City of London Information Centre – Interior © Benedict Luxmore. The Royal Institute of British Architects announced the winners of the 2009 RIBA Awards. RIBA Awards for architectural excellence will be presented across the country today with 103 buildings in the UK and Europe winning awards (97 in the UK and six in the rest [...]
The £3 million bronze sculpture was stolen in December 2005 After more then three and a half years investigating one of the most audacious British art thefts, detectives believe it was almost certainly stolen by travellers and sold on as scrap. Authorities say it most likely ended up feeding China’s growing demand for electrical components. [...]
Jan Lievens (Dutch, 1607–1674), Portrait of Rembrandt, ca. 1629. Oil on panel, 22 7/16 x 17 5/16 in. From 17 May to 9 August 2009, the Rembrandt House Museum will present a major retrospective of Jan Lievens (1607-1674), friend and rival of Rembrandt. A child prodigy, Lievens was one of the most highly regarded and [...]
One night collectors seemed resistant to part with their cash; the next evening they were clamoring to bid. Such was the auction whiplash that occurred over a 24-hour period. Unlike Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday, where bidding was thin and buyers reluctant, Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art on Wednesday showed a different face altogether. [...]
The highest estimate in this week’s contemporary art sales in New York is the $6 million to $8 million (£4 million to £5.3 million) asked for Jeff Koons’s 7ft, stainless-steel wrapped Easter egg. Sotheby’s insists that the estimate is less than half what it would have been a year ago and is a bargain. Jonathan [...]
The Impressionist and Modern Art Works on Paper and Day sales took place today at Christie’s NY (May 7 2009) and realized a combined total of $20,659,000/ £13,772,800 / €15,417,314, with a sell-through rate of 90% by value. The top price of the day was achieved for Fernand Léger’s Le cinq de trèfle, 1947 which [...]
JMW Turner was an obsessively competitive painter who laboured to prove how much better he was than his predecessors, a major exhibition at Tate Britain will attempt to prove this autumn. A self portrait painted by JMW Turner, that will be exhibited as part of the new Tate Britain exhibition Turner and the Masters The [...]