ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Court Delays Auction of Berkshire Museum Art

ArtfixDaily / November 1st, 2017

Updated 11/12/17: The Massachusetts Attorney General secured a 30-day pause for the sale of artworks from the Berkshire Museum that was scheduled to take place at Sotheby's on Monday, Nov. 13. The museum and lawyers for opponents of the sale will meet again, this time in Boston, at the ...

Court Date Looming, Attorney General Files to Stop Berkshire Museum Art Sales

Berkshire Eagle / October 31st, 2017

The Massachusetts attorney general on Monday joined in to halt the sale of multimillions in artwork that the Berkshire Museum planned to send to the auction block next month. A 26-page filing from Attorney General Maura Healey sides with motions from two other groups, one of which includes ...

Teddy Roosevelt Statue Defaced Outside Museum

New York Times / October 26th, 2017

Activists used red paint to deface the base of a bronze Theodore Roosevelt monument at the entrance of the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan early Thursday morning. "Roosevelt was an open white supremacist and imperialist who is still lionized by the museum and the city plaza ...

Berkshire Museum Withdraws Some Artworks from Nov. 13 Auction

Berkshire Eagle / October 24th, 2017

Half the artworks consigned by the Berkshire Museum in a Nov. 13 Sotheby's sale have been withdrawn, reports Berkshire Eagle. Seven works remain in the sale, including two Norman Rockwell paintings that the artist's family has filed a lawsuit to oppose the museum's deaccessioning of the works. ...

Rockwell Family Sues Berkshire Museum

New York Times / October 22nd, 2017

A group that includes three children of Norman Rockwell is suing the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts over a controversial planned sale of two works by the famed artist, the New York Times reported. Papers filed with a Massachusetts judge on Friday state that the group seeks to stop the museum ...

Rockwell Family Presses for Berkshire Museum to Halt Art Sales

Berkshire Eagle / October 17th, 2017

Members of Norman Rockwell's family met with the Massachusetts attorney general's office last week to voice opposition to the planned sale by the Berkshire Museum of two works by the artist. The artist gave "Shuffleton's Barber Shop" and "Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop" to the museum in ...

15-Foot Bierstadt Painting 'The Domes of Yosemite' Travels to Florida

ArtfixDaily / October 16th, 2017

The largest known painting by American master Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) will be exhibited in Florida this winter through a special loan of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum in Vermont. The Domes of the Yosemite, which measures nearly 10 by 15 feet, will begin the winter in Miami at ...

Gallerist Gary Nader to Sell $100 Million of His Art to Fund Museum

Miami New Times / October 12th, 2017

Art dealer Gary Nader plans to sell about $100 million worth of works from his collection to fund the building of a new museum in downtown Miami. Several blue-chip works---by the likes of Picasso and Botero---from Nader's personal collection are set to be sold during Art Basel Miami Beach in ...

Banksy Adds Artworks to Barbican Ahead of Basquiat Exhibition

Guardian / September 18th, 2017

Street artist Banksy created two new murals outside central London's Barbican Art Gallery just prior to a major show of works by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat opening there on Sept. 21. On Instagram, Banksy describes one mural as “Portrait of Basquiat being welcomed by the ...

Sotheby's Releases Estimates for Berkshire Museum Artworks

ArtfixDaily / September 12th, 2017

The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Mass., appears to be going forward with its planned sale of 40 artworks from its collections despite protests from museum professional organizations and art lovers. Over $50 million is estimated to be generated from the sales, and the museum has a ...

Berkshire Museum Ends Smithsonian Partnership Following Art Sale Controversy

Berkshire Eagle / September 6th, 2017

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Mass., will cut ties with the Smithsonian in a mutual decision stemming from the controversy over its plan to deaccession artworks. Berkshire Museum was a Smithsonian affiliate since 2013, allowing for reciprocal admissions ...

Stolen De Kooning Painting Returned to Museum After 3 Decades

Tucson / August 15th, 2017

A Willem de Kooning painting that had been stolen more than 31 years ago from the University of Arizona Museum of Art has been found and returned. A Silver Spring, New Mexico, antiques and furniture dealer discovered the work in an estate sale. Dealer David Van Auker says he bought the work ...

Berkshire Museum to Sell $50 Million in Art to Fund "Reinvention Plan"

Berkshire Museum / July 16th, 2017

On Wednesday, July 12, 2017, the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts announced a $60 million "reinvention plan" that includes deaccessiong two artworks by Norman Rockwell, among 40 pieces from its 40,000-object permanent collection slated to be sold at auction. The plan is for a ...

ARTFIXdaily Closed for Holiday, July 3-7

ArtfixDaily / July 2nd, 2017

ARTFIXdaily will be closed from July 3 to 7, and the subscriber e-newsletter service will resume on July 10. ArtGuild members may continue to add press releases and events. View the ArtWire for the latest news from our members. The image shown is from Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco ...

Los Angeles City Council Approves $1.5 Billion Lucas Museum

Variety / June 28th, 2017

Star Wars creator and art collector George Lucas will finally get his museum built after years of delay when San Francisco and Chicago could not accomodate his plans. Los Angeles City Council voted to approve the $1.5 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on Tuesday. Lucas and his wife, Mellody ...

Dinner with Georgia O'Keeffe: Recipes, Art, Landscape

ArtfixDaily / June 26th, 2017

A new cookbook focused on Georgia O’Keeffe explores her artistic palette alongside her culinary palate. The New Mexico landscape served as O'Keeffe's preferred home for the second half of her long life, and her homes in Ghost Ranch and Abiquiú were elements in her creative process, from the ...

Edward Hopper Paintings Come to Life to Mark 50 Years Since the Artist's Death

ArtfixDaily / May 14th, 2017

May 15 marks the 50th anniversary of Edward Hopper's death. New York native Hopper (1882-1967) is widely regarded as one of the greatest American artists. His realist works---ranging from watercolors to printmaking and etching---capture the essence of the early decades of the 20th ...

Resident Curator at the White House Will Leave His 'Dream Job' in June

ArtfixDaily / May 11th, 2017

White House curator William G. Allman will retire on June 1, as first reported by CNN and announced officially on Tuesday in a White House statement issued from the East Wing. The curator is among the White House resident staff positions that are considered non-political. First lady ...

Lawsuit Settled Against Art Historian in Knoedler Case

Art Newspaper / April 12th, 2017

One of ten lawsuits filed against now-defunct Knoedler gallery in New York has been settled out of court, first reported The Art Newspaper. Terms of the settlement in Manhattan federal court on April 11 were not disclosed. The painting in the claim was a fake Mark Rothko, one of 40 known fakes ...

3 Museums Receive Gifts of Artwork from DuPont Collection

Philly / March 23rd, 2017

Prior to its merger with Dow Chemical, DuPont Co. is gifting nearly two dozen works by N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth as well as other Brandywine River Valley-based artists to museums, reports Philly.com. The artwork was selected from a collection at the company's former Wilmington, Del., ...