August 25th, 2008
Jacob Rothschild lets the Economist browse among his acquisitions:
The first artist he collected was an idiosyncratic Swiss-Italian sculptor, Giacometti. He has been collecting ever since, not just for the walls of his sitting rooms, but for Spencer House in St James’s, London, which he helped to restore (he lent a Panini and a Romney from his own collection), and for Waddesdon Manor, the vast pile in Buckinghamshire, which he inherited from an aunt. Read the rest of this entry »
August 23rd, 2008
Do you remember when Bill Gates bought the Codex Hammer not long after he became the richest man in the world? Well, there’s a dearth of da Vincis out there for billionaires to buy. Which may explain the excitement around this picture that was previously attributed as a 19th Century German marriage portrait. According to the New York Times, various scientific tests and art historical opinions suggest it may be the master’s work. But the $50 million supposedly already offered by a Russian buyer also points to the motives that would make many eager to believe.
“The market is a fairly efficient place,” said Hugh Chapman, assistant keeper at the department of prints and drawings at the British Museum in London. “This would be an amazing miss.”
August 19th, 2008
Was Turner the Hirst of his day?
And Why Do They Make It Sound Like That’s A Bad Thing?
Adam Kirsch and Peter Schjeldahl don’t agree on the merit of Turner’s work but they do seem to agree on one thing: comparing J.M.W. Turner to Damien Hirst is an unqualified slam. Here’s Schjeldahl’s pithy put down: Read the rest of this entry »
July 10th, 2008
Sotheby’s Old Master blows up the market with a $101 million sale
–19 artist records set.
What’s going on the Old Master market? Sotheby’s July sale surpassed estimates with 58% of the lots selling above the high estimates. The sale was 76.7% sold by lot. The value of the sale was 49% higher than July 2007. 13 lots sold for more than 1 million Pounds. In both 2007 sales, there were only 9 lots over 1 million pounds.
July 9th, 2008
Watteau’s La Surprise goes for $24 million at Christie’s
Christie’s re-discovered Goya drawings (including this and this) made nearly $8 million as the pre-opener to last night’s Old Master’s sale in London. The star of the Evening sale was the Watteau found in the corner of a country house during a routine valuation trip. But the sale had other surprises with Sir Thomas Lawrence’s sketch portrait of his mother Lucy Lawrence going for nearly five times the high estimate or $736,000. The catalogue essay reads like a scene from Trollope but the price was no fiction. Even the sales, second highest lot was the subject of some surprise and doubt. van Dyck’s Rearing Stallion was only recently accepted as the work of the master and that was enough to interest buyers to the tune of 3 million pounds.
May 30th, 2008
Under the grime and varnish, an authentic Frans Hals portrait has been lurking
Both the New York Sun and Carol Vogel in the New York Times, explore the story behind the Frans Hals portrait recently re-discovered.
Subscribe the 
