ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Renamed Fall Show, San Francisco's Destination Event Will Mix It Up With Art, Antiques and Design

ArtfixDaily / August 20th, 2019

Since 1981, the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show has been a key west coast event in the antiques category. Now in its 38th year, the popular show has rebranded itself as the Fall Show, dropping "Antiques" from its name to emphasize a scope of varied fine art, folk art, design and antiques. ...

Apple and New Museum Launch App-Enabled [AR]T Initiative

ArtfixDaily / August 15th, 2019

Apple invited the New Museum to collaborate on a new Augmented Reality initiative to create a series of experiential AR works that would be free to the public. The New Museum selected a distinguished group of artists: Nick Cave, Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, Cao Fei, John ...

Trump Imposes 10 Percent Tariff on Chinese Art and Antiques Starting September 1

ArtfixDaily / August 15th, 2019

U.S. President Trump deepened his trade war with China by imposing a new 10% tariff on Chinese art, antiques and antiquities, among other goods. On Tuesday, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published a list of $300 billion worth of items subject to the tariff starting from September 1. ...

Crime Ring Used Social Media For Multi-million Dollar Art Thefts Around Houston

Houston Chronicle (slideshow includes images of stolen artwork) / July 25th, 2019

Burglars used social media to monitor victims' activities, scout their homes, and steal millions in artwork and other property, say Houston police. Seven people have been arrested in connection to the crimes. Among the victims was attorney Tony Buzbee, who is running for Houston mayor. He ...

After Warren Kanders Resigns From Whitney Museum Board, Several Boycotting Artists Decide to Stay in Biennial

Hyperallergic / July 25th, 2019

Warren Kanders has resigned as vice chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s board of trustees, first reported the New York Times on Thursday. The embattled trustee, who collects blue-chip art with his wife Allison, was under fire for months from art critics, artists and ...

Extreme Heat Further Threatens Notre Dame, Architect Says

CNN / July 25th, 2019

A heat wave that has embroiled Europe all week could cause the fire-damaged parts of Notre Dame to collapse, according to Chief Architect Philippe Villeneuve. "I am very worried about the heat wave because, as you know, the Cathedral suffered from the fire, the beams coming down, but also ...

Shareholder Seeks Class Action Suit to Block Sotheby's Sale to Drahi

artsy / July 24th, 2019

Days after Sotheby's shareholders Eli Goffman and Shiva Stein filed separate lawsuits in federal court in Manhattan against the sale of the auction house to BidFair USA, another lawsuit has been filed by Michael Kent, also a shareholder. Legal actions claim “incomplete and misleading disclosures” ...

Portland Museum of Art Awarded $4.6 Million In Battle Over Contested Will

Press Herald / July 23rd, 2019

A jury sided with the Portland Museum of Art in Maine on Monday in a lawsuit over a benefactor's will that was changed shortly before her death, withdrawing the museum from promised gifts. In the lawsuit, the museum contended that the woman's caretaker coerced her into changing her estate plan ...

Artist Leo Villareal Lights Up London With 'Illuminated River' Across Thames Bridges

ArtfixDaily / July 18th, 2019

Heads of traitors on spikes, bustling industry, quiet moonlit scenes by artists from Grimshaw to Whistler, the River Thames and its bridges have figured large in the lore of London. Now the public will see the historic waterway in a whole new light. Artist Leo Villareal – in collaboration with ...

UNESCO Adds 8 Frank Lloyd Wright Sites to World Heritage List

New York Times / July 16th, 2019

Eight major buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, the lauded list of international sites deemed worthy of conservation. The designation brings increased recognition and can boost tourism, among other benefits. From NYT:  The designation ...

ARTFIXdaily Closed for Independence Day - Enjoy Landscapes of the Early American Republic at PAFA, Moon-centric Momentos at Christie's

ArtfixDaily / July 1st, 2019

ARTFIXdaily will be closed and subscriber e-newsletter service will resume July 15. Happy Independence Day! This July, lunar mission artifacts are offered in New York to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Christie's sale on July 18 has important space exploration ...

'Lost' Caravaggio Valued at $170M Sells Prior to Auction

Los Angeles Times / June 26th, 2019

A recently attributed Caravaggio painting of Judith decapitating Assyrian general Holofernes sold privately earlier this week before a scheduled auction on Thursday. "Judith and Holofernes" depicts the dramatic Bible story of a Jewish heroine's efforts to save her people from the invading ...

Gloria Vanderbilt, Iconic Designer and Artist, Remembered

NPR / June 17th, 2019

Artist, fashion designer, actress, writer, model and philanthropist Gloria Vanderbilt died on Monday at age 95. Born in 1924, she was an heir to the vast fortune descended from shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. A highly publicized custody battle for Gloria led her to being ...

Sotheby's Sold For $3.7 Billion to French Telecom Entrepreneur

New York Times / June 17th, 2019

French-Israeli telecommunications entrepreneur Patrick Drahi purchased Sotheby's in a $3.7 billion deal. Announced on Monday, Drahi's company BidFair USA will now make Sotheby's privately owned, like rival Christie's, after it was publicly traded for 31 years on the New York Stock Exchange. ...

If Only 'Salvator Mundi' Was By Banksy...

Kenny Schachter / June 11th, 2019

This seems safe for a $450 million painting... Art critic Kenny Schachter teased on Instagram last week and then broke the news on Monday that the world's most expensive artwork, the "missing" Leonardo da Vinci portrait of Christ titled 'Salvator Mundi,' is likely cruising on the superyacht of ...

Egyptian Antiquities Expert Calls for Repatriation of King Tut Sculpture Ahead of Auction

ABC News / June 9th, 2019

ABC News: 'Egypt has the right to demand the repatriation of a stone sculpture of King Tutankhamun before it goes up for auction at Christie's in London next month, according to the country’s former antiquities chief.' "It seems that this sculpture was looted from [Luxor's] ...

The First US Museum Devoted to Posters Debuts in June

Hyperallergic / June 5th, 2019

This summer, the U.S. will get its first poster museum with the opening of The Poster House in New York. The 15,000 square-foot museum debuts June 20 on West 23rd Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The space includes three exhibition spaces, interactive displays, and a children’s area. A ...

Leonardo’s Legacy: Francesco Melzi and the Leonardeschi

ArtfixDaily / June 3rd, 2019

The National Gallery in London is marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death with a display presenting the exceptional loan (now through June 23, 2019) of the recently restored 'Flora' by Francesco Melzi from the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. The painting is ...

Ahead of Exhibition, Restorers Discover a Monet Water Lilies Painting Under His 'Wisteria'

New York Times / June 3rd, 2019

Claude Monet intended for his final masterpieces to be shown together in a Paris museum. The French state chose the Orangerie at the Tuileries to install his “Grandes Decorations," a series of now-prized water lily paintings created at the Impressionist's resplendent garden in Giverny. But ...

Louvre Closes Due to Staff Strike Over 'Untenable' Situation; Plus, No 'Salvator Mundi' Appearance Ahead

NPR / May 28th, 2019

On Monday, the Louvre shut its doors after security and reception staff went on strike, protesting "unprecedented deterioration of conditions." In recent years, attendance numbers at the Paris museum have swelled. "The Louvre is suffocating," the Sud Culture Solidaires Union said in a ...