ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

$7.25 Million Settlement for Near-Fatal Fall at Rodin Museum

Philly.com / May 10th, 2016

Philly.com reports: An engineer who nearly died after falling 38 feet through a glass ceiling of the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia more than three years ago has reached a settlement with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the museum's security company for $7.25 million, attorneys said ...

Sotheby's Reports Quarterly Loss, Possible Investor, and a Record Rodin

ArtfixDaily / May 9th, 2016

Gigaweek at the New York auctions began with news from Sotheby's of a quarterly loss, followed by a boost from an announcement of investor interest and mixed results for its Monday sale. A wider-than-expected first-quarter net loss of $25.9 million in the quarter on revenues of $106.5 million ...

MoMA Offers Voluntary Buyouts to Staffers

New York Times / May 3rd, 2016

Following the Met's announcement recently of possible layoffs to balance a $10 million deficit, the Museum of Modern Art says it will offer buyout packages to senior staff. Those with over nine years at the museum, age 55 and over, will be eligible. “The museum is in a transitional stage in ...

This Week's New York Art Fairs in a Nutshell

New York Times / March 1st, 2016

The New York Times delivers a succinct guide to this week's several art fairs --- featuring modern masters to emerging artists --  in New York. Art critic Ken Johnson notes these fairs "provide the chance to take the temperature of global culture." Visit the show's websites to ...

Heirs of Famed Designer Viktor Schreckengost Scrap Museum Plans In Favor of Auction, Donations

Cleveland.com / February 29th, 2016

The heirs of industrial designer, artist, and sculptor Viktor Schreckengost (1906-2008) have dropped the idea of creating a new museum to house his legacy in Cleveland and have decided instead to auction key pieces and to donate others to the Western Reserve Historical Society. ...

As Trial Looms Over Courbet Nude, Facebook Censors Copenhagen's Mermaid, Philadelphia's Pop Art

San Jose Mercury News / February 14th, 2016

An appeals court in France has ruled that a lawsuit brought against Facebook by a Parisian teacher can move forward. The ruling comes after recent uproar over Facebook's censorship of art images, including an iconic statue and a Pop Art piece on view at major museums. Facebook suspended the ...

Ecuador Repatriates 567 Cultural Objects From Argentina and Spain

culturaypatrimonio / February 8th, 2016

Some 567 cultural objects have been returned to Ecuador by Argentina and Spain, according to minister of culture and heritage in Ecuador, Guillaume Long. Long announced on Feb. 3 that the objects were formally handed over in Quito, in a ceremony with Argentina’s ambassador to ...

William Edmondson Sculpture Fetches Auction Record for Outsider Art

ArtfixDaily / January 23rd, 2016

Christie's inaugural sale of self-taught artists on Friday was led by William Edmondson’s Boxer, which brought $785,000, well above its $150,000-250,000 estimate. The price set a record in the category, according to Christie's, surpassing the previous top price set ...

Gagosian Gallery Battles Qatar Royal Family Over Picasso at MoMA

Bloomberg / January 13th, 2016

A sculpture of Pablo Picasso’s mistress and model, Marie-Therese Walter, on view in a current exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, has leaped into the limelight with a court battle over ownership. Picasso’s 1931 sculpture Bust of a Woman was purchased by gallery owner ...

Sculpture of Lincoln's Hand Missing From Museum

NYTimes / January 3rd, 2016

A plaster sculpture of President Lincoln's hand disappeared from the Kankakee County Museum in Illinois. The hand was sculpted more than 150 years ago by George Grey Barnard and was an important object in the museum's collection, in "The Land of Lincoln."

Ellsworth Kelly, Artist, Remembered

Guardian / December 28th, 2015

Famed American abstract artist and sculptor Ellsworth Kelly passed away Sunday at his home in Spencertown, New York. He was 92. Influenced by Picasso and Matisse, Kelly studied art in Paris on the GI Bill after serving in World War II. “In his work Kelly abstracts the forms in his paintings ...

Exhibition, Database to Aid Search for Missing Public Art in England

Historic England / December 15th, 2015

England's post-war public art, created by some of the most important artists of the 20th century, is "disappearing before the public's eyes," according to Historic England, a government agency that protects English heritage. They have discovered that a growing number of sculptures, ...

Mixed Results, Multiple Artist Records in Sotheby's American Art Sales

ArtfixDaily / November 18th, 2015

Two sales of American Art at Sotheby's on Wednesday night brought a total near-$40 million, with a season total of $52.2 million in American Art, according to Sotheby's. The Taubman collection fell short of some hefty estimates on a number of works, and 8 of 31 offered lots went unsold, ...

Picasso, Magritte Boost Christie's Sale to $145.5M

Christie's / November 12th, 2015

An example of Analytical Cubism led Christie's evening sale of Impressionist and modern art on Thursday. The solid sale totaled $145.5 million, boosted by several estimate-busting lots and alternately sunk a bit by passed lots. Eighty-three percent of ...

Highlights of American Paintings Week in New York

ArtfixDaily / November 10th, 2015

A seven-day fête of historic American art, particularly 19th to 20th-century painting and sculpture, kicks off this weekend in New York City. The American Art Fair begins the week of events with a by-invitation preview on Sat., Nov. 14 and public viewing of its 8th edition ...

Records Set for Bourgeois, Fontana in $331.8 Million Christie's Sale

ArtfixDaily / November 10th, 2015

Christie's continued on its winning streak Tuesday night with a $331.8 million sale of post-war and contemporary art, just a day after it sold a Modigliani nude portrait for a record-shattering $170.4 million. While not every lot in the sale was a winner (some fell below guarantees/estimates and ...

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo Reopens With More Space Two Years After Tourist Breaks Statue

ArtfixDaily / October 30th, 2015

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy, re-opened on Oct. 29, 2015, following a gallery expansion. It is the world's largest repository of Florentine medieval and Renaissance sculpture with 750 statues and about 250 artworks including masterpieces by ...

Art Swindler Luke Brugnara Gets 7 Years in Prison

Courthouse News Service / October 21st, 2015

On Tuesday in San Francisco a federal judge sentenced former commercial real estate mogul Luke Brugnara to 7 years in prison for swindling a New York art dealer. The fraud verdict comes after the June 2014 disappearance of millions of dollars worth of art delivered to Brugnara. Art ...

Olga Hirshhorn, Art Collector and Widow of Museum Founder, Remembered

Washington Post / October 4th, 2015

Olga Hirshhorn, wife of the late founder of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and known as a significant art collector and patron in her own right, passed away at her home in Naples, Florida on Oct. 3. She was 95. The fourth wife of financier and mining tycoon Joseph Hirshhorn, Olga ...

Rodin Bust Swiped in Broad Daylight From Danish Museum

DW / August 20th, 2015

A bronze bust by Auguste Rodin was stolen by two men dressed as tourists in daytime hours at a museum in Denmark. Danish newspaper Politike reported this week that the theft occurred July 16 at Copenhagen's Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum. Rodin's "The Man with the Broken Nose," part ...