Convicted criminal’s art collection recovered by police

February 14, 2017February 14, 2017Leave a comment

A painting by Salavador Dalì is one of 14 artworks to have been recovered by Italian police from the collection of a Calabrian businessman tied to one of the country’s most powerful criminal organisations.

Italy’s Carabinieri Art Squad discovered a painting of Christ healing a blind man in an apartment in Reggio Calabria after a search warrant was issued. When cross-checked with its stolen cultural property database the Carabinieri matched the work to a canvas stolen in Randozzo in 2001. A search of another apartment in Messina turned up 13 further works by artists including Salvador Dalì, Giuliana Cappello and Mario Pinizzotto. Continue reading →

New home for Government Art Collection

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017Leave a comment

Londoners may soon enjoy unprecedented access to the UK’s Government Art Collection (GAC).

Following years of government lobbying to enable access to the taxpayer-funded collection it is due to move to new premises in London, which will feature a public display space according to a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Continue reading →

Sotheby’s take Weiss to court over fake Frans Hals

February 9, 2017February 9, 20171 Comment

Sotheby’s have launched legal proceedings against London art dealer Mark Weiss and business partner Fairlight Art Ventures over the sale of a fake portrait by Frans Hals. The auction house stated that it had ‘been left with no other option’ after the sellers ‘refused to make good on their contractual obligations’ and repay the sale proceeds.

‘Portrait of a Gentleman’ is one of several disputed works at the centre of an art forgery scandal, which broke in October 2016. Weiss bought the portrait from collector Giuliano Ruffini for a reported US$3 million (£2.5 million) in 2010. He subsequently sold it to a US collector for approximately US$10 million (£8.4 million) in a private sale brokered by Sotheby’s in 2011.

Continue reading →

World’s largest collection of contemporary art goes under the hammer

February 6, 2017February 6, 2017Leave a comment

Artworks collected by the Artist Pension Trust (APT) will go under the hammer for the first time since it was founded 13 years ago.

Works from a star-studded list of artists will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York and London in March and April this year. The lineup includes pieces by David Shrigley, Iván Navarro and Bob and Roberta Smith and carries an estimated value of £255,000 to £370,500. Continue reading →

‘Spider-Man’ trial resumes today

February 3, 2017February 3, 2017Leave a comment

The trial of three men involved in an extraordinary art heist worth €180 million (£155 million), which began on Monday (31 January) is due to resume today in Paris.

Earlier this week, the court heard that the five paintings stolen from the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 2010 were tossed in the trash by one of the co-defendants. Panicked by the thought of imminent capture, Yonathan Birn is said to have removed the stolen works from their hiding place in his studio and binned them in 2011. Continue reading →

Dealer in Knoedler forgery scandal escapes jail time

February 1, 2017February 1, 2017Leave a comment

The Long Island art dealer who sold fake Abstract Expressionist art to New York’s Knoedler Gallery has been handed a get-out-of-jail-free card by a Manhattan judge.

Glafira Rosales was indicted by the US Government in May 2013 on charges of conspiracy, tax fraud and wire fraud from the sale of up to US$60 million (£42 million) worth of fake art to the former Knoedler Gallery. On Tuesday (31 January), District Judge Katherine Polk Failla sentenced Rosales to nine months of home detention as part of a three year supervised release for her involvement in the scheme. Continue reading →

Flat-pack refugee shelter scoops top design award

January 30, 2017January 30, 2017Leave a comment

A flat-pack refugee shelter by IKEA has scooped the top prize at the Beazley Designs of the Year 2016 awards.

Better Shelter was crowned Design of the Year 2016 and Architecture Design of the Year 2016 at a ceremony held in the new home of the Design Museum in London’s Kensington. It is a collaborative project between Johan Karlsson, Dennis Kanter, Christian Gustafsson, John van Leer, Tim de Haas, Nicolò Barlera, the IKEA Foundation and UNHCR. Continue reading →

London archives ensure Women’s Marches a page in history

January 25, 2017January 25, 2017Leave a comment

It may surprise some arts enthusiasts to discover the latest additions to international cultural collections are none other than placards from the Women’s Marches, which took place on 21 January.

London’s Bishopsgate Institute, Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the New York Historical Society are each gathering signs and other protest paraphernalia borne by the millions of women who participated in the marches to preserve them for posterity. Continue reading →

Spain lifts veil on secret operation against art traffickers

January 24, 2017January 24, 2017Leave a comment

The Spanish Interior Ministry announced on Sunday (22 January) that 75 people had been arrested as part of a police operation to tackle an international art trafficking ring.

Code-named Pandora, the crackdown took place between October and November 2016. It targeted a network of criminal gangs trading in art and cultural objects stolen from war-torn countries and museums. Continue reading →

Concern mounts over UK art ‘exodus’

January 20, 2017April 20, 2017Leave a comment

Export rules need to be strengthened to prevent treasured artworks and objects being removed from the country by foreign buyers, according to the Director of UK charity Art Fund.