A handover ceremony took place last week in an exhibition room dedicated to works of art with uncertain provenance which had been given to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in 1951.
Continue readingTag: Art news
Picasso family feud over NFTs
The last few weeks have witnessed a series of mixed messages emanating from the family of Pablo Picasso, following the initial announcement by his granddaughter Marina and great-grandson Florian that 1,010 NFTs of a never-before-seen ceramic bowl would be released.
Continue readingRoyal mail launches new digitally barcoded stamp
Royal Mail takes a major step into the digital world with a barcoded video of Shaun the Sheep. Established in 1516, the United Kingdom’s postal service has added barcodes to stamps that let people send videos and virtual messages through the post.
Continue readingBotticelli just makes anticipated amount at Sotheby’s auction, whilst other old masters exceed expectations
Last week saw Sotheby’s sale of old master paintings bringing in a staggering total of $91 million (with buyer’s fees). Despite this being a considerable sum, it is in fact lower than the equivalent sale last year at Sotheby’s, which made $114.5 million. The auction included the much anticipated sale of Sandro Botticelli’s The Man of Sorrows (circa 1500) which, it was revealed earlier this month through the use of technical analysis, has a hidden composition of a Madonna and Child underneath.
Continue readingNew London gallery launched in derelict haberdashery
London-based gallery Edel Assanti has launched a unique gallery space in a former haberdashery in Fitzrovia. Co-founded by Jeremy Epstein and Charlie Fellowes in 2009, the new face of Edel Assanti has been designed with artists at the forefront.
Continue readingNazi-looted painting from lost collection returned to Jewish dealer’s family
Germany has announced that another Nazi-looted painting will be restituted to the heirs of Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker (1897-1940). Astonishingly, the Goudstikker Art Research Project is still seeking 836 missing artworks.
Continue readingRare Poussin painting generously donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Last Thursday a “glitzy” Baroque painting by French artist Nicolas Poussin went on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Poussin’s Agony in the Garden (1626-7) has just been donated to the museum by collectors Barbara and Jon Landau, and adds to the Met’s collection of works by the artist, which is already the most impressive Poussin collection in North America.
Continue readingRoman remains resurface in construction of the controversial HS2 railway line
Two significant finds have been announced this year by archaeologists working for the HS2 railway line. This is in addition to the over 100 different archaeological sites that have been examined since the HS2 project commenced in 2018, including an Iron Age coin hoard which was excavated last year.
Continue readingLost drawing found underneath $40 million (£29 million) Botticelli painting
Buy one, get one free! Infrared imaging of Sandro Botticelli’s (c. 1445-1510) ‘Man of Sorrows’ has unexpectedly revealed a long-lost Madonna and Child composition hidden underneath the masterful brushstrokes. Sotheby’s is due to sell the painting in New York later this month with a staggering guarantee of $40 million (£29 million).
Continue readingNFT platform OpenSea valued at more than $13 bn following 2021’s boom in digital art
One of the most popular platforms for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), OpenSea, revealed in a blog post last week that the company is now valued at $13.3 billion. The company, which was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, has had a hugely successful year, with NFTs becoming the latest craze in the art world.
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