute over a 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti. Egypt is demanding the return of antiquities from major museums worldwide, including the Louvre and British Museum...

Reclaiming Relics: Egypt demands artifacts’ return, cuts ties with Louvre

New York Times Art / October 8th, 2009

The nation’s antiquities department says reliefs in the possession of the French museum were stolen in the 1980s from an ancient Egyptian tomb. Egypt also seeks the return of the 3,300- year-old bust of Nefertiti, the wife of the famed monotheistic pharaoh Akhenaten, which has been recently moved ...

Perennially Popular: This Weekend's Merchandise Mart Antiques Fair

Pioneer Local / September 30th, 2009

CHICAGO - Two local antique dealers are looking forward to showcasing their finds at the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair, Oct. 2-5. Margaret Chung of Three Friends Studio is riding the market high for Chinese antiquities. Her stand will present a sandstone triad with a Buddha figure ...

Taste for the Imaginary: Ancient Roman homeowners liked a touch of fantasy in their frescoes

The Associated Press / September 23rd, 2009

ROME — Frescoes that once adorned Roman villas are going on display in a new exhibit that shows the tastes of ancient Rome's wealthy through landscapes and the representation of gods and goddesses. The exhibit "Roman Imperial Painting," which opens today, is at the Scuderie del Quirinale, a ...

Collecting Fine China: Antiquities market has a new dynamic

Forbes / September 10th, 2009

The market for ancient Chinese works of art--terra-cotta horses, ceramic vessels, bronzes, jades, and Buddha statues that predate the Tang dynasty (a.d. 618 to 907)--is largely undervalued, and there's still a plentiful supply, from rarities with significant provenance to pieces that simply make ...

Behold the Barbarians' Loot: £1m Viking hoard exhibited for first time

London Times / August 27th, 2009

The largest and most important Viking hoard of jewels and coins found in Britain for over 150 years has gone on display for the first time. Unearthed by a father and son team of treasure hunters in a field, their 2007 find of 617 coins and gilt goodies is dated at more than 1,000 years old. The ...

Roman Ruins Re-hashed: German discovery of 2,000-yr-old horse statue

Reuters / August 27th, 2009

BERLIN (Reuters) - German archaeologists on Thursday unveiled a bronze and gold horse's head they said was believed to be a remnant of a 2000-year-old Roman statue. A team digging at a former Roman town near Waldgirmes in central Germany found the life-sized head along with the foot of a rider on ...