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Legal battle brews over Allan Stone estate
New York Post / June 21st, 2011
Clare Stone, the widow of Manhattan art dealer and ardent collector Allan Stone, is suing the executor of his $300 million estate. When he died in 2006, Allan Stone left his estate, including works by such artists as Willem de Kooning, Wayne Thiebaud, and Andy Warhol, in a trust for his ...
Winslow Homer watercolor sparks dispute
The Independent / June 21st, 2011
An 1885 watercolor by American artist Winslow Homer was found in a trash pile by a fisherman and his daughter in Ireland in the 1980s. They discovered it was worth around £150,000, and consigned it to a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2009. After the auction catalog came out, the painting's ...
Stradivarius violin soars to record $15.9 million
ArtfixDaily / June 20th, 2011
A Stradivarius violin from 1721 sold to an anonymous bidder for a record price of £9,808,000 ($15,894,000) in an online auction on Monday. All of the proceeds from the sale will go directly to aid victims of Japan's earthquake and tsunami. Dubbed ‘Lady Blunt’ for its thirty-year ...
Basel buyers bring back art boom
Bloomberg / June 19th, 2011
Top-dollar works by Mark Rothko, Maurizio Cattelan, and Anish Kapoor were among the sales from Art Basel's $1.7 billion worth of 20th-21st century art. The annual Swiss pilgrimage of art world VIPs closed with exhibitors comparing the five-day fair to the pre-2008 art boom. According to ...
Iconic Marilyn Monroe dress snags $5.6 million at auction
Reuters / June 19th, 2011
Marilyn Monroe's ivory, pleated ‘subway’ dress from "The Seven-Year Itch" swelled high above its presale estimate of $1-2 million to fetch a hammer price of $4.6 million ($5.6 million including commission) at a weekend auction in Beverly Hills. Auctioneer Profiles in History also sold Monroe's ...
Wal-mart heiress set to share art from Crystal Bridges museum
New York Times / June 16th, 2011
For a decade, Alice Walton, of the Wal-mart fortune, has quietly planned and astutely acquired artwork for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that she is building in her Midwestern hometown. With the just 35,000 residents, Bentonville, Arkansas, will soon host a museum twice the size of ...
Big crowds, brisk sales at Art Basel
Daily Beast / June 15th, 2011
Elbows were flying as crowds descended upon the VIP preview of Art Basel in Switzerland early this week. Showcasing $1.75 billion worth of modern and contemporary art from 300 top-tier galleries, the 42nd edition of the fair may host upwards of 60,000 people through June 19. It was a buying ...
Stanford to receive major collection of 20th c. American art
ArtfixDaily / June 14th, 2011
Stanford University will be given a significant donation of 121 paintings and sculpture, including some of the foremost examples of post-World War II American art, from a Bay Area family. With the addition of key works such as Jackson Pollock's "Lucifer" to its holdings, the gift places Stanford ...
"New England Impressionists Rediscovered" opens at renovated Fruitlands Museum
Milford Daily News / June 13th, 2011
In Harvard, Mass., Fruitlands Museum has opened a rich exhibit of New England paintings, featuring 55 exquisite examples of impressionism by John Joseph Enneking, Frederick Childe Hassam, Daniel F. Santry, Oliver Chaffee, Helen Sawyer, and others.
Art Basel extravaganza begins
ArtfixDaily / June 13th, 2011
On the heels of the Venice Biennale opening, where contemporary art is on exhibit-only through Nov. 27, the 42nd edition of Art Basel takes it stand as the place to buy, from June 15 through June 19, 2011. More than $1.75 billion worth of art is set to tempt billionaire buyers as well as new ...
Claes Oldenburg sculpture to adorn Philadelphia's new Lenfest Plaza
ArtfixDaily / June 11th, 2011
In late August, a towering 53-foot high sculpture of a paintbrush with illuminated bristles, created by world-renowned American artist Claes Oldenburg, will make its home at the start of Philadelphia's expanding "Museum Mile." The monumental sculpture, titled Paint Torch, will be installed on ...
Mogul Sam Zell claims $5.8 million art loss
Courthouse News / June 9th, 2011
Chicago real estate tycoon Sam Zell says a Los Angeles art dealer with whom he consigned three artworks, sold the pieces and then spent the money without paying him a dime. Samuel and Helen Zell received an insurance settlement of $5,775,000 for the loss. In turn, Chubb Indemnity Insurance has ...
World's largest collection of iconic Hollywood costumes at auction
ArtfixDaily / June 5th, 2011
Perhaps the most famous costume in screen history, Marilyn Monroe's ‘subway’ dress from The Seven-Year Itch comes to the auction block this June with an estimated value of $1-2 million. The two-part sale, to be held in June and Dec. 2011, by California-based dealer Profiles in History, ...
Steve Martin scammed in $48-million art forgery-ring
Business Insider / June 5th, 2011
German authorities are investigating a group of art forgers responsible for a multi-million-dollar art scam with victims that include actor Steve Martin. Art experts, Christie's auction house, reputable Parisian galleries, and collectors were duped by...
Gagosian Gallery debuts interactive iPad app
Huffington Post / June 2nd, 2011
Mega-sized art dealership Gagosian Gallery is launching a free and interactive iPad app this month. Users can read artist biographies, reviews, news and events, browse exhibitions.
Antiques dealer Albert M. Sack remembered
New York Times / June 1st, 2011
Albert M. Sack, the legendary dealer of American antiques who penned the influential collecting guide, "Fine Points of American Furniture: Good, Better, Best,” died on Sunday in Durham, N.C. He was 96.
The Real Deal: 'Finding Van Dyke' exhibition unfolds at Philip Mould
ArtfixDaily / May 31st, 2011
Philip Mould has an eye for authenticity. As one of the world’s leading specialists in Old Master paintings and an authority on British portraiture, Mould is sharing his expertise in an innovative and revealing exhibition opening this June in London. Located in the heart of fashionable Mayfair, ...
French wine, Chinese art soar to $106m at Christie's
Bloomberg / May 30th, 2011
The weeklong series of sales held by Christie's in Hong Kong began on a high note with a total of HK$821.2 million ($106 million) spurred by a demand for vintage bottles of Chateau Latour and modern Chinese paintings. Totals for the first three days of sales were up by 40% over equivalent ...
Hong Kong fair stokes contemporary art market in Asia
Bloomberg / May 25th, 2011
About 50,000 people are expected to attend HK ART 11, the fourth edition of the Hong Kong International Art Fair, from May 25 to 29, featuring a vast selection of contemporary art by the likes of Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Roy Lichtenstein, Yan Pei-Ming, and ...
Copper heiress Huguette Clark dies at 104
MSNBC / May 24th, 2011
The mysterious recluse and heir to a copper fortune, Huguette Clark, died at age 104 on Tuesday morning in a New York City hospital. After decades of living in obscurity, Clark captured media attention last year when MSNBC reported on her immense wealth, her three unoccupied residences valued ...