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02.05.2018

According to their will, all the proceeds will go to charity.
People who can earn a billion dollars in the world, not that much, but not a little. People who are able to distribute this billion, much less. In the history of the Rockefeller dynasty there was a place for both extremes. Its founder, oil tycoon John Rockefeller, in the XIX century became the first billionaire of America. His grandson David Rockefeller, who died a year ago at the 102nd year of his life, donated $ 1.345 billion for his long life. But the broadest gesture was saved by the end. The posthumous sale of the collection of art collected by David and his wife Peggy, promises to be the largest ever charity auction.

At the auction put 1 thousand pieces of decorative art and 550 – fine. The total estimate of the collection is about $ 500 million (Christie’s expect that the results of the bidding will exceed the record of 2009 – the sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, which brought $ 484 million). Estimate only one painting “A Girl with a Basket of Flowers” by Pablo Picasso – $ 90 -120 million All proceeds will go to the ten organizations chosen by the owner during life. Among them – founded by his father the University of Rockefeller and the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), one of the founders of which was his mother. The collection will be sold for three days – on the evening and afternoon trades on May 8-10. To buy a knickknack or another from the Rockefeller House, buyers of moderate prosperity will also be able to: 650 lots with an estimate of $ 100 to $ 10 thousand are offered for online auctions from May 1 to 11,

 Paul Gauguin. “Wave”. 1888. Photo: Сhristie’s

Pre-auction exhibition goes until May 8 in the halls of Christie’s in New York’s Rockefeller Center. You can not think of a more suitable place: this building, a masterpiece of American art deco, was built by David’s father John Rockefeller, Junior. It was he who became the first collector in the family – his weakness was Chinese porcelain and medieval tapestries. Enchanted, like many Americans, by the culture of the Old World, he donated money for the restoration of Versailles and the Reims cathedral and founded the museum of medieval sculpture and architecture of Cloisters (now part of the Metropolitan Museum) in New York. Modern art did not approve, radically diverging on this issue with his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. At first he tried to keep his wife strict, not allowing her everywhere to hang his beloved Matisse, Dali and Picasso and demanding to show them in a special gallery on the seventh floor of their nine-story palace house, where he himself tried not to look. But in the end, the family conflict went to New York and the world for good. Unable to fill the house with the works of fashionable artists, Abby together with two girlfriends-collectors founded the Museum of Modern Art. In the end, even the nine-story palace fell victim to her passion for beauty: she persuaded her husband to transfer the site where their family nest was located, for the construction of a new museum building. Now on this site the sculpture garden of MoMA, named after Abby.

 Henri Matisse. “Lying with the odalisque with magnolias.” 1923. Photo: Сhristie’s

According to the family legend, it all began with the fact that Barr and his wife in 1948 came with a secular visit to David and Peggy. In the living room hung portraits of the brush of rank-and-file masters of the 18th century, and Barra’s wife was indignant at the fact that the masters hang such mediocre paintings on the walls, although they could afford something more interesting. It was with the light hand of Barr in the collection of the Rockefellers that the top lots of the current auction appeared – the late “Water Lilies” (1914-1917) by Claude Monet, written under the influence of the Japanese engravings “The Wave” (1888) by Paul Gauguin and “Gabrielle at the Mirror” (1911-1913) ) Auguste Renoir (estimate the first canvas $ 50-70 million, the second – $ 12 million, the third – $ 7-10 million).

In 1968, when the heirs of Gertrude Stein put up for sale her collection, which included many of the masterpieces of Picasso, David and his brother Nelson and three millionaires in the warehouse bought it entirely. Some of the paintings they gave to MoMA, the rest divided among themselves by lot. David for his contribution of $ 2.1 million went to eight works by Picasso and two – Juan Gris. It is from this collection – the main hit of the auction “The Girl with a Basket of Flowers” (1905), referring to the “pink” period of the master. On the canvas depicts a naked teenage girl with a childishly serious look, fascinated not only by Picasso. Young Linda also posed Amedeo Modigliani and Kesu van Dongen and, according to Picasso’s biographers, traded at the entrance to the Moulin Rouge cabaret not only with flowers but with herself. Whether this work will beat the record of the “Algerian women” Picasso, who left two years ago at the auction of the same Christie’s for $ 160 million – perhaps the main intrigue of the upcoming auction.

Probably heated passion and around the sensual “Recumbent odalisque with magnolia” (1923) Henri Matisse (estimate $ 70-90 million). However, buyers from the Middle East, who recently made the weather at auction, rather will like the ensemble of three abstract wall panels Joan Miro. Three panels measuring 0.5 x 2.5 m once adorned one of the country houses of David and Peggy Rockefeller, their total estimated – $ 15-20 million.

27.04.2018

The auction house Sotheby’s put up for sale a picture of Amedeo Modigliani “Reclining Nude (on the left side),”

written by an Italian artist in 1917. Experts have estimated the estimated cost of work at $ 150 million: none of the works of art in the history of auctions have been evaluated so highly, writes Artnet.
For example, the canvas of Leonardo da Vinci “The Savior of the World”, which at the end of last year went under the hammer for $ 450 million, before the auction was estimated at $ 100 million, and Picasso’s “Algerian Women” sold for $ 180 million – $ 140 million.
Experts already predict that the picture of Modigliani will become one of the most expensive works of art. In particular, experts say, it will almost certainly beat the previous record for the works of Amedeo Modigliani: in 2015, his other canvas was sold for $ 170 million.
“Reclining Nude (on the left side)” is part of a series of paintings that Modigliani wrote on behalf of his friend Leopold Zborowski. In 1917, these paintings, which are mostly imprinted naked girls, presented at an exhibition in Paris. The authorities considered it to violate the norms of public morality and in a couple of days they closed it.

Source: https://news.artnet.com/market/modigliani-nude-sothebys-record-1272167

25.04.2018

The 9-inch picture in the basement of Roger Landau was a long-lost Rembrandt.

When three brothers from the American city of Teaneck turned to auctioneer John Nye to sell a collection of old family things, Nye thought that a silver tea set would bring more than a cracked and faded 9-inch picture.

“The lacquer has strongly desiccated,” said the auctioneer, who heads the Nye & Company Auctioneers in Bloomfield. “The picture is dark, and the monogram in the upper right corner is not visible.”
Ned, Roger and Stephen Landau inherited silver, porcelain and a picture when their mother died in 2010.

“She hung on the wall, but she never looked significant,” said Roger Landau.

A picture depicting two men trying to bring a woman to life. The painting was in a box in the basement of Roger Landau under a ping-pong table. 
Only when the strange picture was sold, Nye and Landau found out what they had – the long-lost masterpiece of Rembrandt.

“Smell” was one of five paintings in the series, written by Rembrandt in his teens.

When the auction was announced, none of the applicants from Europe requested a status report. Also they did not ask for additional pictures of the picture. No one asked questions, Nye said.
Bidding began with $ 250 and soon passed Nye’s estimate of $ 800.
Then the caller from France offered $ 5,000.
From Germany, they offered 100 000 US dollars.

According to Nye, the winning bid of $ 1.1 million came with the French.
At this price, the German subscriber retreated.
And then he explained to Naya what was going on.
“You just sold Rembrandt,” said calling Nadia. “I was looking for this picture all my professional life.”
When the picture was cleared, Rembrandt’s monogram became visible, Nye said. The French auction participant sold the painting to Thomas and Daphne Kaplan, who own three others in the series. The fifth painting, depicting the taste, has not yet been found.

Nye said that the amount Kaplan paid for the painting was not disclosed. The published report says that they paid about $ 4 million.
The Landau brothers have no idea where the picture came from. And they never asked. “This is a mystery,” said Roger Landau. “My parents are dead, and we have no way of knowing.”

23.04.2018

There is simply a huge variety of directions and styles in the visual arts. Often they do not have any expressed boundaries and can seamlessly move from one to another while being in continuous development, opposition and confusion. Most trends in painting coexist at the same time for this very reason – there are practically no “pure styles”. We present to you the most popular:

Impressionism got its name due to the film “Impression, soleil levant” by Claude Monet. Impressionism is a style of painting, which, as a rule, is aimed at working in the open air. Painting in this direction is intended to convey the light sensation of the master. Key characteristics of impressionism include thin, relatively small, barely visible strokes; accurately transmitted lighting change; open composition; the presence of any movement; the unusual vision of objects. Bright representatives of impressionism: Pierre Renoir, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet.
Expressionism Edvard Munch “Scream”. One of the modern art trends that originated in Germany around the first half of the XX century. At first expressionism covered only poetry and painting. Expressionists usually depict the surrounding world only subjectively, completely distorting the reality for an even greater emotional effect. Thus, they make their viewers think. Among his representatives: Amedeo Modigliani, Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, etc.

Cubism Pablo Picasso “Dora Maar”
Cubism is the avant-garde direction of art that originated in the 20th century thanks to the famous Pablo Picasso. Therefore, he is the brightest representative of this style. Note that this direction revolutionized the sculpture and painting of Europe, inspiring similar directions in architecture, literature and music. For works of art in this style are characterized by recombined, broken objects in an abstract form.

Modernism Henri Matisse “Dancer in a blue dress” Modernism shows the totality of different cultural trends, as well as a number of unified art trends that originated in the XIX and XX centuries. Painters call modernism “another art”, the purpose of which is to create unique, in no way similar pictures, that is, they show a special vision of the artist. Famous representatives: Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.
Neoclassicism Nicolas Poussin “Parnassus” Neoclassicism was the main trend in Northern Europe around the 18th and 19th centuries, which is characterized by the art of the Renaissance, antiquity and even classicism. Thanks to their profound knowledge of church laws, the masters of neoclassicism tried to reconstruct, and also to introduce canons into their works. Bright representatives are Nicolas Poussin, Franz Josef Haydn, Raphael.
Pop art Andy Warhol “Dollar” As an art style, it emerged around the 1950s in the UK and later in America. Speaking of pop art, you just can not forget Andy Warhol, who is one of the most popular representatives of this direction. The main theme of pop art is ordinary subjects. He focuses on vulgar and banal elements of any culture, as a rule, ironically. Pop art is quite popular in various aspects of mass art: comics, advertising, etc.
Romanticism Francisco Goya “Tribunal of the Inquisition” Romanticism as the direction of art originated in the XVIII century in Europe. Strong emotions were considered to be the true source of aesthetic knowledge. Most of all, such emotions as reverence, fear, horror were valued. Among its representatives: Francisco Goya, Isaak Levitan, Ivan Shishkin, Ivan Aivazovsky, William Turner.
Realism Ilya Repin “Muzhichok of the timid” Realism arose as a reaction to academic and romanticism, first manifested itself in the 1850’s in France. Realist artists usually tried to depict various objects through the prism of worldly rules. They were deprived of any explanation and embellishment. Realism believed only in the existence of objective reality, so protested against the strong emotionality of Romanticism. Accuracy and truth were the main goals in the work of most representatives of this style. Representatives of realism: Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin, Jules Breton, Eduard Manet.

Surrealism Salvador Dali “The permanence of memory” Originated in the 1920s. Surrealism is the exposure of psychological truth by separating objects from their ordinary meaning with the aim of creating a strong image in order to empathize the viewer. Famous representatives of this style: Max Ernst, René Magritte and Salvador Dali.
Symbolism Mikhail Vrubel “The Defeated Demon” Symbolism is a kind of protest in favor of spirituality, dreams and imagination that developed in some European countries at the end of the 19th century. Symbolists have made a strong enough impact on surrealism and expressionism in painting. These two directions occurred directly from the symbolism. Among the representatives of the style: Mikhail Vrubel, Gustave Moreau, Hugo Simberg, Victor Vasnetsov, etc.

Source: http://art-news.com.ua/samye-populyarnye-stili-zhivopisi/
© Art News Ukraine. Under the guidance of Sotheby’s.

20.04.2018

The Leiden collection is the largest privately owned, with the works of representatives of the “golden age” of Dutch painting. Today, it has more than 250 paintings and drawings, including Rembrandt, Bruegel, Rubens and Vermeer.

Since 2003, the collection has been collected by American businessman Thomas Kaplan along with his wife Daphne Recanati Kaplan. Rembrandt’s paintings Kaplan admired at a young age. In his eight years, he encouraged his parents to visit Amsterdam, where he lived a great master to see as much as possible the works of the famous painter. Kaplan believed that all works of his favorite age have long been preserved in museums. But when he learned from his friend that the paintings of the artists that he admires from his youth are still available in the market, he was quite surprised. Since then, the businessman collects the work of old masters.

Eleven paintings and two drawings by Rembrandt, as well as ten paintings made in his studio, form the basis of the Leiden collection. Here are other artists from the city of Leiden, whose canvases are characterized by subtle execution and thorough typing of the smallest details.

Tom Kaplan decided to put his collection on the online version so that students and connoisseurs of Rembrandt’s works could evaluate these works. All paintings presented on the site of the Leiden collection are accompanied by scientific descriptions and contain information about the works and their authors.

Source: https://ukraineartnews.com/news/news/privatnij-kolektsioner-podilivsja-shedevrami-zolotogo-stolittja

18.04.2018

Self-portrait of the Flemish painter Peter Rubens will again delight the eyes of visitors in the painter’s house museum in the Belgian city of Antwerp, after an annual restoration. The exact date of writing the picture is unknown, scientists suggest that it was created in the year 53 of the artist.

According to the administration of the museum, during the restoration on the canvas, 10 additional layers of paint were found, besides those used by the artist, the format of the self-portrait also changed several times, as it was for some time oval. In honor of the return of the painting to the house-museum in which the artist lived from 1616 until his death, a national holiday was announced. The event will be held on April 21, this day the entrance to the Rubens Museum will be free, so that everyone can once again admire the artist’s beautiful self-portrait.

16.04.2018

At the auction Christie’s will be sold “Suprematist composition” Kazimir Malevich, ten years ago, cost $ 60 million

Kazimir Malevich. “Suprematist composition.” Photo: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

At the auction of Impressionist art and modernists on May 15, exhibited “Suprematist composition” by Kazimir Malevich, written in 1916 – the most expensive at the present time the product of the Russian avant-garde and Russian art in general. Ten years ago, the canvas was sold at Sotheby’s for $ 60 million to an unknown buyer, according to some suggestions by a consortium of art dealers.

The picture was on the market after a long dispute between the heirs of the artist and the Amsterdam Stedeleik Museum. Although the museum only conscientiously purchased works from the architect Hugo Hering, the heirs were able to prove that he could not dispose of the works – it was only to keep them at the request of Malevich himself. To retain the bulk of the collection, the museum agreed to give up five paintings. One heir immediately put up at Sotheby’s – it was sold without bargaining, at a pre-determined price of $ 60 million. Later, in 2015, another one of the five paintings appeared on the auction – “Suprema Composition No. 18” went for £ 21.4 million

Painting by Malevich is very rare at public auction (portal auction prices ArtPrice knows only 15 cases of sales), besides, it is often counterfeited – it is no wonder that a picture of this size, quality and provenance immediately aroused the interest of potential buyers. Its preliminary cost is reported only to them.

13.04.2018

The painting, taken from the Manhattan home of an elderly couple, had been stashed in a Maryland attic

Members of the FBI’s Art Crime Team holding a recovered work by Marc Chagall, Othello and Desdemona (1911) FBI

Ernest “Pick” Heller, a jeweller, and Rose “Red” Heller were cultural philanthropists and collectors who owned works by Hopper, Picasso, Renoir, and others. The theft occurred when the then octogenarians were away on their annual two-month trip to Aspen. According to an article at the time by UPI, the couple returned home to find jewellery, artwork, silverware, and carpets missing from their apartment, including the Chagall painting. The total value of the theft was said to be $600,000.

In today’s news release, the FBI claims the painting was stolen by someone who worked in the Hellers’ building. “It was an inside job,” said Special Agent Marc Hess, who works on the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Soon after the robbery, the thief met with an unidentified Maryland man in an attempt to sell the Chagall. The deal fell through, but the Maryland man kept the painting and tried to consign it to a Washington, DC gallery in 2011 and 2017. Concerned about the work’s provenance, the gallery owner suggested the man contact the FBI. He did, and when investigators arrived at his home last year, they found the painting stored in the attic in a homemade box “crafted out of a door jamb and plywood.” The box was labelled “Misc High School artwork.”

The Chagall is the only artwork from the 1988 Heller robbery that’s been found thus far. “The investigation into the other missing paintings continues,” Hess said in the release.

Source:https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/fbi-recovers-chagall-work-stolen-nearly-30-years-ago

06.04.2018

The largest art museum in California, the Getty Museum spent about $ 100 million to buy a collection of drawings from a famous British artist. The collection consists of 16 drawings, including works by Michelangelo, Parmigianino and Watteau.

The only picture in the collection was until 2008 the lost work of Antoine Watto “Surprise” (1718); the collection of graphics was replenished with the “Etude of the head of St. Joseph Andrea del Sarto, The Study of the Grieving Woman by Michelangelo, The Head of a Young Man by Parmigianino, Goya’s sketch, Pastel Degas, works by Lorenzo di Creda, Fra Bartolomeo, Tiepolo, Rubens and others.

 Antoine Watteau. Surprise. Ok 1718. Oil on canvas. Photo: courtesy Getty Museum

Negotiations on the acquisition of part of the meeting began two years ago, curators of the museum were able to choose from the collection, which includes more than a hundred works. Most of the acquired works have already arrived at the museum, except for three drawings waiting for the license of the British Council for Arts, which can impose a temporary moratorium on their exports to enable local institutions to buy them from the seller. The exhibition of new acquisitions will open at the end of the year.

04.04.2018

Thanks to the magic of technology, a technical start-up has done something that for so many years could not have been done in the FBI. Despite all the efforts of the FBI, the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston still lacks some precious masterpieces from its collection, stolen back in 1990. But if the investigators could not restore the work, the local technical company seems to have found a solution to the problem. The scientists used the augmented reality of AR to return the lost paintings to the museum, at least virtually.

 Recently, the Boston Startup Cuseum, dedicated to the use of technology to improve the experience of visitors to the museum, introduced the new “Hacking the Heist” supplemented reality application. The application is quite simple: lift the camera phone to the empty frames that are still hanging on the walls of Gardner, and the pictures will suddenly appear where they should be. “When we decided to work more actively with Apple ARKit and AR, one of my employees said:” Would not it be interesting to return the stolen art back to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum? “” Said Brendan Sico, CEO and founder of the Cuseum . “If you visit Gardner today, you will see that many people do not even understand that a robbery occurred here, or they do not know what the stolen works of art looked like.” He described Hacking the Heist as something “stunning and mind-blowing”. “You literally look at the screen and see objects that are not there, and it’s not Pokemon Go, or another video game – it’s culture, it’s real art, something that has such profound meaning.”

About a month ago, one of the suspects in Gardner’s robbery robbery, Robert Gentile, was sentenced to 11 months in prison. Note that he is the last living person who is involved in robbery. The man in every way denies the allegations that he has any information. Today the museum offers a reward of $ 10 million for any information that will help find these works.

Source: http://art-news.com.ua/tekhnolohyia-dopolnennoi-realnosty-vernula-ukradennye-kartyny-19025.html
© Art News Ukraine. Under the guidance of Sotheby’s.