ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

UK Puts Temporary Export Ban on Parmigianino

Guardian / February 12th, 2017

The UK government has placed a temporary export bar on a 16th-century masterpiece to allow time for a UK-based buyer to come up with £24.5m ($30 million). The J. Paul Getty Museum announced in August its intention to acquire Parmigianino's exquisite "The Virgin and Child with Saint Mary ...

Oprah Reportedly Sold Gustav Klimt Painting for $150 Million

Bloomberg / February 8th, 2017

Bloomberg's Katya Kazakina reports that billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey sold a Gustav Klimt masterpiece for $150 million to a Chinese buyer in 2016, according to an anonymous source with knowledge of the deal. Oprah bought “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” for an artist auction record ...

At Trial, Co-Defendant Claims He Tossed $100 Million in Stolen Art

Guardian / January 31st, 2017

Five paintings by the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Léger and Braque were stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris almost seven years ago. A trial began Monday for three co-defendants in the 2010 heist, one of the biggest art thefts in history. Yonathan Birn tearfully claimed ...

From Trump Plates to Chippendale Chairs, A Range of Works in Antiques Week 2017

Antiques and the Arts Weekly / January 18th, 2017

Americana collectors and "best of the best" object seekers will head to events during Antiques Week 2017 underway now in New York City. Antiques and the Arts Weekly (aka "The Bee") has published this guide to the week's events, exhibitions, shows, lectures, auctions and more. (The action ...

Wildenstein Patriarch Cleared in Tax Fraud Case

BBC / January 12th, 2017

A French judge cleared art dealer Guy Wildenstein and seven other defendants of trying to conceal hundreds of millions of euros in assets, including paintings and international properties from French tax authorities. Even while the judge conceded that a "clear attempt" was made to hide assets, ...

Polish Government Reveals Plan to Acquire $2-Billion Collection With Leonardo Masterwork

AFD / December 15th, 2016

The Polish government announced Wednesday an intention to acquire the 15th-century Leonardo da Vinci masterwork, "Lady with an Ermine", as part of a deal for a two-century-old collection estimated to be worth two billion dollars. The collection resides in the National Museum in Krakow and is ...

London Developer Leaves $490M in Art, Cars to Britain

Telegraph / December 14th, 2016

One of the biggest charitable bequests in British history has come from the estate of a property magnate who built the landmark Centre Point tower in London. Harry Hyams, who died last year at age 87, has left £387m ($498.34m) of his £487m estate for Britain to preserve his extensive collection ...

Art Dealer's Heirs Sue Bavaria in New York Court

Reuters / December 6th, 2016

Heirs of a German Jewish art dealer filed a complaint against Bavaria on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Michael Hulton, a San Francisco doctor, and his stepmother Penny Helton, of Hertfordshire, England, claim that eight paintings owned by Alfred Flechtheim - before he ...

Long-Fought Case Over Contested Pissarro Masterpiece Hits Federal Appeals Court

AP / December 5th, 2016

A 16-year battle over an Impressionist masterpiece once looted by the Nazis went to a federal appeals court in Pasadena on Monday. Decades ago, the painting was exchanged for exit visas by Lilly Cassirer and her husband so that they could flee the Holocaust. The Jewish couple fled ...

Competition for Van Gogh Lookalike Surfaces Living Doppelgänger

I am Vincent / November 27th, 2016

An artist put out a call for a Vincent Van Gogh lookalike to pose for a sculpture commission. Some 1,250 entries from 37 countries pored in and 500,000 votes cast, ultimately selecting a red-headed Englishman named Daniel Baker. An actor, Baker seems to be the spitting image of the famed ...

De Kooning Snags Record $66.3 Million, Richter's War Jet Gets $25.6 Million at NYC Auctions

AP / November 16th, 2016

From Willem de Kooning’s most productive periods, “Untitled XXV” set a new auction record for a work by the abstract expressionist artist at $66.3 million at Christie's contemporary art sale Tuesday evening in New York. The sale total brought a solid $277 million. When the painting was ...

Van Gogh Museum Refutes Rediscovered Arles Sketchbook

CBC / November 16th, 2016

Canadian art historian Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov's new publication Vincent van Gogh: The Lost Arles Sketchbook (Abrams) was unveiled in Paris on Tuesday. But with all the fanfare, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was notably not on board with the supposed discovery of some 65 ...

Munch Painting Brings $54 Million at Sotheby's

AP / November 14th, 2016

“My pictures are not art, but life itself.” - Edvard Munch A seminal work by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch brought over $54 million at Sotheby’s auction of impressionist and modern art on Monday. In a statement, Sotheby's described "a buoyant atmosphere in the saleroom" for the sale in New York ...

This Week's New York Auctions Test Post-Election Mood

New York Times / November 13th, 2016

Cautious sellers put few masterworks on the market during this U.S. Presidential election season. Top-tier works that are hitting auction floors this week for the big sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art in New York will test the post-election mood --- albeit at the very high end ...

Art Institute Chicago and Cleveland Museum of Art Played Artful World Series

Ohio.com / November 2nd, 2016

After six games led to a tie, the final game of the World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs dragged on with a rain delay on Wed. night. For the Cubs, victory came with a 8-7 win. The whole suspenseful series also played out most artfully between the Cleveland Museum of Art and ...

American Couple Donates $281 Million Art Collection to France's Musee d'Orsay

France24 / October 23rd, 2016

American businessman Spencer Hays and his wife Marlene have donated their exceptional 600-piece collection of French art dating from the late 19th to early 20th century -- worth $281 million -- to Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The Hayses, both 80, have been married for 60 years and collecting art since ...

Art Dealer Claims Ownership of Monet Seized in Billion-Dollar 1MDB Scandal

IBT / October 20th, 2016

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to seize $1-billion of assets connected to Malaysia's state-run fund 1MDB after an investigation began into corruption. Eleven luxury properties in the U.S., along with shell companies and bank accounts, allegedly connected to embezzled funds, are linked ...

The Monet Cookbook Gives a Taste of Giverny Living

ArtfixDaily / October 18th, 2016

From Potato Pie to Strawberry Mousse, French impressionist Claude Monet “appreciated simple dishes made of fresh ingredients and prepared according to very basic yet authentic principles,” writes Florence Gentner, a museum consultant and author who has just published The Monet Cookbook: ...

French Prosecutors Urge Jail Time, Massive Fine for Art Dealer Wildenstein

Bloomberg / October 13th, 2016

In closing arguments, French prosecutors urged a 4-year prison sentence and a steep fine be paid by art dealer Guy Wildenstein who is on trial with his nephew Alec, Jr., in a massive tax evasion and money laundering case. He is accused of hiding hundreds of millions of euros in offshore trusts to ...

Rijksmuseum Gives Awards for the Best Riffs On Its Masterpieces

ArtfixDaily / October 13th, 2016

The Dutch national museum is holding its annual competition for the best "forgery." Entrants can copy an Old Master in a new way or be inspired in any imaginable medium--from food to wood to fragrance to film--by artwork in the collection of Netherland's Rijksmuseum. The three-year-old program ...