ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Norwegian Museum Puts Provenance on Display After Matisse Restitution

NYTimes / September 29th, 2015

Visitors to the exhibition, “In Search of Matisse,” which runs until Dec. 13 at the Henie Onstad art museum near Oslo, will not be seeing one of the museum's prized Matisses. The 1937 painting “Blue Dress in a Yellow Armchair" was returned last year to the heirs of French art dealer Paul ...

France Drops $89M Bid to Keep One Rembrandt Portrait from Rothschild Collection

Bloomberg / September 28th, 2015

Just days after the Netherlands announced it had the financing ready to repatriate two full-length portraits by Rembrandt van Rijn, France countered with a bid for just one of the pair. France's Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin said the Bank of France would offer 80 million euros ...

Constable's Personal Version of The Lock Hits the Auction Block

Telegraph / September 27th, 2015

John Constable was at the height of his career when he showed a series of ethereal landscapes, including "The Hay Wain," at the Royal Academy in 1824. 'The Lock' sold immediately and when Constable returned to his studio, he recreated the painting to keep for himself. That second version ...

Lawsuits Over Authentication Are Silencing Artists' Foundations

Fortune / September 24th, 2015

While the European Fine Art Foundation estimated a robust $57.3 billion in global art sales last year, the number of fake artworks on the market  and hanging in museums could also be on the rise, reports Fortune. One reason is that art experts and authenticators are less ...

Old is New Again in New York Pop-Up Exhibition

T, The New York Times Style Magazine / September 23rd, 2015

Four renowned European antiques dealers are betting that American collectors are ready for fresh objects of desire. With eye-catching displays, they are looking to cultivate an interest in historical objects and centuries-old art with a new generation of American collectors ...

Nazi Gold Train Finders Claim 'Priceless' Amber Room Could Be Inside

Daily Mail / September 23rd, 2015

Two treasure hunters who say research led them to the site in Poland where a Nazi train supposedly laden with unknown documents and valuables is buried in a tunnel have a new claim. The pair says the long-lost Amber Room stolen from the Russian czars could be on board the ...

Footage from 1915 Shows Monet, Degas, Rodin and Renoir Just as You Pictured Them

OpenCulture / September 23rd, 2015

A motion picture camera in 1915 captured France's most famous artists in short vignettes that expose their everyday lives. Clips posted together recently by Open Culture show the artists both at work and promenading around Paris in their twilight years. Degas is shown in his 80s ...

Rediscovered Rembrandt?: Bidders Pursue $800 Painting to $870,000

Art History News / September 23rd, 2015

A reader of Bendor Grosvenor's Art History News spotted a painting at Nye & Co.Auctioneers in New Jersey that on Tuesday soared beyond its estimate of $500-$800 to fetch $870,000. Internet buzz ensued around the opinion that the work was by Dutch master Rembrandt, specifically ...

Dutch Government and Rijksmuseum Near Closing Deal For Rothschild Rembrandts

Reuters / September 21st, 2015

Two Rembrandt portraits in the collections of France's Rothschild family are under final negotiations to be purchased by the Dutch government and the national Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The 160 million euro ($185 million) price tag is reported to be nearly financed for the ...

"Holy Grail" of Modigliani Nudes Headlines Christie's Nov. Sale

Bloomberg / September 3rd, 2015

UPDATE: HAMMERED DOWN FOR $152 MILLION Christie's is banking on a nude by Amedeo Modigliani to fetch a record price in the coming fall sale series. Financial markets will be tested following a summer of turmoil when Modigliani’s 1917 “Nu Couche (Reclining Nude)” heads to ...

Crocker Art Museum Acquires Portrait of 18th-c. French Artist Anne Vallayer-Coster

BizJournal / August 27th, 2015

Among 400 new acquisitions last year to the Crocker Art Museum collections is a significant addition of 18th-century French portraiture. Swiss-born artist Alexandre Roslin's 1783 portrait depciting fellow painter Anne Vallayer-Coster with her brush and palette in hand is now ...

Museum Mishaps: Kids Accidentally Break Baroque Painting, 2,000-Year-Old Vase in Separate Incidents

Haaretz / August 25th, 2015

Two kids had their worst museum visits ever this week. A 12-year-old boy on a school field trip to Taipei's Huashan 1914 Creative Park tripped and accidentally punched a hole through a Paolo Porpora floral still-life valued at $1.5 million.  The work was a casualty on the group's ...

Singapore Unfreezes Assets of Sued Art Dealer Yves Bouvier

The Local / August 25th, 2015

In an August 21 order, the Singapore High Court  lifted a freeze on the assets of the Swiss "king of freeports" and art dealer Yves Bouvier that were imposed earlier this year. Bouvier, a Singapore resident, had been accused of fraud by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.  ...

Palace of Versailles Moves Forward with Hotel Plans

Independent / August 18th, 2015

Three 17th-century buildings just 100 yards from the main palace of Versailles will be renovated and converted into a luxury hotel. The renovation is expected to cost at least $7 million. Dips in funding for the state-owned Chateau de Versailles has the popular site needing to increase ...

New Director of National Gallery London Steps In While Staff Strikes Continue

Telegraph / August 17th, 2015

Gabriele Finaldi took over the head position at the National Gallery London on Monday. Instead of easing into the museum director position during what should be the lull of August holiday time, Finaldi will find himself at the center of continuing protest and strikes over the privatization of the ...

The Vatican Launches App for Crowdfunding Restorations

The Guardian / August 17th, 2015

Not all are in favor of the Vatican Museums' Patrum, a new app designed as a philanthropic crowdfunding venture to support the treasures in the Vatican. The Guardian's Jonathan Jones, for one, thinks the app could lead to restoration projects that are more harmful than good for art and ...

New Technology Could Bring Leads in Gardner Heist

Boston Globe / August 15th, 2015

New technology is raising hopes for the recovery of the 13 masterpieces stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 25 years ago. Law enforcement officials released a surveillance video last week showing a security guard, allegedly unauthorized, letting an unknown man into the museum ...

U.S. Judge Denies Extradition of Man Sought by Poland in Nazi-Looted Art Case

ABC News / August 4th, 2015

A judge ruled Monday that a Russian art dealer living in Manhattan will not face criminal extradition to Poland over an inherited painting that was stolen during World War II. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan ruled that Alexander Khochinskiy should not face criminal charges ...

French Authorities Seize Smuggled $27 Million Picasso in Corsica

Guardian / August 4th, 2015

A Picasso painting en route to Switzerland and valued at over $27 million was seized by French authorities from a boat docked on the island of Corsica. Documents produced by the ship's captain show that the work was deemed "unexportable" by Spanish custom officials. Recently, a Spanish ...

Ronald Lauder Enlists Lobbyists to Help Pressure Museums to Give Up Nazi-Looted Art

O'Dwyer / July 28th, 2015

Billionaire Ron Lauder has hired American Continental Group to aid his mission in recovering Nazi era-confiscated art from museums and returning the works to the heirs of their owners. The scion of the Lauder cosmetics fortune is an avid art collector who is active in Jewish affairs ...