Europe

Dispute Over $127.5 Million Leonardo Painting Draws in Sotheby’s: Sotheby’s joined the long-running dispute over a Leonardo da Vinci painting that has pitted Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev against a Swiss businessman who operates the biggest art storage facilities around the world.

21.11.2016, Bloomberg: Dispute Over $127.5 Million Leonardo Painting Draws in Sotheby’s

22.11.2016, Artnet: Sotheby’s Denies Helping Flip Yves Bouvier’s $127.5 Million Leonardo da Vinci

National Gallery’s acquisition of Pontormo portrait under threat: London institution raised more than £30m to buy it, but fall in pound’s value may be presenting a new obstacle.

24.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: National Gallery’s acquisition of Pontormo portrait under threat

Germany to fund research into Nazis’ ‘degenerate art’: The German government says it will fund research into the Nazis’ campaign against so-called “degenerate art” at Berlin’s Free University (Freie Universität) in 2017 after a private foundation withdrew funding.

21.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: Germany to fund research into Nazis’ ‘degenerate art’

21.11.2016, Artnet: German Government Steps In to Secure Future of ‘Degenerate Art’ Research

Changes to Limbach Commission Announced, Real Change Now Seems Out of Reach: Three new members are added but German museums can still decline to participate.

15.11.2016, The Art Law Report: Changes to Limbach Commission Announced, Real Change Now Seems Out of Reach

Art Recovery Group’s database goes non-profit: Art Recovery Group, founded by Chris Marinello three years ago as a rival to long-established The Art Loss Register, has split the firm to create a not-for-profit organisation called Artive.

16.11.2016, The Antiques Trade Gazette: Art Recovery Group’s database goes non-profit

16.11.2016, Artnet: Art Recovery International Launches Global Database to Protect Cultural Heritage

Van Gogh Museum Contests Authenticity of Drawings in Forthcoming Book: A book titled Vincent Van Gogh, the Fog of Arles: The Rediscovered Sketchbook, to be published by Le Seuil this month, contains sixty-five drawings that have been called imitations by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, according to Le Monde.

16.11.2016, Art Forum: Van Gogh Museum Contests Authenticity of Drawings in Forthcoming Book

21.11.2016, Le Monde: Des dessins « inédits » de Van Gogh, contestés par le musée d’Amsterdam

Bjarne Melgaard’s Brush with Customs Officials Helps Change Outmoded Laws in Norway: Artist Bjarne Melgaard ran into problems with the Norwegian customs officials, who held 16 of his art works at Oslo airport for three months, determining they were not art and were therefore subject to a VAT charge of 1.3 million Krone ($153,024).

18.11.2016, Artnet: Bjarne Melgaard’s Brush with Customs Officials Helps Change Outmoded Laws in Norway

The art data arms race is on: Artnet acquires Tutela analytics: Ramping up the race to apply the power of big data to the art trade, the German-owned online price database and auctioneer Artnet has acquired Tutela Capital SA, a boutique analytics firm co-founded by the former trader Fabien Bocart, for an undisclosed sum.

15.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: The art data arms race is on: Artnet acquires Tutela analytics

Why the ‘Uber effect’ is proving elusive for online platforms: Barely a month goes by without the launch of an online initiative that aims to disrupt the art market and bring the “Uber and Airbnb effect” to art transactions. But witness the crowds pacing the aisles at a big-league art fair, or spilling out of the salesrooms during the evening auctions, and the impact of the internet on this object-and-people-business seems minimal.

22.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: The art data arms race is on: Artnet acquires Tutela analytics

United States

Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips Take Different Paths to ‘Sold!’: Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips’s latest biannual series of evening auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art, which finished last Thursday, raised a total of $1.1 billion with fees. Despite concerns about a cooling global economy, “Brexit” and fallout from the election of Donald J. Trump, the total was 20 percent higher than the $893.2 million achieved at the equivalent series in May (excluding a $78.1 million themed sale at Christie’s).

23.11.2016, The New York Times: Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips Take Different Paths to ‘Sold!’

The Art Market: Monet up, Hirst down, Bowie magic: There were high points and big prices paid during November’s important New York auction season. Top lot of the week looks to be Monet’s haystack, “Meule” (1891), which sold at Christie’s on November 16 for $72.5m ($81.4m with fees), a record for the artist.

18.11.2016, The Financial Times: The Art Market: Monet up, Hirst down, Bowie magic

17.11.2016, The New York Times: Strong Sales at Sotheby’s Contemporary Auction Despite Postelection Jitters

17.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: Monet’s Grainstack fetches $81.4m at Christie’s, setting a new auction record for the artist

17.11.2016, Artnet: Sotheby’s Stages Robust $276 Million Contemporary Art Sale to Close Out Auction Week

16.11.2016, Bloomberg: Monet Painting Sells for Record $81.4 Million at Christie’s

 Trump and the Arts: ‘Evita,’ Huge Towers and a Snub for Warhol: For the arts world, the question is essentially the same as the one being asked everywhere right now, across the political spectrum: “What will a President Donald J. Trump mean for me?”

18.11.2016, The New York Times: Trump and the Arts: ‘Evita,’ Huge Towers and a Snub for Warhol

17.11.2016, CNBC: Art collectors feeling ‘good’ post-election: Sotheby’s CEO

19.11.2016, Forbes: The Trumped Up Art Market

18.11.2016, Apollo: New York’s art market holds steady despite political upheaval

18.11.2016, Bloomberg: $1 Billion in Art Sold This Week in NYC

Richard Prince is sued yet again for unauthorised appropriation of photographs: The artist Richard Prince has been sued for a fifth time for his unauthorised use of a celebrity photographer’s work. Eric McNatt filed the latest copyright infringement lawsuit on 16 November in Manhattan’s federal court over a portrait he took in 2014 of the musician Kim Gordon, from the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, to accompany an interview published by Paper magazine.

21.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: Richard Prince is sued yet again for unauthorised appropriation of photographs

18.11.2016, Artnet: Richard Prince Slapped With Yet Another Copyright Lawsuit

Alec Baldwin Compares Mary Boone to a Bank Robber: Actor Alec Baldwin is continuing his fight against art dealer Mary Boone, and has come up with a novel analogy in his argument against the New York dealer’s attempt to have the case dismissed.

21.11.2016, Artnet: Alec Baldwin Compares Mary Boone to a Bank Robber

Steve Cohen offloads his stake in Sotheby’s: US billionaire investor and art collector Steven Cohen has sold his stake in Sotheby’s by offloading his remaining one million shares.

15.11.2016, The Antiques Trade Gazette: Steve Cohen offloads his stake in Sotheby’s

World

Forgery scandal surrounding Lee Ufan’s work grows in Korea with three arrests: Three people, a pair of married art dealers and a painter, were arrested by the metropolitan police in Seoul, South Korea, for their suspected involvement in a counterfeiting ring.

23.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: Forgery scandal surrounding Lee Ufan’s work grows in Korea with three arrests

Auction houses avoid Chinese New Year clash: Growing Asian purchasing power precipitates alterations to sales calendars.

24.11.2016, The Art Newspaper: Auction houses avoid Chinese New Year clash

Seven Records Fall at First Half of Christie’s Latin American Sale: Demonstrating the growing strength of the sector, the first half of Christie’s Latin American Art sale on Tuesday totaled $17.6 million and notched an impressive seven world auction records.

23.11.2016, Artnet: Seven Records Fall at First Half of Christie’s Latin American Sale

ISIS Destroys 2,900-Year-Old Assyrian Ziggurat: It follows the destruction of a priceless palace in the ancient Assyrian capital.

15.11.2016, Artnet: ISIS Destroys 2,900-Year-Old Assyrian Ziggurat