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Van Gogh's Twin debuts in Spring 2011
Herald Scotland / December 9th, 2010
After telling his woes to famously-troubled Vincent van Gogh, and in return being offered a suicide pact, Alexander Reid had to tactfully exit his close friend's life. Before that, Reid, a Scottish art dealer and artist, was painted at least twice by van Gogh with whom he shared an uncanny ...
Chippendale commode, Roman bust soar at auction
ArtfixDaily / December 8th, 2010
Dominating auction news on Tuesday was the record-setting sale of Audubon's Birds of America which reached $11.5 million, making it the most expensive book in the world. Dec. 7 was a banner day for Sotheby's as superb pieces in other categories, offered in London and New York, also catapulted ...
News Briefs: Audubon fetches $11.5 million; Getty loses goddess
ArtfixDaily / December 7th, 2010
A rare first edition copy of John James Audubon’s masterpiece “Birds of America,” which includes 435 hand-colored illustrations, sold at Sotheby's in London Tuesday night for 7.3 million pounds ($11.5 million), a record for any printed work. Paying well above the previous record of $8.8 million ...
Sales highlights from Miami art fairs
ArtfixDaily / December 6th, 2010
The December art fairs in Miami, along with their accompanying revelries, wound down on Sunday. This year, following the more deflated tone of 2009, a record number of art enthusiasts, collectors and museum representatives attended and they were in a serious, yet cautious spending mood, according ...
Hong Kong sales reach record heights
wall Street Journal / December 5th, 2010
Art, jewellery, wine and Chinese antiques were snapped up by eager buyers at a series of sales in Hong Kong last week. Christie's raked in $409 million, a season record total for Hong Kong, the world's third largest auction center following New York and London. About 80% of buyers were from ...
$4.2 million Edmund Tarbell painting tops American art sales
ArtfixDaily / December 2nd, 2010
Sotheby's netted the most during the week of American paintings auctions in New York with a total of $27,010,125 (prices include buyer's premiums) for 133 lots on Dec. 2. Ruling the day was the cover lot, Boston School artist Edmund Tarbell's idyllic seaside scene of ...
Quick tour of the new wing at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
ArtfixDaily / December 1st, 2010
With only three hours to take in the magnificent, $504 million-dollar Art of the Americas Wing addition to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, first impressions made all the difference. Beginning in the clean-lined and airy Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard, an impressive new feature ...
Miami art fairs, events set to sizzle
ArtfixDaily / November 30th, 2010
Miami Arts Week is in full swing through Dec. 5. Among the fair highlights, model Kate Moss has curated a collection of fashion photographs (of herself), with prices starting at $75,000, at PULSE; 20th-century Cuban modernists anchor the booth of Cernuda Arte, a new exhibitor at Art Basel Miami ...
Major Picasso discovery sparks legal action
Aol news / November 29th, 2010
A retired French electrician has been questioned by police after coming foward with an undocumented cache of 271 works by Pablo Picasso. The find is valued at $80 million. Pierre Le Guennec, 71, and his wife, approached the estate of Picasso with a request to authenticate the works. The ...
Art Basel Miami Beach returns with high expectations
Wall Street Journal / November 28th, 2010
Buoyed by confidence stemming from recent strong sales at New York's contemporary art auctions, dealers clamored to exhibit in the current edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. Booth applications rose by 20% over last year. There will be blue-chip 20th-century art offerings, but dealers are also ...
Mark Twain manuscript, memoir captivate audiences
ArtfixDaily / November 21st, 2010
Mark Twain's autobiography---a massive 500,000 words---was published this month after 100 years have passed since his death, per his instructions. The University of California Press edition is flying off bookshelves as readers are intent on discovering more about the inner life and thoughts of ...
Steve Martin's "An Object of Beauty" debuts Nov. 23
New York Times / November 18th, 2010
Mega art dealer Larry Gagosian and legendary 20th-century artist Maxfield Parrish figure largely in a new novel by actor-writer-musician-comedian Steve Martin. Set to be released on Tues., "An Object of Beauty" is a sketch of the New York art world inspired by Martin's own experience while ...
Autodesk aids sculptors in art-making
ArtfixDaily / November 18th, 2010
Today's sculptors may have an advantage over Michelangelo. CAD technology can provide a hidden tool in the production of art. The result is an art object with no hint of its machine-assisted background. The artist benefits from the ability to make virtual mistakes without wasting precious ...
Houston to host new international art fair in 2011
Houston Chronicle / November 17th, 2010
Organizers of art fairs in the Hamptons, N.Y.; Aspen, Colo.; and San Francisco have selected Houston, Texas, as their next venue. Hamptons Expo Group hopes to draw about 10,000 visitors for the inaugural Houston Fine Art Fair to be held Sept. 15-18 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. ...
Pink diamond pounded down for record $46 million at auction
ArtfixDaily / November 16th, 2010
London jewelry dealer Laurence Graff phoned in the winning bid of 45.4 million francs ($45.6 million) for a rare pink diamond in Geneva on Tues. Its pre-sale estimate of 38 million francs was soundly surpassed to secure an auction record price for a gem. Sotheby's total take for the Magnificent ...
Louvre appeals to public for €4m acquisition
ArtfixDaily / November 16th, 2010
The Louvre museum in Paris is quite specific when seeking the public's help to achieve fundraising goals. The current appeal is for one million euros to complete the 4 million euros needed to buy Lucas Cranach the Elders's "The Three Graces."
Meissen among treasures in Christie's Nov. 23 sale
ARTFIXdaily's ArtWire / November 15th, 2010
The year 2010 marks the tri-centenary of the Meissen Porcelain Factory (1710-2010). This accomplishment alone is a standing testament to the ingenuity and creative fervor of its craftsmen. Located in eastern Germany, Meissen was the first place in Europe to produce high quality porcelain ...
"Sargent and Impressionism" exhibit on view in New York
NY1 / November 15th, 2010
An outstanding selection of John Singer Sargent's oils and works on paper, each dating from between 1883 and 1889, is on view in "Sargent and Impressionism" at Adelson Galleries in Manhattan. Among the highlights are two beautiful oil sketches...
£53 million Chinese vase smashes record
Daily Mail / November 14th, 2010
A dusty antique vase sat on a wobbly bookshelf in a modest home outside of London since the 1930s, until it sold at Bainbridge's auction for an incredible £53 million on Nov. 11. The 16-inch tall 1740 Qianlong dynasty vase with a fish motif is the most expensive piece of Chinese porcelain ...
Preview the new wing at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston Globe / November 14th, 2010
The much-anticipated $500 million Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is set to open to the puplic on Saturday, Nov. 20. Admission is free that day. The 53 new galleries, designed by Foster + Partners, holds about 5,000 works from the museum’s American collections, more ...