Europe

How Italy blocked the sale of a Dalí painting: A recent report involving a Dalí painting, Figura en una taula, has once again brought the issue of cultural export controls into focus. The Dalí painting, owned by an Italian national named Elena Quarestani, has been blocked by the Italian authorities from leaving the country. This is because it has been subject to a ‘declaration of cultural interest’, which can occur for any work that is currently in the country, over 50 years old and made by an artist now deceased.

10.12.2015, Institute of Art and Law:  Strict export rules apply to Dalí painting

07.12.2015, The Guardian:  ‘The reasoning was crazy’ – how Italy blocked the sale of a Dalí painting

Judgment against Max Ernst expert Werner Spies overturned in appeal: In a decision that should bring some relief to art experts, the German art historian and the former director of the Centre Pompidou, Werner Spies, no longer has to pay a fee for mistakenly authenticating a painting as a genuine work by Max Ernst. On 3 December, the Versailles Court of Appeal overturned a 2013 ruling against Spies that ordered him to reimburse the collector Louis Reijtenbagh for a work that turned out to be a fake produced by the forger Wolfgang Beltracchi.

09.12.2015, The Art Newspaper:  Judgment against Max Ernst expert Werner Spies overturned in appeal

Nazi-era restitution claims are just the tip of the iceberg: Looting in time of war has been illegal internationally since the 1907 Hague Convention but continued to occur throughout the 20th century. Public awareness of resultant claims to works of art, however, is typically limited to Nazi confiscations. In fact, the breadth of historic claims extends geographically and chronologically far beyond that, but other instances are little discussed and their impact on public and private art collections has not been resolved.

07.12.2015, Apollo Magazine:  Nazi-era restitution claims are just the tip of the iceberg

Center for Persecuted Art Finally Opens in Germany: After years of negotiations and planning, the Center for Persecuted Art opened at last in the German city of Solingen on Tuesday. The center, based within the Kunstmuseum Solingen, commemorates and exhibits artists who were prohibited and/or persecuted by the Nazi and GDR regimes.

10.12.2015, Artnet News:  Center for Persecuted Art Finally Opens in Germany

United States

Public benefit of US private museums under scrutiny: News that the Senate Finance Committee is questioning the tax-exempt status of private museums has sent concerned murmurs through the Miami art world this week. The city is home to several of the US’s highest profile single-donor institutions. Committee chairman Senator Orrin Hatch has written to 11 US museums, including the Rubell Family Collection in Wynwood, requesting information on attendance, opening hours, trustees and grant-making activities.

05.12.2015, The Art Newspaper:  Public benefit of US private museums under scrutiny

Christie’s Withdraws Potentially Looted Dagger from Antiquities Auction: Ahead of Wednesday’s Antiquities sale at Christie’s New York, a bronze Celtic dagger and scabbard was abruptly withdrawn from the sale, reports the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA). The dagger is believed to date to the 8th century BC, and comes from a private Texas collection, according to the auction house. However, while Christie’s lists the provenance as having been acquired from New York dealer Robert Haber in 1986, ARCA has uncovered a potentially problematic past.

10.12.2015, Artnet News:  Christie’s Withdraws Potentially Looted Dagger from Antiquities Auction

07.12.2015, Art-crime.blogspot.it: New Auction House Identifications With Opaque Collection Histories and Image Matches in Known Trafficker Archives

Christie’s to sell 2,000 photographs seized by US government in biodiesel fraud: In 2013, the US Attorney’s Office in Newark, New Jersey, filed an action seeking the forfeiture of a 2,000-strong collection of photographs valued at more than $15m. The works had been bought by Philip Rivkin, the owner of the Houston-based company Green Diesel, who this June pleaded guilty for his role in a massive biodiesel fraud scheme. The Attorney’s Office says the photographs were bought using the proceeds of the fraud, allegedly to launder the money. The US government has now consigned the confiscated works to Christie’s, which will sell them in a series of themed auctions in New York starting 17 February 2016.

10.12.2015, The Art Newspaper:  Christie’s to sell 2,000 photographs seized by US government in biodiesel fraud

Art Authenticator Peter Paul Biro Loses Appeal in New Yorker Defamation Suit: In a closely-watched defamation case, art authenticator Peter Paul Biro has lost his appeal of a case he brought against writer David Grann and New Yorker publisher Condé Nast concerning a 2010 article that raised questions about Biro’s methodology.

10.12.2015, Artnet News:  Art Authenticator Peter Paul Biro Loses Appeal in New Yorker Defamation Suit

World

Syrian antiquities chief says Turkey refuses to return looted art: Syria’s antiquities chief has accused Turkey of refusing to return looted objects from ancient heritage sites in Syria or to provide information about them, allegations denied by the Turkish government.

11.12.2015, Reuters:  Syrian antiquities chief says Turkey refuses to return looted art

Russian art sales suffer from flatter demand: The latest Russian art sales in London posted the weakest results in over a decade as a drop-off in both demand and supply brought a further downturn in the market.

07.12.2015, Antiques Trade Gazette:  Russian art sales suffer from flatter demand

08.12.2015, Telegraph: Russia’s record low

Ukraine defense unit suspected in case of stolen Dutch artwork: On Dec. 7, the Dutch city of Hoorn and its public Westfries Museum said 24 pieces of stolen artwork have been tracked to Ukraine. The paintings were stolen from the museum 10 years ago. The entire collection and some other stolen items were once valued at €10 million. The Dutch are accusing members of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s OUN Battalion of being in possession of the 17th-18th-century collection and of using financial blackmail for their return, according to a joint news release by the city and museum.

10.12.2015, KyivPost:  Ukraine defense unit suspected in case of stolen Dutch artwork

08.12.2015, Independent:  Westfries Museum: Ukraine militia offers stolen Dutch art treasures for sale

09.12.2015, BloombergView:  Stolen Art Hampers Ukraine’s EU Progress

Colombia Discovers 300-Year-Old Shipwreck Worth Over $1 Billion: One of the world’s most famous shipwrecks, the galleon San Jose, home to perhaps billions of dollars in sunken treasures, has been discovered after over 300 years off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. The country is reportedly already planning to build a new museum to house the recovered riches.

08.12.2015, Artnet News:  Colombia Discovers 300-Year-Old Shipwreck Worth Over $1 Billion

Korean artists protest appointment of former Barcelona museum director due to censorship concerns: A Korean campaign group has launched a petition protesting the appointment of Bartomeu Marí, the new director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul, South Korea. Marí was embroiled in a censorship dispute earlier this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona (Macba).

08.12.2015, The Art Newspaper:  Korean artists protest appointment of former Barcelona museum director due to censorship concerns

Who is buying Iranian art?: Interest in modern Iranian art began to take off, first in the Middle East and then globally, after Christie’s held its first Dubai auction of Middle Eastern art in 2006. Sussan Babaie, art historian at the Courtald Institute of Art in London, told Tehran Bureau the surge of interest in Iranian art resulted from the amount of art the country had been producing while isolated from international buyers.

10.12.2015, The Guardian:  Who is buying Iranian art?

Operators of private museums seek more support to boost Hong Kong’s status as an arts hub: Operators of private museums have urged the government to provide more recognition and support to develop the sector and help the city become a genuine arts hub.

07.12.2015, South China Morning Post:  Operators of private museums seek more support to boost Hong Kong’s status as an arts hub

Infamous Antiquities Dealer Convicted of Smuggling and Forgery: After years of being investigated by Interpol and law enforcement agencies in Mexico, Peru, Spain, Germany, and the US, antiquities dealer Leonardo A. Patterson has been convicted of smuggling pre-Columbian artifacts and selling fake objects. Patterson developed his trade in New York in the 1960s by selling pre-Columbian antiquities.

09.12.2015, Artnet News:  Infamous Antiquities Dealer Convicted of Smuggling and Forgery