ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Artist Investigated for Creating Nazi Gnomes

Daily News / July 17th, 2009

A 14-inch garden gnome is causing quite a stir in Germany. The tiny statue meant for beautifying lawns is offending many and breaking German law by giving the straight-armed Hitler salute, the Daily Mail reports.

Museum Should Give Disneyana a Boost

New York Times Art / July 16th, 2009

The international market for Disney collectibles, relatively quiet for a decade, is likely to be given a boost when the Walt Disney Family Museum opens in San Francisco on Oct. 1.

'Japanese Mandalas': If You Go: Cosmic MapQuests to Enlightenment

New York Times Art / July 16th, 2009

(NEW YORK) With Buddhist sculpture, portraits, and cosmiclike paintings, the Metropolitan Museum offers an homage to a spiritual leader.

Unsolved Mysteries of Matisse the Austere

New York Times Art / July 16th, 2009

A new study of his work, “Bathers by a River,” reveals much about the artist’s methods.

Julius Shulman's photos promoted the allure of Southern California living

LA Times Arts / July 17th, 2009

In conveying the sunny Los Angeles lifestyle, the photographer turned boosterism into an art form. If Southern California and its culture were built on salesmanship, Julius Shulman sold the place as well as anyone.  

NY gallery resumes sale of Warhol's Jackson

Boston Globe 2 / July 16th, 2009

After a slew of publicity generated by the auction's delay, an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson is back on the block at an East Hampton, New York, art gallery. The work comes from a private collection.

Dealer who sold antiquities to Getty loses looting appeal

LA Times Arts / July 15th, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Giacomo Medici, who Italian authorities say was a key conduit for looted ancient art that landed in museums, such as the Getty and New York's Met, still faces prison and a $14-million fine after his 2004 conviction was upheld today by an appeals court in Rome.  

Scharf Bronze Could Sizzle at Summer Auction

Auction Central News / July 16th, 2009

NEW YORK - The dog days of summer aren't considered the peak season for selling art, but they have not kept Ro Gallery from assembling a noteworthy list of works for their Summer Sale of Modern and Contemporary Art on July 23. Of note, Kenny Scharf's "Yinyang Noseblock" bronze (estimate: ...

O'Keeffe Museum loses court appeal

AP / July 16th, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum may represent the painter's estate but has no right to an art collection she donated to Fisk University, Tennessee's Court of Appeals has ruled. In the ruling filed Tuesday, the court said any right O'Keeffe had to most of the 101 works of art ...

Lesters take over London's Olympia

Art Newspaper / July 15th, 2009

Husband-and-wife team David and Lee Ann Lester of Florida have negotiated with Clarion Events to assume the management of the Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair.

Salander Faces Second Round of Charges

Artinfo / July 14th, 2009

The rogue art dealer and his former gallery director Leigh Morse are accused of stealing a total of $3 million in art from the estates and foundations of three artists. Lawrence Salander has already been indicted in an $88 million Ponzi scheme...

A Range of Artistic Styles Offered at Christie’s Prints & Multiples Sale

WorthPoint / July 14th, 2009

NEW YORK – Christie’s will be presenting its mid-season “Prints & Multiples” sale—comprised of a cross section of movements and styles, this well selected offering includes work by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Paul Gauguin, Joan Miró, Sam Francis, Robert ...

Sargent's Cornelius Vanderbilt Portrait Returns to Newport

Antiques & the Arts / July 14th, 2009

Newport, R.I.: A John Singer Sargent portrait of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, painted in 1890, has returned to The Breakers, the former Vanderbilt summer cottage in Newport, a National Historic Landmark maintained by the Preservation Society of Newport County. The portrait was acquired in late May ...

Shepard Fairey Gets Probation

New York Times Art / July 12th, 2009

The artist was sentenced to two years’ probation on Friday in Boston Municipal Court for charges stemming from images he posted on public and private property over the years, The Associated Press reported. Fairey also has a pending suit filed by the AP over the use of their Obama image, ...

Artwork injures museum-goers in U.K.

Guardian / July 12th, 2009

(London) It was a sensation in the 70s when the Tate was forced to close a new exhibit, just four days after it was opened, when it was almost wrecked by an overly exuberant public. Nearly 40 years on, Robert Morris's Bodyspacemotionthings has lost none of its potential for danger after ...

The essentials of Dove and O'Keeffe

Boston Globe 1 / July 11th, 2009

WILLIAMSTOWN - No more than a collection of pictures, “Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence’’ at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute nevertheless seems to breathe with a life of its own as the assembled works rhyme with, riff on, and mutually reinforce one another. Like an echo chamber ...

Warhol's Jackson portrait dropped from NY auction

Associated Press / July 13th, 2009

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) -- A New York art gallery has temporarily removed an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson from the auction block. The Vered Gallery in East Hampton says enormous interest prompted the decision. The auction was to close Sunday. The 30-by-26-inch painting shows a ...

Obama brightens up White House with fresh art

The Independent / July 6th, 2009

With every new administration comes a new era and with it, a new art collection to reflect the shifting sands of American cultural politics. In the Clinton years, it was a frothy portrait of Mamie Eisenhower clad in a pink debutante ballgown that took pride of place on the imperial walls of the ...

Artists Get a Reality TV Show

LA Times Blogs / July 6th, 2009

It was only a matter of time for art to jump on TV's reality bandwagon. A cable series focusing on the contemporary art scene is in the works at Bravo. The show (whose title has not yet been announced) is being produced by Sarah Jessica Parker. In the series, 13 contestants will compete for a ...

$3 Million Jaguar Racer, 26 Ferraris & More on Offer in Monterey

The Luxist / July 6th, 2009

On August 13-15 RM Auctions is holding its annual Sports & Classics of Monterey auction in California, starring an historic 1952 Jaguar C-Type sports racer (above) that was driven to victory in 1952 by the legendary Phil Hill and is expected to fetch over $3 million. 26 Ferraris and several ...