Last week, Unit Gallery in London opened a pioneering new exhibition titled ‘Eternalizing Art History: From Da Vinci to Modigliani’, featuring six NFTs from major Italian museums. The objects exhibited are authorized digital copies shown on screens and mounted in handmade replicas of the original frames. The buyer of the works receives both the physical components (the screen, a built-in drive that generates the image, the replica frame and a certificate of authenticity) as well as the digital elements (the NFT and a unique login to the app).
Continue readingTag: Caravaggio
Painting nearly sold for €1,500 (£1,300) could be a long-lost Caravaggio
Spain has hastily imposed an export ban on a little-known painting, following claims that it could be a forgotten Caravaggio (1571-1610). It was due to be sold at auction in Madrid for a starting price of €1,500 (£1,300), but if it is indeed by the Italian master it could fetch up to €150 million (£130 million).
Continue readingCaravaggio discovered in a Toulouse attic bought by mystery buyer
A controversial painting, supposedly by Caravaggio (1571-1610), has been purchased by a mystery buyer just two days before it was due to be sold at auction. “Judith and Holofernes” was sold for an unknown price, although it was expected to fetch at least US$110 million (£86.5 million). Continue reading
‘Caravaggio’ rejected by Louvre up for multi-million pound auction
It led one art historian to resign from a gallery advisory committee in outrage and now it could sell at auction for up to £140 million. Caravaggio is an artist who has always sparked controversy and now a painting said to be by his hand has the art world divided over its attribution. Continue reading
Home for the holidays: Hope for return of stolen Caravaggio in time for Christmas
New evidence has emerged, which suggests a missing Nativity masterpiece by Caravaggio could soon be returning to Sicily. Theories abound as to the disappearance of ‘Nativity With Saints Lawrence and Francis’ (1609) from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo in 1969. The latest version of the story was announced by Rosy Bindi, president of Italy’s parliamentary Antimafia Commission earlier this year. According to investigators, testimony from a member of Sicilian criminal organisation, Cosa Nostra, indicates the stolen masterpiece was taken to an art dealer in Switzerland who sold it off in pieces. They have followed this lead to eastern Europe and now believe they can recover the Nativity soon. Continue reading
Anti-mafia commission reopen Caravaggio cold case
Anti-mafia investigators in Italy are closer than ever before to solving one of the world’s top 10 international art crimes. Continue reading
Practical tips to sellers when consigning items to an auction house
Lessons learned from the case of Thwaytes v Sotheby’s
In 2006 Mr Thwaytes consigned a painting, the Cardsharps, to Sotheby’s for further investigation. Sotheby’s advised it was a good 17th Century copy of the original by Caravaggio and the painting was sold at auction for a hammer price of £42,000 to a leading Caravaggio scholar, Sir Denis Mahon, who later announced that he and others believed it to be by Caravaggio, and therefore worth far more. Continue reading
Legal Briefing: Thwaytes v Sotheby’s [2015] EWHC 36 (Ch)
Boodle Hatfield LLP acted for Mr Thwaytes in his claim against fine art auctioneers Sotheby’s. Judgment was handed down on 16 January 2015 and you can read it in full here. Continue reading