Europe

At Frieze London, Throwing Light on Tense Times: As the British capital gears up for the 14th edition of Frieze London, the artists, gallerists, dealers and collectors gathering for the event are trying to anticipate the mood of the art market at a time of pronounced political uncertainty, at home and abroad.

06.10.2016, International New York Times: At Frieze London, Throwing Light on Tense Times

04.10.2016, Bloomberg: How Dealers Set Up Multimillion-Dollar Art Sales

04.10.2016, Art News: A Fistful of Dollars: How American Collectors At Frieze Will Capitalize on the Pound’s Three-Decade Low

Old Master market reels from Sotheby’s fake assessment: A painting sold by Sotheby’s as the work of Dutch artist Frans Hals for £8.4m has been reassessed by the auction house as fake, triggering fears that more multimillion dollar Old Master works will be exposed as the work of a highly skilled forger.

05.10.2016, The Financial Times: Old Master market reels from Sotheby’s fake assessment

06.10.2016, Bloomberg: Fake Old Master Sold for $10 Million Rocks Art Market

04.10.2016, Artnet News: String of Suspected Old Master Fakes May Reveal ‘Biggest Art Scandal in a Century’

Painting Valued at $26 Turns Out to Be Raphael Masterpiece Worth Millions: A painting discovered in a stately home by the Scottish National Trust and valued at £20 ($26) is now thought to be a Madonna by Renaissance master Raphael, potentially increasing its worth to a cool £20 million ($26 million).

03.10.2016, Artnet News: Painting Valued at $26 Turns Out to Be Raphael Masterpiece Worth Millions

04.10.2016, The Guardian: Painting once written off as £20 copy reassessed as £20m Raphael

Wildenstein Tax Fraud Trial Turns Rowdy in Second Week: With eight suspects, four translators, and two dozen lawyers, it was a matter of time.

06.09.2016, Artnet News: Wildenstein Tax Fraud Trial Turns Rowdy in Second Week

30.09.2016, International New York Times: Trial Offers Rare View of Wildenstein Family and Fortune

30.09.2016, Bloomberg: Dead Billionaire’s Art Stash Gathers Dust Amid French Tax Trial

Cultural Property Protection Law Comes Under Fire in Germany: After the referendum vote in Britain to leave the European Union, the result raised questions about what other surprises might follow. The global art world worried that artworks and the people who buy and sell them would no longer flow as freely between Britain and the rest of Europe. But then Germany held a vote of its own.

29.09.2016, International New York Times: Cultural Property Protection Law Comes Under Fire in Germany

France to increase funding for museums and acquisitions in 2017 budget: The minister of culture, Audrey Azoulay, said she understands the “difficulties” museums face in the wake of terror attacks.

05.10.2016, The Art Newspaper: France to increase funding for museums and acquisitions in 2017 budget

05.10.2016, Artnet News: France Announces Unprecedented $3.2 Billion Culture Budget

Cologne to return Menzel drawing sold in 1939 to Hildebrand Gurlitt: The city of Cologne has said it will hand over a drawing by Adolph von Menzel that the art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt purchased in 1939 from a woman who fled Nazi Germany with her Jewish husband.

27.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Cologne to return Menzel drawing sold in 1939 to Hildebrand Gurlitt

29.09.2016, Artnet News: Drawing Sold to Hildebrand Gurlitt While Fleeing Nazis Will Be Returned to Original Owner’s Family

How a Nazi-Looted Painting Made its Way to University of Oklahoma: Painted by Camille Pissarro in 1886, Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep arrived at the OU museum in 2000 as part of a gift worth $50 million. In 2008, Sotheby’s appraised the painting at $1.5 million, and a school magazine once singled it out as a “breathtaking” highlight of the collection. It’s also a work the Nazis stole from a wealthy Parisian family. Their lone heir, a Holocaust survivor, spent her adult life searching for her Shepherdess.

04.10.2016, Newsweek:  How a Nazi-Looted Painting Made its Way to University of Oklahoma

The Limbach Commission: What is it and will reforms make a difference?: The Limbach Commission, set up in 2003 by the German government to mediate Nazi-looted art restitution disputes, has been heavily criticised for its inactivity. Will proposed reforms secure the Commission’s future, or are they too late?

26.09.2016, Apollo: The Limbach Commission: What is it and will reforms make a difference?

Forgotten Masterpiece by Top Victorian Artist Found on ‘Antiques Roadshow’: The artist has set the record for Victorian paintings at $36 million.

26.09.2016, Artnet News: Forgotten Masterpiece by Top Victorian Artist Found on ‘Antiques Roadshow’‘

2 van Gogh Paintings Stolen From Amsterdam Are Recovered in Italy: Two van Gogh paintings that were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2002 have been recovered in Italy, the chief anti-mafia prosecutor in Naples announced on Friday.

30.10.2016, International New York Times:  2 van Gogh Paintings Stolen From Amsterdam Are Recovered in Italy

Greek Police Break Up Gang of Antiquity Thieves: They had been active for over 10 years.

07.10.2016, Artnet News: Greek Police Break Up Gang of Antiquity Thieves

Portuguese government decides to keep 85 paintings by Joan Miró: Pictures by Spanish artist, estimated to be worth €35m, put up for sale in 2014 but withdrawn again after public outcry.

27.10.2016, The Guardian: Portuguese government decides to keep 85 paintings by Joan Miró

‘Copy’ of Flemish Painting Revealed to Be Original Worth £4 Million: It sat in storage for decades in a museum in Wales.

26.09.2016, Artnet News: Copy’ of Flemish Painting Revealed to Be Original Worth £4 Million

Even Art Lovers Are Exhausted Trying to Keep Up With the Fairs: There’s an art fair every day this month – for collectors who have the stamina to hop from Seoul to Santiago, Budapest to Buenos Aires, Moscow to Manila.

05.10.2016, Bloomberg: Even Art Lovers Are Exhausted Trying to Keep Up With the Fairs

United States

Met Picasso Belonged to Family That Fled Nazis, Suit Says: The estate of a German Jewish businessman sued the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday in an effort to claim one of its most valuable Picassos, “The Actor,” asserting in court papers that the museum does not hold good title to the painting because the businessman was forced to sell it at a low price after fleeing the Nazis.

30.09.2016, International New York Times: Met Picasso Belonged to Family That Fled Nazis, Suit Says

03.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Met sued over Picasso painting allegedly sold under duress by Jewish refugee

03.09.2016, Artnet News: Metropolitan Museum of Art Sued for $100 Million Picasso Sold by Collector Fleeing the Nazis

Illustrator Lili Chin Files $1 Million Copyright Infringement Suit Against Kohl’s: Los Angeles illustrator Lili Chin has filed a copyright infringement and unfair competition lawsuit against clothier Kohl’s and its manufacturers, demanding a jury trial and damages that could amount to as much as $1 million, without counting attorney’s fees.

05.10.2016, Artnet News: Illustrator Lili Chin Files $1 Million Copyright Infringement Suit Against Kohl’s

Neue Galerie Returns Painting Seized by Nazis and Then Rebuys It in Settlement: The Neue Galerie of New York has reached a restitution settlement for “Nude,” a 1914 painting by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, with the heirs of a Jewish shoe manufacturer and art collector whose artworks were taken when his wife and son were forced to flee Germany by the Nazis in the 1930s.

27.09.2016, International New York Times: Neue Galerie Returns Painting Seized by Nazis and Then Rebuys It in Settlement

28.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Anita Halpin among beneficiaries of Neue Galerie restitution

28.09.2016, Artnet News: Neue Galerie Returns a Nazi-Looted Painting, Then Buys It Back from Heirs

Lawful Heir of Artworks Looted by Gestapo Files Lawsuit in DC Federal Court: David Toren, a 91-year-old U.S. citizen, has sued the Federal Republic of Germany, Federal Ministry of Finance for the Federal Republic of Germany, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Department of Culture and Media of the Chancellery of the Republic of Germany seeking the return of 306 artworks looted by the Gestapo from his great-uncle, David Friedmann in 1942, or the present value of such items and securities also taken.

28.09.2016, The Jewish Voice: Lawful Heir of Artworks Looted by Gestapo Files Lawsuit in DC Federal Court

Antiques dealers arrested and $4.5m worth of ivory seized in New York: The haul was uncovered by investigators following an undercover sting operation.

28.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Antiques dealers arrested and $4.5m worth of ivory seized in New York

Dash Snow’s Family Sues McDonald’s for Copyright Infringement: The lawsuit claims that any association with McDonald’s will diminish the value of the late artist’s work.

05.10.2016, Artnet News: Dash Snow’s Family Sues McDonald’s for Copyright Infringement

Angelina Jolie’s Divorce Lawyer Embroiled in Dispute Over ‘$100 Million Pollock’: There’s some question about the painting’s authenticity.

04.10.2016, Artnet News: Angelina Jolie’s Divorce Lawyer Embroiled in Dispute Over ‘$100 Million Pollock’

World

Turkey Leaves EU Cultural Fund, Paris Opens Street Art Museum: Turkey withdraws from European Union cultural funding program. Starting in 2017, Turkey will no longer receive grants from Creative Europe.

05.10.2016, The Observer: Turkey Leaves EU Cultural Fund, Paris Opens Street Art Museum

Basrah Museum opens against the odds in Iraq: New museum is housed in a converted former palace of Saddam Hussein.

27.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Basrah Museum opens against the odds in Iraq

Egypt’s Mallawi Museum reopens with looted collection mostly restored: After a £864,000 renovation, the museum now has modern display cases, lighting, security, and a greater emphasis on education.

23.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Egypt’s Mallawi Museum reopens with looted collection mostly restored

Islamic extremist sentenced to nine years in prison for destroying Timbuktu mausoleums: Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi was first to face war crimes trial in The Hague over cultural destruction.

27.09.2016, The Art Newspaper: Islamic extremist sentenced to nine years in prison for destroying Timbuktu mausoleums

28.09.2016, Artnet News: Islamic Extremist Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison Over Destruction of Cultural Heritage