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Related Articles: News from the Art world and from the art market - May 2023, News from the Art world and from the art market - April 2023
The Last Klimt, the Lady with the Fan, to be Auctioned on June 27
The Lady with the Fan (Dama con ventaglio) is the last artwork created by Klimt. It was started in 1917 and was still present in his studio when the artist died suddenly in February 1918, at the peak of his career. The painting will be presented at Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction on June 27 in London, with an estimated value of 76 million euros. If the sale price approaches the estimated amount, this portrait by the artist, one of the few still owned by private collectors, could set a new record as the most expensive painting ever sold in Europe. Currently, the record is held by Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man I, sold by Sotheby's in February 2010 for 65 million pounds.
Maurizio Cattelan Wins Lawsuit: Miami Federal Court Recognizes Copyright of "Comedian"
The Miami Federal Court has issued a ruling recognizing Maurizio Cattelan's copyright on his artwork titled "Comedian." The artwork, which consists of a banana attached to the wall with duct tape, sparked significant debate and was sold for $120,000 at the 2019 Art Basel Miami Beach fair. Joe Morford, an American artist who claims to have pioneered the act of attaching fruit to walls with duct tape since 2000, filed a civil lawsuit against Cattelan. Morford argued that Cattelan was inspired by his artwork titled "Orange and Banana," in which similar plastic fruits were attached to panels on a wall with duct tape. Despite Morford's arguments, District Judge Robert Scola ruled in favor of Cattelan, stating that, apart from some aesthetic differences, there was no evidence that the Venetian artist had seen Morford's composition.
Discussion on the Restoration of the Mona Lisa Resurfaces
According to reports from AGI, during President Sergio Mattarella's visit on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition "Naples à Paris. Le Louvre invite le musée de Capodimonte," the possibility of a future restoration of the Mona Lisa has emerged. Recently, the painting underwent a cleaning using state-of-the-art technologies under the supervision of Vincent Dieulevin. Brigitte, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, pointed out that the restoration could reveal the true background of the Mona Lisa, similar to another work by Leonardo, the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Sebastien Allard, the commissioner and director of the painting department at the Louvre, emphasized that only the president can make a decision regarding the restoration. At the moment, there have been no comments from Macron.
Painter Françoise Gilot, Pablo Picasso's companion for ten years, passed away on June 6 at the age of 101 in a hospital in New York.
The encounter between Françoise Gilot and the Spanish master took place in 1943 at a restaurant in Paris. At the time, Picasso was 40 years older than her and was involved with Dora Maar. Their relationship lasted from 1944 to 1955, and they had two children together: Claude and Paloma. During that period, Picasso painted several portraits of Gilot, who also served as a model for a painting by Henri Matisse. Some years after their separation, Gilot published "Life with Picasso," a book that caused a great stir and provoked the anger of her ex-partner. As a painter herself, Françoise Gilot continued her career, married artist Luc Simon, and later married American scientist Jonas Salk, the creator of the first polio vaccine, remaining with him until his death in 1995. Some of Françoise Gilot's works are held at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
A Rare Fra Angelico Painting up for Auction at Christie's
A Crucifixion by Fra Angelico will be one of the main highlights of Christie's Old Masters Part 1 auction, taking place in London on July 6. This is the third time in the century that a work by the Dominican friar from the Convent of San Marco has been put up for sale. Last year, Christie's sold a panel depicting Saint Dominic and the Stigmata of St. Francis for $4.7 million, part of a diptych, with the other half housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Crucifixion, created between 1419 and 1424, originally formed part of a devotional triptych commissioned by an anonymous buyer and is estimated to be priced between four and six million pounds. According to Christie's, it is believed that the panel was acquired by Bingham Baring, the second Lord Ashburton, who passed away in 1864, and then passed down through generations within the family. Before returning to London for the Classic Week, taking place from July 1 to July 6, the artwork will be exhibited in New York from June 10 to July 14.
Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum: The Most Successful Exhibition in the Museum's History
The exhibition on Johannes Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which concluded on June 4, 2023, achieved remarkable numbers from the very beginning. The museum itself has described it as the "most successful exhibition in its history," with 650,000 visitors from 113 countries during the 16-week display. Despite the limited number of tickets issued to ensure an optimal experience for each visitor, the interest was so high that all tickets were sold out within a few days of the opening. The museum had to suspend online sales, and unverified tickets were being sold on eBay at astonishing prices. Additionally, nearly 800,000 people took the opportunity to explore the exhibition online, enjoying an interactive experience guided by the voice of actor Stephen Fry. Furthermore, over 100,000 copies of Vermeer's catalog were sold, surpassing any previous record at the Rijksmuseum. But the surprises did not end there: starting from June 7, six exceptional works by Vermeer will continue to be exhibited in the Honor Gallery of the Rijksmuseum. In addition to the four pieces belonging to the museum's collections—The Little Street, The Milkmaid, Woman Reading a Letter, and Love Letter—it will be possible to continue admiring "Girl with a Red Hat" on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Young Woman with a Virginale from the Leiden Collection in New York, which will remain in Amsterdam until October 10.
Cover Image: Gustav Klimt - Dame mit Fächer via Wikimedia Commons
Written by: Kooness
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