ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

California Couple Gifts $25 Million Japanese Art Collection to Minneapolis Institute of Arts

ArtfixDaily / June 9th, 2013

A California cattle breeder who amassed a top-notch collection of Japanese art worth $25 million has gifted it to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Nearly 1,700 objects spanning 1,000 years...

Diamond, Qianlong Vases Boost $418 Million Hong Kong Auction

ArtfixDaily / May 30th, 2013

Christie's five-day auction in Hong Kong ended with total sales of HK$3.2 billion ($418 million), indicating a renewed uptick in the Asian market. Chinese buyers were back to a more competitive stance, bidding up...

Google Adds 20 More Museums to its Online Art Project

ArtfixDaily / May 26th, 2013

Google Art Project recently added 20 more museums to its online display of more than 40,000 total artworks from 250+ cultural organizations around the globe. Now online visitors can take a "Street View" virtual tour of the Mark Rothko galleries at...

Chinese Bowl Breaks Auction Record Price in Hong Kong

ArtfixDaily / April 9th, 2013

A new world record price was set for a rare red "lotus bowl" from the Chinese emperor Kangxi period of 1662-1722 when it went for $9.5 million at auction in Hong Kong, making it the highest price for any Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period during the Qing dynasty.

$3 Chinese Bowl at Garage Sale Fetches $2.2 Million at Auction

ArtfixDaily / March 20th, 2013

A Northern Song Dynasty bowl reportedly bought at a garage sale for $3 soared to $2.2 million on Tuesday at a Sotheby's sale in New York.

Tacoma Art Museum Auction of Chinese Items Upsets Donors

Seattle Times / March 4th, 2013

Donors to the Tacoma Art Museum have been stung by the auction of Chinese jades and robes gifted to the museum's collection. The Young family gave pieces in the 1970s that the museum has sold off, except for a few remaining items that are now slated for sale.

China's Top Auction Houses See Sales Down by Half

The Art Newspaper / February 4th, 2013

China’s two leading auction houses—Poly Auction and China Guardian— experienced sales totals plummet by more than a half during 2012.

Yale University Art Gallery Unveils $135 Million Renovation

New Haven Register / December 4th, 2012

Stretching across city blocks and combining three major buildings of varying architectural styles, Yale University Art Gallery will unveil its $135 million renovation project on Dec. 12. Monets and Basquiats...

Google Art Project Hits 15 Million Viewers, 35,000 Artworks

ArtfixDaily / October 30th, 2012

The Phillips Collection, Palazzo Vecchio Museum, and the Clyfford Still Museum are just a few notable art institutions to join the ranks of image collections on Google Art Project. The site now boasts...

China's $13 Billion in Art Sales Questioned

Forbes / August 13th, 2012

Widespread reports of China's ascendence as the biggest art market in the world may not be true. And not by a long shot, reports Forbes' Abigail R. Esman.

$100 Million Art Vault Planned for Beijing

Bloomberg / July 31st, 2012

Collectors will be able to store valuables such as art and gold without paying taxes or filling customs forms at a new facility in Beijing.

Feds Raid Manhattan Art Storage Facility for Stolen Goods

New York Post / July 29th, 2012

Federal authorities have seized a haul of Indian antiquities valued at $20 million from the storage facility of an Upper East Side art dealer.

Modern Chinese Painting Fetches $46 Million at Beijing Auction

Jing Daily / June 6th, 2012

A painting inspired by a poem written by Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1925 demanded a hefty 293.25 million yuan ($46 million) at a Chinese auction over the weekend. “Wan Shan Hong Bian” ("Thousands of Hills in A Crimsoned View”), painted in 1964, by...

Buzzworthy at the New York Art Shows

Huffington Post / March 8th, 2012

With 10 art shows running concurrently in New York this week, and hundreds of dealer exhibitions of modern and contemporary art on view, the stage is set for an art market gauge. Interest levels of collectors, curators and art-curious are soon measured in terms of sales. Red-dot reports have already abounded from the Armory Show...

Hong Kong's Art Scene Sprouts More Buds

ArtfixDaily / March 5th, 2012

Beijing and Shanghai have long had significant art scenes, and been home to a number of notable artists, such as Beijing’s high-profile Ai Weiwei (who recently sold his “Sunflower Seeds 2010” to the Tate Modern for an undisclosed amount). Yet, it is Hong Kong that has fast become...

Gardner Museum Addition Dazzles Critics, Some of the Crowd

Boston Globe / January 29th, 2012

A glass box-like punctuation point to its original palazzo-style museum, the new Renzo Piano-designed addition of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opened January 19 to critical acclaim, with accolades for the functionality of the architecture itself. The Boston Globe notes, "...its sloping ...

Chinese Artist Dethrones Picasso as Top Auction Earner

Bloomberg via San Francisco Chronicle / January 12th, 2012

Sales of works by Picasso have ranked the modern master as the world auction market's leading earner for most years since 1997, and until 2011. Chinese artist Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) now claims the top slot with $506.7 million in aggregated auction revenue, followed by...

New Tuscaloosa Museum of Art to Showcase Important American Art

ArtfixDaily / December 12th, 2011

Last week, the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art opened its doors, finally giving a home to the art collection assembled by Jack Warner. Earlier this year, the Jack Warner Foundation and Westervelt Company separated, leaving the fate undetermined as to where their respective collections would be housed. ...

Auctions Tally Record $92 Million during Asian Art Week in London

Bloomberg / November 12th, 2011

A selection of 1,695 Chinese artworks and antiques offered at Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams during the 14th annual Asian Art in London event last week totalled a record 57.4 million pounds ($92 million) even while 44% of the lots failed to sell.

Chinese Citizens Rally in Aid of Ai Weiwei to Cover $2.4 Million Tax Bill; His Work On View in New York, Miami, Taipei

ArtfixDaily / November 4th, 2011

The Chinese government claims influential artist and activist Ai Weiwei owes $2.4 million in back taxes. Thousands of individual Chinese have since sent money to his Internet account to help pay the bill within the ten-day deadline...