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.

Archaeologist Takes the Helm of the Louvre

ArtfixDaily / April 3rd, 2013

Jean-Luc Martinez, the head of the Louvre’s department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, was appointed as the director of the 220-year-old institution on Wednesday.

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.

Beatles Sgt. Pepper Album Sets Auction Record

ArtfixDaily / April 2nd, 2013

A signed copy of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at auction for $290,500, almost doubling the previous record for an album cover from the legendary rock band.

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 ...

Winterthur Museum boasts one of the earliest known American depictions of the Easter Bunny

ArtfixDaily / March 28th, 2013

Two years ago, Delaware's Winterthur Museum acquired one of the earliest known American depictions of the Easter Bunny, from Pook & Pook auction house in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Remote, New Museum Gets High Rank on Attendance

ArtfixDaily / March 28th, 2013

Infiltrating the usual suspects on the list of international museum attendance numbers compiled by the The Art Newspaper is a new museum that has enticed visitors to its rural corner of the world.

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.

Napoleon to Josephine Engagement Ring Fetches About $1 Million

ArtfixDaily / March 24th, 2013

Napoleon Bonaparte's engagement ring given to his beloved Joséphine in 1796 catapulted well beyond its high estimate of $20,000 to hammer down at more than $948,000 (730,000 euros) at a French auction on Sunday.

Latin American Countries Demand Halt to Antiquities Auction

ArtfixDaily / March 21st, 2013

A Sotheby's auction of 300 pre-Columbian objects set to sell this weekend in Paris has been denounced by four Latin American countries. Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Costa Rica have cited...

Colby College Museum of Art Readies to Open with $100 Million Gift

ArtfixDaily / March 21st, 2013

This is a historic year for both Colby College and the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine. Colby celebrates its bicentennial, and the capstone is the grand opening of the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion, featuring a $100 million gift of more than 500 works of art, and the reopening of ...

$3 Chinese Bowl at Garage Sale Fetches $2.2 Million at Auction

ArtfixDaily / March 20th, 2013

A Northern Song Dynasty bowl reportedly bought at a garage sale for $3 soared to $2.2 million on Tuesday at a Sotheby's sale in New York.

Rediscovered Rembrandt Worth $30 Million

ArtfixDaily / March 19th, 2013

A portrait long thought to be by a Rembrandt student has now been deemed to be by the 17th-century Dutch master himself, catapulting the value of the painting to about $30 million.

TEFAF Plans New Art Fair in China with Sotheby's

ArtfixDaily / March 19th, 2013

TEFAF has announced that it has entered into exclusive discussions with Sotheby’s to explore the possibilities of developing a high-end art fair for China, via Sotheby’s Joint Venture in Beijing with GeHua in 2014.

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.

C.M. Russell Auction of Western Art Wrangles Top Prices

ArtfixDaily / March 17th, 2013

The Russell: the Auction to Benefit the C.M. Russell Museum boasted 220 lots on the auction block, with preliminary estimates indicating the sale raised slightly over $3.1 million Saturday, a total just above last year's.

TEFAF Reports U.S. Return to Top of Art Market

ArtfixDaily / March 14th, 2013

The seemingly unstoppable growth of the Chinese art and antiques market came to a halt as it shrank by almost a quarter during 2012 enabling the United States to resume its traditional place as the world’s biggest market, reveals a report published on March 14, at the opening of The European Fine ...

Cy Twombly Foundation in Turmoil Over Lawsuits

ArtfixDaily / March 14th, 2013

A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges two board members of the Cy Twombly Foundation, which was established to promote the American painter’s works and legacy, erroneously collected $300,000 in fees from the charity.

All of Audubon's Birds on view at New-York Historical Society

ArtfixDaily / March 13th, 2013

A colorful and historically significant group of 474 bird watercolors by John James Audubon will be on view from the collection of the New-York Historical Society for the first time.

Stolen Rembrandt Surfaces in Serbia

ArtfixDaily / March 12th, 2013

Earlier this week, the Brooklyn Museum announced that it would be hosting two Rembrandt masterworks from a private collection. Following this news, Serbian police recovered