ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Manhattan Developer Indicted For Felony Tax Fraud on Art Purchases

ArtfixDaily / September 8th, 2016

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has cracked down again in pursuit of taxes allegedly evaded on art and antiques purchases. Real estate developer Michael Shvo, 43, was arrested and released on $500,000 bail after he pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Manhattan State Supreme Court. Two ...

Prison Time For Paris Auction House Staff Who Stole Tons of Objects

Guardian / September 6th, 2016

Porters who operated a lucrative crime ring at Paris’s most prestigious auction house have been jailed for the theft of 275 tons of objects worth millions. A judge sentenced 30 people to between 18 months and three years in prison. They were members of a traditional 110-strong union known as ...

Will New York State's Sales Tax Pursuits Increase Art Prices?

Forbes / August 9th, 2016

The aftermath of a recent settlement between New York State and international art dealer Gagosian Gallery has yet to be measured on the market. Last month, New York State reached a $4.28 million settlement with Gagosian and its California affiliate for "noncompliance in two surprising areas," ...

SF Museums Board Head Dede Wilsey to Step Down

San Francisco Chronicle / August 1st, 2016

San Francisco Chronicle: Dede Wilsey, longtime head of the board that runs the de Young Museum and Legion of Honor in San Francisco, is giving up her top spot after the museums paid a $2 million settlement to a former high-ranking executive who said Wilsey had her ousted for revealing alleged ...

Chinese Company Becomes Major Shareholder in Sotheby's

New York Times / August 1st, 2016

China's Taikang Life Insurance disclosed last Wednesday that it had become Sotheby's biggest shareholder, with a 13.52% stake. Taikang is run by Chinese tycoon Chen Dongsheng, who helped found China Guardian Auction Co. Chen is an established power player in the Chinese art market. He modeled ...

ARTFIXdaily Will Return Refreshed on Aug. 1

ArtfixDaily / June 27th, 2016

Dear Readers, ARTFIXdaily will be closed through July 31, 2016. The e-newsletter subscriber service, and promotions of ArtGuild content will resume on August 1. There will not be a weekday email of news for the month of July. ArtGuild members may still post press releases and event listings ...

Twitter Weighs in on Brexit Impact on U.K. Art World

ArtfixDaily / June 23rd, 2016

Twitter users weighed in on Brexit in the days before a vote on the referendum, and in the hours after voters decided the UK will leave the European Union. David Patrikarakos (@dpatrikarakos) Almost all leaders in fields of economics, politics, science, arts, medicine from across world ...

3 High-Level Employees Exit Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York Times / June 19th, 2016

Three leaders at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are departing, the New York Times reported on Friday. The exodus follows the museum's announcement in April that a $10 million deficit would necessitate cost cutting. The Met's first chief digital officer, Sree Sreenivasan, along with senior vice ...

Refugees Give Tours at Berlin's Museums

Breitbart / May 10th, 2016

Several museums run by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which administers the capital’s state museums, have recruited refugees to guide Arabic-language tours of Berlin museums for other refugees. Since December, some 3,000 refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq and other places have taken ...

Sotheby's Reports Quarterly Loss, Possible Investor, and a Record Rodin

ArtfixDaily / May 9th, 2016

Gigaweek at the New York auctions began with news from Sotheby's of a quarterly loss, followed by a boost from an announcement of investor interest and mixed results for its Monday sale. A wider-than-expected first-quarter net loss of $25.9 million in the quarter on revenues of $106.5 million ...

New York Attorney General Goes After Unpaid Taxes on Art

New York Times / May 3rd, 2016

The New York attorney general made a $7 million settlement on Tuesday with real estate developer and art collector Aby Rosen "for failing to pay taxes on $80 million in artwork that he had bought or commissioned since 2002," reports the New York Times.  A crack down on the use of resale ...

How 'Enhanced Hammer' Deals Impact Auction House Economics

Bloomberg / April 26th, 2016

In a race for top-tier consignments, the world's biggest auction houses have offered sellers sweet deals that have chipped away at commissions on some of the priciest offerngs. Hammer prices have skyrocketed in the last five years for blue-chip art, but the auction house's cut is increasingly ...

Met Museum to Restructure as Deficit Looms

WSJ / April 21st, 2016

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has about 2,200 employees, an operating budget of about $300 million, a $2.8 billion endowment, and attracts around $6.3 million visitors per year. Despite the numbers, museum officials say the Met is facing a deficit of $9 million to $10 million, and ...

Hiscox Releases New Report on Online Art Market

Hiscox / April 20th, 2016

Insurer Hiscox has released a new online art trade report for 2016, and it includes a ranking of online art market players. Hiscox's Robert Read blogs: Millenials love tech, social media and art and given the enormous spending power that they are going to have the art market needs to adapt ...

Supreme Court Upholds Book-Scanning Ruling In Google's Favor

Reuters / April 18th, 2016

(Reuters) The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by a group of authors who contend that Google's massive effort to scan millions of books for an online library violates copyright law. The Authors Guild and several individual writers have argued that the project, known as ...

Man Charged in Murder of U.K. Antiques Dealer

Oxford Mail / April 14th, 2016

A 50-year-old man from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was charged with murder on Tuesday in connection to the death of UK antiques dealer Adrian Greenwood, 42, who was found with multiple stab wounds in his Oxford home last week. The suspect, Michael Danaher, will appear in Oxford Crown Court on ...

UK Antiques Dealer Murdered in Oxford Home

ArtfixDaily / April 9th, 2016

A police investigation is underway after the body of UK antiques dealer Adrian Greenwood, 42, was found with multiple stab wounds in his Oxford home. Known as a rare book dealer, author, historian and antiquarian, Greenwood was last seen grocery shopping at a Sainsbury on Tuesday. His ...

Apple Watch Gives Exhibition Tours at de Young Museum

CNN / April 7th, 2016

The de Young Museum in San Francisco is experimenting with a new way for visitors to experience art. Now, anyone with an Apple Watch will be able to go through the museum and hear recordings about the nearest display when alerted by a vibration on their wrist. Made by the startup Guidekick, it's ...

Panama Papers Leak How Mega-Collector Hid Art Assets

Forbes / April 4th, 2016

One of the largest data leaks ever, dubbed the Panama Papers, has begun to dribble out information on how the world's wealthiest use offshore financing and hide assets. An anonymous source gave German investigative newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung some 11.5 million files of data ...

Theft Trials Begin for Paris Auction House Staff

Telegraph / March 14th, 2016

Trials began in Paris on Monday for six auctioneers and dozens of art handlers from one of France's oldest and most well-known auction houses who are accused of stealing thousands of items from consignors. An early oil by Gustave Courbet is among 250 tons of art and collectibles allegedly ...