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Records Smashed at Christie's Contemporary Art Sale
New York Times / June 27th, 2012
In London on Wednesday, post-war and contemporary art totaled $207.3 million, against an estimate of $160.1 million to $216.9 million, the highest total ever in the category for Christie’s in Europe. Collectors, primarily from...
Shake-up Propels Artnet Forward
Businessweek / June 26th, 2012
German-based art market platform Artnet has announced its longtime CEO, Hans Neuendorf, will be stepping down as of July 1. “It’s a good thing, though!” said Neuendorf to Businessweek. “The new generation is taking over.“ Meanwhile, two shareholders are hovering...
Dubai Returns as Top Contender for Contemporary Art
Reuters / June 21st, 2012
Dubai has seemed unstoppable in recent years, establishing itself as a center of finance, trade and tourism. Prior to 2008, it looked ready to take the art world by storm...
Record-breaking Miro Leads London Sales
ArtfixDaily / June 20th, 2012
As auction season winds down, the Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale fizzled into summer with only a few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing evening in London. A record was broken with Spanish Surrealist artist Joan Miro’s painting “Blue Star” from 1927, which slammed through the high ...
Vandal Defaces Picasso at Menil Collection
ArtfixDaily / June 19th, 2012
At Houston's Menil Collection, a supposed “up and coming Mexican-American artist,” (this according to a witness,) has defaced Picasso’s “Woman in a Red Armchair,” from 1929. Last week, the perpetrator, using a...
Major Collectors Drive Sales at Art Basel Amid Global Economic Woes
ArtfixDaily / June 18th, 2012
The 43rd edition of Art Basel, the world’s largest modern and contemporary art fair, managed to be an unquestionable success despite taking place at a time when most of the world is suffering from economic jitters.
Training Program Launched to Help Recover Looted Art
Washington Post / June 17th, 2012
In Berlin last week, experts from museums, auction houses and government agencies gathered as part of an international effort to train art-world professionals in recovering looted art. Though World War II ended nearly 70 years ago, millions of plundered objects remain at large.
The Rise of Private Art Sales
Barrons / June 13th, 2012
Partly based on a fear of getting their art and antiques "burned" by overexposure on the auction market, sellers increasingly are turning toward private sales, reports Barron's. Often reserved for special clients, private sales earned...
Feds Step Up Search for Art Stolen from Gardner Museum
Boston.com / June 13th, 2012
A new public awareness campaign will be launched by Federal officials investigating the infamous 1990 art heist at Boston's Gardner Museum. Following the detainment last year of...
Study Shows Treasures Bought for Pleasure More Than Profit
Barclays / June 12th, 2012
In a year of record-breaking auctions, it seems clear that the affluent are becoming more interested in putting their money into tangible, and often showy, assets. The world's multimillionaires are devoting an average of 9.6 percent of their fortunes to non-financial assets like art, jewelry and cars, a new survey by Barclays Wealth shows. This is especially true of...
Rothko Rules at Art Basel's 43rd Edition
Forbes / June 11th, 2012
From a private Swiss collection, a simmering burnt orange and pale pink canvas painted in 1954 by Mark Rothko is already touted as a star at this year's Art Basel.
Basel Boasts $2 Billion in Art for Sale
Businessweek / June 10th, 2012
In Switzerland, nearly $2 billion worth of art from 300 top-tier international galleries is up for sale this week. Richter, Calder, Twombly and Hirst are among the big-names with big price tags lining booths at Art Basel, the world's biggest and oldest modern and contemporary art fair. Among the highlights is...
Huntington Adds Rauschenberg to Collection
ArtfixDaily / June 10th, 2012
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens near Pasadena, Calif., long known for its collection of nineteenth-century English portraits, has made a foray into the post-war era by purchasing a work by Robert Rauschenberg.
Getty Offers Online Search Platform for Art History
LA Times / June 7th, 2012
Full text versions of books related to art history are available free of charge on a new website launched by the Getty in May. The Getty Research Portal is aggregating digital content from multiple sources...
Modern Chinese Painting Fetches $46 Million at Beijing Auction
Jing Daily / June 6th, 2012
A painting inspired by a poem written by Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1925 demanded a hefty 293.25 million yuan ($46 million) at a Chinese auction over the weekend. “Wan Shan Hong Bian” ("Thousands of Hills in A Crimsoned View”), painted in 1964, by...
Richter's Art Rises in a New Retrospective
ArtfixDaily / June 5th, 2012
German artist Gerhard Richter, whose auction sales totaled $200 million last year, has been given a retrospective at the Centre-Pompidou in Paris. The exhibit, spanning the 50 plus years of the artist’s career, is the largest exhibit of Richter’s work to date and follows steeply rising auction ...
Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective is a Summer Hit
The Washington Post / June 4th, 2012
A 1964 Life Magazine article titled “Is he the worst artist in the U.S.?” featured Roy Lichtenstein's first Pop painting, Look Mickey (1961). Shocking audiences five decades ago was his ground-breaking use of pop culture and advertising imagery, mixing high and low art.
Manhattan's Museum Mile Festival Exhibits Art for All
ArtfixDaily / June 3rd, 2012
On June 12, part of New York's Fifth Avenue is blocked off from cars and several museums are open to the public for free. Now in its 33rd year, the Museum Mile Festival is expected to draw between 40,000 and 50,000 people.
Woman Gets Probation for Attack on Abstract Artwork
Reuters / May 31st, 2012
An intoxicated woman who attacked a $30 million painting by American abstract expressionist Clyfford Still will get probation and undergo mental health treatment, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
Why the Art Market Ascends Despite Global Economic Woes
New York Times / May 30th, 2012
Eleven of the 20 highest prices ever paid at auction have occurred since 2008, when the global economy all but collapsed, reports the New York Times. Did the $120 million Edvard Munch, followed by a near-$87 million Mark Rothko sold earlier this month signal the end of a fine-art bubble?