ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Italian Authorities Seize 21 Paintings from Modigliani Exhibition

Telegraph / July 16th, 2017

Some 21 paintings in an exhibition of works by famed modernist Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) were seized by Italian authorities as part of an investigation into their authenticity. Displayed at the historic Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) in Genoa, the works were first called into question ...

Pablo Escobar Mansion Reborn as Art-Filled Boutique Hotel

Cool Hunting / July 10th, 2017

Art lovers, serenity seekers, and fans of the Netflix series Narcos might be among those visiting Tulum, Mexico, to occupy a residence of the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Escobar's estate there has been slowly developed into an eco-friendly 35-room boutique hotel by New ...

UK Antiques Dealer's Murder Linked to First Edition of The Wind in the Willows

Huffington Post / July 10th, 2017

A new documentary reveals the mystery behind a vicious crime that took the life of UK historian and antiquarian book dealer Adrian Greenwood last April. Greenwood's body was found in his Oxford home with 30 stab wounds by his house cleaner. Missing from his book inventory was ...

Gems Worth $3.9 Million Stolen From Masterpiece Art Fair

Telegraph / July 9th, 2017

Gems reportedly worth 3 million pounds, or $3.9 million, were mysteriously swiped from the Masterpiece art fair in London last week. Even with high security, the crime went undetected at the stand of Swiss jeweller Boghossian. Staff discovered the gems were missing early on Wednesday ...

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 ...

Supreme Court to Decide Case on Seizing Iranian Artifacts

CNS / June 29th, 2017

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether Americans injured in a 1997 Hamas suicide bombing can seize Iranian artifacts from the University of Chicago to satisfy a $71 million judgment, reports Courthouse New Service. Injured Americans in the Hamas attack on a Jerusalem mall were ...

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 ...

Jimmy Carter Painting Brings Over Half Million Dollars at Auction

AJC / June 27th, 2017

A painting by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, age 92, fetched $525,000 at auction last week. It was the top lot in a benefit sale that brought in more than $2.7 million for the Carter Center. Carter's oil “Monarchs and Milkweed” went to an unidentified buyer during the silent and live ...

First-Ever Exhibitions of Gurlitt Art Trove Planned For This Fall

DW / June 27th, 2017

Bonn's Bundeskunsthalle and the Museum of Fine Arts Bern will finally exhibit works from the infamous stash of artworks known as the Gurlitt hoard more than five years after its astonishing discovery. Parts of the collection of Cornelius Gurlitt, son of the Nazi art dealer Hildebrand ...

Salvador Dali's Body to Be Exhumed in Paternity Case

BBC / June 27th, 2017

A Madrid judge has ruled in favor of a Spanish woman to have the remains of surrealist artist Salvador Dali exhumed in a paternity case. The woman, Maria Pilar Abel Martínez, claims that her mother had an affair with the painter in 1955. Her mother worked in Cadaqués for a family that ...

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 ...

$1.27 Million Fabergé Find Stuns on Antiques Roadshow

Daily Mail / June 25th, 2017

BBC's Antiques Show unearthed a Fabergé piece estimated to be worth around £1million ($1.27 million). To a shocked audience, the appraisal of the rare piece came from jewelry expert Geoffrey Munn during a taping at Black Country Living Museum in the West Midlands. At nearly 4 inches tall, ...

Kandinsky Works Break Artist Record Twice in London Sale

Bloomberg / June 22nd, 2017

Bloomberg reports: Wassily Kandinsky's 1913 canvas “Bild mit Weissen Linien (Painting With White Lines)” fetched 33 million pounds ($41.6 million) at Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art sale in London. His lush 1909 landscape with a green house had just sold for $26.4 million, beating the ...

ARTFIXdaily Closed for Maintenance, June 5-9

ArtfixDaily / June 4th, 2017

ARTFIXdaily will be closed for maintenance from June 5 to 9. E-newsletter service resumes on June 12. ArtGuild members may continue to add content during the closure. Check the ArtWire for the latest art world news added in real-time by our members.

Restored Renoir Home Will Open to the Public in June

ArtfixDaily / May 24th, 2017

A family home of French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir will open to the public on June 3 following a major restoration. Located in Essoyes, 120 miles southeast of Paris, the residence has been converted into a museum with climate-controlled exhibition space alongside the artist's ...

Trump's Official Budget Proposal Eliminates NEA

ArtfixDaily / May 23rd, 2017

Similar to a "blueprint" set forth in March, President Donald Trump's official 2018 budget proposal released Tuesday would shutter the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities with $29 million to wind down the programs. The NEH chairman resigned on Monday. ...

Pair of Diamond Earrings Fetch Record $57.4 Million

ArtfixDaily / May 17th, 2017

A mis-matched pair of fancy colored diamond earrings sold together for $57.4 million at a Geneva auction Tuesday, setting a new record. A single anonymous buyer won both of the pear-shaped earrings which were auctioned separately by Sotheby's. The lots were expected to bring $50 to $70 million ...

Brancusi Fetches Record-Setting $57 Million, Nazi-Seized Picasso Makes $45 Million at Christie's

ArtfixDaily / May 16th, 2017

New York's auction "gigaweek" is underway with Impressionist, Modern, and contemporary art offered over four days. Christie's started it off with a solid sale total of $289.2 million, above the $200 million expected. Two notable works soared of the 55 lots offered; in all 78 percent of the lots ...

The Living Museum Within Bears Ears National Monument

ArtfixDaily / May 15th, 2017

Southeast Utah's Bears Ears National Monument has been called the "Sistine Chapel" of the West for its ancient wall etchings, notes the New York Times. Some 100,000 archaeological sites comprise this 1.3-million acre landscape known for its cultural significance as a living museum, its ...

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 ...