ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Feds Investigate Possible Forgeries of Modern Art

New York Times / December 4th, 2011

Works by iconic postwar artists such as Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, as well as Mark Rothko and Richard Diebenkorn, are being examined in a federal investigation. Under scrutiny as possible forgeries are a number of these modern masters' paintings and drawings sold through prestigious Manhattan galleries. The questionable artworks came to market through...

Hartley, Heade Lead $24.6 Million Sotheby's American Art Sale

ArtfixDaily / December 1st, 2011

Private collectors dominated the salesroom buying the top ten lots at Sotheby's Dec. 1 American Paintings auction which totaled $24.6 million. Even with 32 of 111 lots going unsold, the hefty sale total was bolstered by competitive bidding for several marquee works offered freshly from ...

Venerable American Art Gallery Closes Doors After 165 Years

New York Times / December 1st, 2011

A major Manhattan gallery noted for shaping tastes and the market for American art for 165 years has announced that it is closing permanently. The sudden shuttering of Knoedler & Co., on the Upper East Side, leaves behind an American art institution and a valuable repository...

Oscar Bluemner Tops $25.8 Million Christie's American Paintings Auction

ArtfixDaily / November 30th, 2011

A signature work by American modernist Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) blew past its presale estimate of $2 million to $3 million to fetch an artist auction record price of $5.3 million at Christie's Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture sale on Nov. 30. The auction totaled ...

George Catlin Indian Portfolio Sparks International Bidding Battle

ArtfixDaily / November 28th, 2011

In a German auction, George Catlin’s “North American Indian Portfolio” almost doubled its starting price of 45,000 euros with a final result of 87,600 euros including commission, leaving several competitive bidders from the U.S. empty-handed. The heated bidding skirmish for the rare period ...

Museum's "Crown Jewel" Painting by Marsden Hartley on Auction Block

Kansas City Star / November 28th, 2011

When the capital campaign to renovate the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery fell short by $700,000, Bethany College, in Lindsborg, Kan., decided to sell the lone Marsden Hartley in its collection. The oil painting, “Untitled (Still Life),” from 1919, reflects the American modernist’s ...

Auction Records Set for American Folk Art Portraiture, Botero Sculpture, Yellow Diamond

ArtfixDaily / November 16th, 2011

Skinner's sold a rare 18th-century portrait for a record-setting $1,271,000 with commission (est. $150,000-250,000) on Nov. 5 in Boston. The portrait of Abigail Rose of North Branford, Conn., broke the previous record for American folk art portraiture...

MFA Boston to Acquire Important Collection of African American Art

Art in America / November 11th, 2011

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has acquired 67 works of African American art from the collector and MFA Honorary overseer, John Axelrod, who is selling the works to the MFA at below market values, between...

Preview of Wal-Mart Heiress's Crystal Bridges Museum

Bloomberg / October 25th, 2011

The press preview for the new Crystal Bridges museum, in Bentonville, Arkansas, revealed some 450 works from the American art collection recently assembled by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, including newly announced acquisitions.

Bucks County Artists Dazzle in Michener Exhibition

The Morning Call / October 23rd, 2011

"The Painterly Voice: Buck's County's Fertile Ground," now on view at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Penn., is a major exhibition with more than 200 paintings from over 35 sources, including private collectors and institutions.

Foundation to Sell Rare Pennsylvania Impressionist Paintings

Phillyburbs / October 11th, 2011

Pearl S. Buck International will offer two paintings once owned by the author to raise funds for a renovation of her historic house. Buck's landscapes are by well-known Pennsylvania impressionist Edward W. Redfield...

N.C. Wyeth's "Treasure Island" Paintings Reunited After 100 Years

Washington Post / September 26th, 2011

After a century, 16 of the iconic "Treasure Island" paintings created by N.C. Wyeth as illustrations for Robert Louis Stevenson's beloved novel are shown together for the first time. Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Penn...

Donations Save American Folk Art Museum

New York Times / September 22nd, 2011

The board of New York's American Folk Art Museum agreed on Wednesday evening to keep the institution operating from its current Lincoln Square location following the last-minute help of donations from trustees and the Ford Foundation.

National Academy Museum Reopens with Six Stellar Shows

DNA Info / September 21st, 2011

The six-story 1902 Beaux arts townhouse on New York's Fifth Avenue that is home to the National Academy Museum and School reopened last weekend with six new shows and a fresh look after a $3.5 million renovation.

Houston Fine Art Fair Debut Totals $6 Million in Sales

ArtfixDaily / September 21st, 2011

The inaugural Houston Fine Art Fair found a ready audience in Texas over the weekend. The gate topped 10,500 with 3,000 attending the opening night of this new 80-dealer show. Sales of artwork were reported to be about $6 million total.

A Peek Inside Mayor Bloomberg's "Baronial" Homes

New York Times / September 20th, 2011

Philanthropist, businessman and billionaire mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg has kept his personal life relatively quiet. But his two homes' lavish interiors and pricey art collections slipped into the spotlight momentarily when...

American Folk Art Museum teeters towards dissolution

New York Times / September 19th, 2011

The board of New York's beleaguered American Folk Art Museum are set to vote this week on the future of its holdings of classic American folk art and 20th-century outsider art. Proposals are under consideration from...

Pacific Standard Time documents the rise of postwar L.A. art

Los Angeles Times / September 18th, 2011

The Getty's unprecedented, six-month initiative "Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980," a series of region-wide exhibitions, is set to thoroughly record Southern California in the history of art. This eye-opening cultural extravaganza...

MoMA to Stage De Kooning Retrospective

New York Times / September 14th, 2011

Curators researching works for the upcoming Willem de Kooning retrospective at New York's museum of Modern Art (MoMA) found a wealth of new discoveries about the work of this pivotal postwar American artist. The resulting exhibition, which opens sunday, includes about 200 works made over ...

Rare painting related to American Revolution at Scottish auction

Digital Journal / September 5th, 2011

A rare 18th century painting with close connections to the American War of Independence will star at McTear's Auctioneers in Glasgow, Scotland, this September. The stunning work by Scottish portrait painter Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) is the only known...