Dubious Works Pulled from Recent Latin American Sales

The Art Newspaper reports the recent Latin American sales in New York saw dealers raise doubts about works at Phillips and Christie’s. Both houses pulled the works before the sales but the more significant number was at Christie’s where a single consignor created the most exposure:

Christie’s withdrew ten works by Brazilian artists from its auctions of Latin American art in New York last month (scheduled to take place on 29 and 30 May). The works, allegedly by artists including Ivan Serpa, Mira Schendel, Roberto Burle Marx, Ione Saldanha, Hércules Barsotti, Ubi Bava and Amílcar de Castro, were “withdrawn pending additional research”, says a spokeswoman for the auction house.

All of the works came from the Rio de Janeiro-based Ralph Santos Oliveira collection. The collector told the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that he was “shocked” by the removal of the pieces. He said he had tried to place them at auction on behalf of the owner, his grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and cannot recall where the works were bought.

Christie’s Pulls Works After ‘Forgery’ Concerns (The Art Newspaper)