Europe

Swiss gallery to return Nazi era looted Constable painting: The Constable painting “Dedham from Langham”, which is hanging in an art gallery in Western Switzerland, will be restored to its family owners following a legal battle against the town’s local authorities.

01.10.2017, Swissinfo: Swiss gallery to return Nazi era looted Constable painting

Christie’s to auction long-lost painting by Mannerist artist Spranger: A painting by the Mannerist artist Bartholomäus Spranger long thought to be lost will be sold at Christie’s Old Masters evening sale in London on 7 December, after the private German owner reached a settlement with the heirs of a prominent Jewish art historian who fled the Nazis.

04.10.2017, The Art Newspaper: Christie’s to auction long-lost painting by Mannerist artist Spranger

Italy Is Launching a New Caravaggio Research Institute: Rome’s Galleria Borghese, with support form Italian luxury brand Fendi, is launching a new institute dedicated to preserving and disseminating the legacy and works of Italian master painter Caravaggio.

22.09.2017, Artnet: Italy Is Launching a New Caravaggio Research Institute Thanks to a (Literally) Well-Heeled Supporter

Matisse’s heirs claim two cut-outs worth $4.5m: The court of appeal in Versailles is passing judgment this month on a long-running and complex civil case over two cut-outs by Henri Matisse, worth a combined $4.5m, that the artist’s heirs claim vanished—along with hundreds of other works—while in storage.

29.09.2017, The Art Newspaper: Matisse’s heirs claim two cut-outs worth $4.5m

Dealer Bendor Grosvenor discovers Rubens’ Duke of Buckingham in Glasgow: Dealer Bendor Grosvenor’s returning series ‘Britain’s Lost Masterpieces’ has discovered a work by Flemish artist Sir Peter Paul Rubens in a National Trust property in Glasgow.

25.09.2017, Antiques Trade Gazette: Dealer Bendor Grosvenor discovers Rubens’ Duke of Buckingham in Glasgow

Gurr Johns buys auction houses Dreweatts and Bloomsbury: Art consultancy and valuation firm Gurr Johns has bought auction firms Dreweatts and Bloomsbury from Stanley Gibbons for £1.25m.

02.10.2017, Antiques Trade Gazette: Gurr Johns buys auction houses Dreweatts and Bloomsbury

02.10.2017, The Art Newspaper: Dreweatts and Bloomsbury get new owner

Art Basel issues new exhibitor regulations: Changes are aimed at improving professionalism and shoring up buyer confidence in the wake of growing litigation.

29.10.2017, The Art Newspaper: Art Basel issues new exhibitor regulations

02.10.2017, Artnet: The Gray Market: Why Art Basel’s New Ethics Rules Are Good News for the Market (and Other Insights)

United States

Judge Lets London’s National Gallery Keep Matisse Painting: London’s National Gallery need not deliver Henri Matisse’s 1908 oil painting “Portrait of Greta Moll” to Moll’s heirs, whose lawsuit failed at every point, a federal judge ruled.

26.09.2017, Courthouse News: Judge Lets London’s National Gallery Keep Matisse Painting

30.09.2017, ArtLyst: Matisse Portrait: US Court Rules In Favour Of London’s National Gallery

Manhattan District Attorney Says Antiquity Seized From the Met Should Be Returned to Lebanon: Two months after authorities seized an ancient head of a bull that was on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a senior official in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office says, in no uncertain terms, that the marble sculpture should be returned to Lebanon. The claim is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between the Lebanese government and a pair of Colorado collectors over the antiquity’s rightful ownership.

26.09.2017, Artnet: Manhattan District Attorney Says Antiquity Seized From the Met Should Be Returned to Lebanon

US court to decide on terror victims’ claim on lent artefacts: The US Supreme Court will determine whether US victims of a terrorist bombing in Jerusalem can seize antiquities on loan to a Chicago museum as recompense for their suffering.

02.09.2017, The Art Newspaper: US court to decide on terror victims’ claim on lent artefacts

Would Donald Trump’s Tax Plan Be a Bonanza for the Art World? The Experts Weigh In: After months of high expectations from the Republican elite and the financial sector, Donald Trump has finally released his proposed tax reform plan.

02.09.2017, Artnet: Would Donald Trump’s Tax Plan Be a Bonanza for the Art World? The Experts Weigh In

28.09.2017, Bloomberg: Richest Americans Doubt They’ll Really Win in Trump’s Tax Plan

A New York Political Power Couple’s Art Collection Could Fetch $60 Million at Sotheby’s: Works on paper will take center stage at the November auctions. Sotheby’s has secured a collection of 90 works from the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Collection, which collectively carry an estimate of $40 million to $60 million.

27.09.2017, Artnet: A New York Political Power Couple’s Art Collection Could Fetch $60 Million at Sotheby’s

Yoko Ono’s Basquiat Canvas Seen Fetching $12 Million at Auction: A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat from the collection of Yoko Ono is heading to auction.

28.09.2017, Bloomberg: Yoko Ono’s Basquiat Canvas Seen Fetching $12 Million at Auction

04.10.2017, The Art Newspaper: Basquiat boom spreads with London show

World

Sotheby’s to hold first sale in Dubai: Following Christie’s decision to hold its first Modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art sale in London this month after dropping its autumn series in Dubai, its rival Sotheby’s has announced that it will hold its first sale in the Gulf city.

29.09.2017, The Art Newspaper: Sotheby’s to hold first sale in Dubai

A “Virtually Unobtainable” Ru Bowl Sets a Record for Chinese Ceramics at Sotheby’s Hong Kong: The ultra rare ceramic brush washer sold for $37.7 million after a frantic bidding war.

03.10.2017, Artnet: A “Virtually Unobtainable” Ru Bowl Sets a Record for Chinese Ceramics at Sotheby’s Hong Kong

Beirut’s Art Scene is in the Midst of a Reawakening, Its Movers and Shakers Say: The city’s cultural fabric has long drawn on a healthy artistic community living and working in, and invariably reflecting on, Beirut.

29.10.2017, Artnet: Beirut’s Art Scene is in the Midst of a Reawakening, Its Movers and Shakers Say