Archives for November 2007

Twice in the last few days, I heard art-market pundits equate art with stocks. What's wrong with this picture? In this podcast, I'll look ahead to the crucial major art sales coming up in the next two weeks, compare sale results thus far this year with results for the same period in 2006, and debunk a few myths. If all goes according to plan (which it seldom does), you'll hear … [Read more...] about Auction Podcast: Are Paintings the New Hot Stock Picks?

Brace yourself. Click on this Associated Press story and you will see photos of the uncovered face of Tutankhamun's mummy. Anna Johnson reports: Archeologists carefully lifted the fragile mummy out of a quartz sarcophagus decorated with stone-carved protective goddesses, momentarily pulling aside a beige covering to reveal a leathery black body. The linen was then replaced over … [Read more...] about The Face of King Tut Displayed

Vogel's Pick: Signac, "Cap Canaille, Cassis," 1889 All of you NY Times readers who are heading over to Sotheby's this weekend on the strength of Carol Vogel's first-paragraph assertion (in her front-page Sunday "Arts & Leisure" article) that you can now ogle Jeff Koons' "shiny, bright-red dangling heart," please turn right around and come back on Nov. 10. It's been taken off … [Read more...] about Auction Blooper: Who Stole Carol Vogel’s Heart? UPDATED

Sotheby's David Norman smiles for the camera. Picasso's bronze "Dora Maar" doesn't. I know, I know. You want CultureGrrl to give you some inside insights about how the art market will fare at the big Impressionist/modern sales next week and the big contemporary sales the following week, so that you can decide just how many millions you ought to shell out. But I'd rather let … [Read more...] about Upcoming Sale Predictions: A Crystal-Ball Anthology

Red figure loutrophoros (ceramic), attributed to the Darius Painter. South Italian, Apulian, ca. 335-325 B.C. Image courtesy of the Princeton University Art Museum As I previously reported, the Princeton University Art Museum determined which works it should send back to Italy based on a "matrix" that took into consideration, among other things, "connection to individuals and … [Read more...] about More on the Princeton Give-Backs: “Looting Matters” Digs for Provenance

Photo of François Boucher, "Reclining Girls and Cupid," Confiscated Collection: R 360 (Rothschild Collection, France) The National Archives yesterday announced the discovery of two original leather-bound albums of photographs documenting art looted by the Nazis during World War II. Both will be donated to the Archives by Robert Edsel, author of "Rescuing Da Vinci" and president … [Read more...] about Provenance Alert: Two Rediscovered Nazi-Loot Photo Albums Go to National Archives

On Zahi Hawass' "Wanted" List: "Bust of Prince Ankhhaf," Egyptian, Old Kingdom, 2520-2494 B.C., Boston Museum of Fine Arts In his revealing Al Jazeera television interview, posted today on ArtsJournal's home page, Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, unintentionally demonstrated why the British Museum; Louvre; Pelizaeus Museum, … [Read more...] about Rosetta Stone: Why the British Museum Distrusts Hawass

On the Block: Childe Hassam, "Sunset at Sea," 1911, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University Auction houses always tout museum consignments in their presale press releases, because of the cachet and higher market value that distinguished provenance confers. Not so in the press release (click on Nov. 29) for Christie's upcoming American paintings, drawings and sculpture sale, … [Read more...] about Christie’s is Cagey about Maier Museum Provenance, Discloses the Rose

Calmer Times at MASS MoCA MASS MoCA is trying to move beyond its recent trials by opening, later this month, an exhibition of new projection works (above) by Jenny Holzer. To help get back on its financial feet, it's counting on the kindness of friends like Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, Jasper Johns and Meryl Streep. Those luminaries are among the donors of art and/or time … [Read more...] about MASS MoCA Fundraiser: Beyond Büchel