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Billionaire Berggruen Gives Art Collection to Los Angeles
ArtfixDaily / January 15th, 2012
Billionaire and art collector Nicolas Berggruen is planning on sending several works to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for long-term loan. Forgoing the idea of building a museum in Berlin, Berggruen is choosing instead to build a collection for...
"America's Lost Treasure" TV Show Offers Cash Prizes
ArtfixDaily / January 15th, 2012
Joining the ever widening ranks of television shows centered on the idea that a family heirloom may in fact be of profound historical significance, not to mention be worth a bundle, is National Geographic’s “America’s Lost Treasure.“ The ten-episode series is a sort of hybrid of the PBS ...
Chinese Artist Dethrones Picasso as Top Auction Earner
Bloomberg via San Francisco Chronicle / January 12th, 2012
Sales of works by Picasso have ranked the modern master as the world auction market's leading earner for most years since 1997, and until 2011. Chinese artist Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) now claims the top slot with $506.7 million in aggregated auction revenue, followed by...
Record Amount of Fine Wine Sold in 2011
Wine Spectator / January 11th, 2012
The price per lot has fallen flat, but a record amount of fine and rare wine, totaling $478 million, was sold in 2011, up 17 percent from 2010, according to sales results from the major auction houses. Hong Kong was the driving force...
Guggenheim Foundation Hopes to Open Helsinki Location
ArtfixDaily / January 11th, 2012
The Guggenheim Foundation unveiled plans to open its tenth museum worldwide, and fourth European museum, in Helsinki, Finland. The museum is to be located on the site of a former ship terminal in Helsinki Harbor, with the intention of opening in 2018. The proposal is still...
Nuns Lose $51 Million Lawsuit Over Painting
Antiques and the Arts / January 10th, 2012
A long-standing lawsuit over the sale of a 19th-century painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau has been lost by New York State-based Catholic nuns who sued a Santa Fe, N.M., art dealer and a local art appraiser. In 2008, the nuns claimed that dealer...
Mondrian, Picasso Among Artworks Stolen From Greece's National Gallery
ArtfixDaily / January 9th, 2012
In the early hours of Monday morning, thieves struck Greece's largest museum, the National Art Gallery in Athens. Around 5 a.m. a lone guard spotted a silhouette after an alarm was tripped, and went to investigate, discovering one of the thieves who chose to discard a painting by Dutch artist ...
Georgia Museum of Art Receives Significant Collection of African American Art
ArtfixDaily / January 8th, 2012
A former US District attorney and his wife, who is a clinical psychologist, have made a tremendous donation to the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, with the promise of more to come. Renowned African-American artists such as Henry Ossawa Tanner, Romare Bearden...
“Lansdowne Dionysus” Returns to Santa Barbara Museum of Art
ArtfixDaily / January 4th, 2012
Acquired in 2009, the “Lansdowne Dionysus” returns to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) after a sojourn at the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Antiquities Conservation Department. The over life-size fragment weighs in at over 900 lbs and dates from somewhere between 100-150 CE. As the statue ...
Attacker Faces Charges for Damaging $40 Million Clyfford Still Painting
ArtfixDaily / January 5th, 2012
A painting valued at $30 million to $40 million was attacked by a woman at the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver on Dec. 29. Carmen Lucette Tisch, 36, of Denver was arrested for allegedly being drunk and punching...
Helen Frankenthaler, Abstract Expressionist, Remembered
ArtfixDaily / January 4th, 2012
Painter and printmaker Helen Frankenthaler passed away December 27, 2012, at the age of 83. Six decades ago, Frankenthaler broke onto the New York art scene with her painting “Mountains and Sea.” Later, she would use acrylic paint instead of oils for her monumental canvases, such as “The Bay” ...
Crystal Bridges Museum Named One of World's "Hottest Travel Destinations of 2012"
AP / January 4th, 2012
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, founded by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heiress Alice Walton in remote Bentonville, Arkansas, has attracted about 90,000 visitors since it opened in November. The museum was the only U.S. location listed in...
World War II Posters Get an App
Unbeige blog on mediabistro / January 3rd, 2012
Britain's Imperial War Museum has launched a free new app featuring striking World War II posters. From a collection of 20,000, a select 30 posters can be explored in depth on the iPhone or iPad. Marked by bold designs, humor, memorable slogans and patriotism, these vintage graphic designs include such classics as 'Keep Calm and Carry On'...
Artprice Enters Online Auction Arena
ArtfixDaily / January 3rd, 2012
French-owned Artprice, the art information and price database website, will launch its online auctions in a competitive market space this month. Online auction service will commence on January 18 with a 100% guarantee of security and payment for parties in all transactions as well as low ...
Art Trading Returned to Peak Levels in 2011, Says Skates
Skates / January 2nd, 2012
Art trading volumes grew close to $80 billion for 2011, achieving peak levels previously seen in 2006-2007, according to Skates Annual Art Investment Report. The figure was boosted by over 2,000 transactions completed on the auction market involving artworks priced at $1 million or more per work, and a similar number of high-end sales completed by galleries and during art fairs...
Titanic Mega-Lot Heads to Auction
ArtfixDaily / January 1st, 2012
As the 100th anniversary of the inaugural run and subsequent sinking of the RMS Titanic approaches, Guernsey’s auction house in New York prepares to sell off more than 5,500 items from the ill-fated ship. Part of a single collection, the huge grouping will be auctioned as one lot on April ...
Audubon May Soar to Record Price in 2012; Top Book Lots at 2011 Auctions
AE Monthly / January 1st, 2012
An elephant folio first edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America was the most expensive book sold at auction in 2010 and, at well over $11 million, sold for the highest price ever for a book. On January 20, 2012, bidders will again have a chance...
Happy Holidays from ARTFIXdaily
ArtfixDaily / December 22nd, 2011
Dear Readers, ARTFIXDaily will be closed from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30 for site maintenance and upgrades. The subscriber e-newsletter and online news feed service will not be published during the closure. ArtGuild members may still sign in to contribute content...
100 Picasso Etchings Recently Donated to British Museum
ArtfixDaily / December 22nd, 2011
Picasso's 100 Vollard etchings which document his love affair with Marie-Therese Walter have been donated to the British Museum. The suite of etchings, which was commissioned by Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard, often depicts Picasso as a bull-headed minotaur with the young Marie-Therese. This ...
Auction Hits and Misses of 2011
Mutual Art / December 21st, 2011
The year's biggest auction sales, flops and surprises are compiled by MutualArt along with the 20 best-selling artists worldwide. Topping the artists' list with $376 million in sales is Andy Warhol. A massive cache of 821 Warhols sold from 1,049 total offered at auction in 2011. ...