Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum during coronavirus shutdown

AMSTERDAM - Thieves stole a painting by Vincent van Gogh overnight from the Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands, its director said on Monday.

The gallery, in the town of Laren to the east of Amsterdam, is currently shut to the public due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The painting "Lentetuin", or "Spring Garden," which depicts the garden of the rectory at Neunen and dates to 1884, had been on loan from the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands.

"I am shocked and absolutely livid that this has happened," Jan Rudolph de Lorm, director of the Singer Laren Museum, said in a video statement posted on YouTube.

"This splendid and moving artwork by one of our great artists has been stolen, taken from the community," he said.

Police said the thieves had forced the building's glass front doors open at around 3.15 a.m. (0115 GMT).

The stolen painting depicts a woman in a garden with sparse red-flowered bushes and the church building in the background.

Dutch museums have been closed because of the coronavirus outbreak since March 12.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Hitler' paintings' auction stirs controversy in Germany

NUREMBERG, Germany - Five paintings attributed to Adolf Hitler will be auctioned off Saturday in the German city of Nuremberg, sparking anger that the Nazi memorabilia market is alive and well.

Nuremberg's mayor Ulrich Maly has condemned the upcoming sale as being "in bad taste," speaking to Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Among the items to go under the hammer are a mountain lake view with a starting price of 45,000 euros ($51,000) and a wicker armchair with a swastika symbol presumed to have belonged to the late Nazi dictator.

The Weidler auction house is holding the "special sale" in Nuremberg, the city in which Nazi war criminals were tried in 1945.

The auction made headlines days before its start after several artworks were withdrawn Thursday on suspicion they were fakes and prosecutors stepped in.

Sales of alleged artworks by Hitler -- who for a time tried to make a living as an artist in his native Austria -- regularly spark outrage that collectors are willing to pay high prices for art linked to the country's Nazi past.

"There's a long tradition of this trade in devotional objects linked to Nazism," Stephan Klingen of the Central Institute for Art History in Munich told AFP.

"Every time there's a media buzz about it... and the prices they're bringing in have been rising constantly. Personally, that's something that quite annoys me."

'Ambitious amateur'

In Germany, public displays of Nazi symbols are illegal but exceptions can be made, in educational or historic contexts for instance.

To comply with the law, the auction house pixelated the swastikas on the wicker chair and a blue-and-white Meissen porcelain vase in catalog photos, and has covered them up on-site.

But none of the paintings include any of the totalitarian party's insignia.

According to Klingen, Hitler had the style of "a moderately ambitious amateur" but his creations did not stand out from "hundreds of thousands" of comparable works from the period -- making their authenticity especially hard to verify.

A haul of 26 pieces originally featured in the catalog have been removed from sale after suspicions were raised that they might be fakes.

The watercolors, drawings and paintings bearing "Hitler" signatures featured views of Vienna or Nuremberg, female nudes and still lifes, the auction house said. They were offered by 23 different owners. 

Prosecutors on Wednesday collected 63 artworks from the Weidler premises bearing the signature "A.H." or "A. Hitler," including some not slated to go under the hammer Saturday.

The Nuremberg-Fuerth prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation against persons unknown "on suspicion of falsifying documents and attempted fraud," chief prosecutor Antje Gabriels-Gorsolke told AFP.

"If they turn out to be fakes, we will then try to determine who knew what in the chain of ownership," she said.

Weidler said in a statement that the paintings' withdrawal from sale "does not automatically mean they are fakes".

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Van Gogh landscape sells for $8.27M at auction

PARIS -- An early landscape by Vincent Van Gogh, one of the art world's most sought-after painters, sold for 7.07 million euros ($8.27 million) at an auction in Paris on Monday.

Painted in 1882, "Fishing Net Menders in the Dunes" depicts peasant women working on the land under a cloudy sky, inspired by the countryside around The Hague, where Van Gogh passed a short but formative period.

The painting, the first Van Gogh to be auctioned in France for more than 20 years, had been valued at 3 million to 5 million euros. It was purchased by a buyer based in North America, auction house Artcurial said.

On average only two or three works by the Dutch impressionist appear on the international market each year, the auction house said.

While hardly cheap, the price comes nowhere near the record $450.3 million paid last November for "Salvator Mundi," Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century portrait of Christ, which is due to go on display in a new branch of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'African Mona Lisa' smashes estimates at London auction

LONDON -- A long-lost portrait of a Nigerian princess dubbed the "African Mona Lisa" sold at auction in London on Wednesday for £1.2 million ($1.7 million), exceeding estimates and setting a record for the artist.

The 1974 painting of Adetutu "Tutu" Ademiluyi, by Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu, was expected to fetch up to £300,000 ($414,000) when it went under the hammer at Bonhams auction house.

It described the painting of an Ife royal princess which recently turned up in a London flat after not being seen in decades as "rare and remarkable."

"The portrait of Tutu is a national icon in Nigeria, and of huge cultural significance," said Giles Peppiatt, Bonham's director of modern African art.

He uncovered the work after a family in north London contacted him following lucrative recent sales of Nigerian artworks at auction.

Peppiatt added the family were "pretty astounded" to learn it was "a missing masterpiece."

"It is very exciting to have played a part in the discovery and sale of this remarkable work," he said.

Booker Prize-winning novelist Ben Okri told AFP earlier this month that the painting had taken on almost mythical status in his native Nigeria where it was thought of as "the African Mona Lisa."

"It has been a legendary painting for 40 years, everybody keeps talking about Tutu, saying 'where is Tutu?'" he said after a viewing at Bonhams.

"He wasn't just painting the girl, he was painting the whole tradition. It's a symbol of hope and regeneration to Nigeria, it's a symbol of the phoenix rising," Okri added.

The painter Enwonwu, who died in 1994, is considered the father of Nigerian modernism. He made three paintings of "Tutu," the locations of all of which had been a mystery until the recent discovery.

The works became symbols of peace following the clash of ethnic groups in the Nigerian–Biafran conflict of the late 1960s.

Enwonwu's work "Negritude", also painted in the 1970s, sold for £100,000 ($138,000)in the same sale.

The auction was broadcast live to a Bonhams site in Lagos, where bidders were able to participate in real time.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Picasso painting of muse, future lover fetches record $69 million

LONDON - A Pablo Picasso portrait of his muse Marie-Therese Walter with future lover Dora Maar emerging from the shadows fetched £50 million (57 million euros, $69 million) at a London sale Wednesday, a European auction record for a painting.

The 1937 "Femme au Beret et a la Robe Quadrillee (Marie-Therese Walter)" beat expectations it would sell for £36 million (41 million euros, $50 million) at the sale of impressionist, surrealist and modern art at auction house Sotheby's.


It was the first time the oil on canvas had emerged on the international art market and headlined the auctioneer's first major sale of the year, it said.

The identity of the seller, and its new owner, were not released.

"It's an incredibly important museum quality picture," James Mackie, director of the impressionist and modern art department at Sotheby's, told AFP last week.

"It comes from a key era in Picasso's career, 1937, when he makes the great painting 'Guernica'," he added, referring to the masterpiece which portrayed the horrors of the Nazi bombardment of a Basque city during the Spanish civil war. 

The painting also has a strong autobiographical appeal, according to Mackie.

The main subject, Marie-Therese Walter, was the Spanish painter's "long time lover and muse". 

But the looming figure of Dora Maar, whom he met in 1936, emerges in the shadows behind Marie-Therese, explained Mackie.

Several masterpieces have reached astronomical prices at recent auctions, fuelled by the opening of major museums in the Gulf and the purchasing power of collectors from emerging countries.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman acquired Leonardo da Vinci work "Salvator Mundi" for $450 million in November 2017.

"The market for masterpieces is at an unprecedented levels, and this picture certainly sits very much in that masterpiece category," said Mackie.

Three other Picasso works went under the hammer, including "Le Matador", which sold for £16.5 million (18.6 million euros, $22.7 million).

Sotheby's also sold 3 rediscovered Salvador Dali paintings, including "Maison pour Erotomane" (circa 1932), which went for £3.5 million after a five-way bidding battle, it said.

"Gradiva" (1931), depicting the mythological figure who became central to surrealist thought, fetched £2.7 million (3 million euros, $3.7 million).

Both small oil works were in a private collection in Argentina, having been bought directly from the artist in the 1930s by his friend, Argentinean countess Cuevas de Vera.

"They are a rediscovery, which is incredibly exciting," Mackie said of the works.

Sotheby's said the 36 lots sold Wednesday, which also included a 1912 Umberto Boccioni painting, totaled an above-expected £136 million

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Saudi crown prince bought $450 mn Da Vinci: report

NEW YORK, United States - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the actual buyer of a painting by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci that sold for a record-breaking $450 million at auction last month, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The young and dynamic crown prince, known by his initials MBS, used an intermediary to buy the much-sought-after painting of Christ, "Salvator Mundi," the newspaper reported, citing US intelligence and other unnamed sources.

The son of Saudi King Salman is seen to be progressively consolidating his power, and is the architect of a wide-ranging plan dubbed Vision 2030 to bring social and economic change to his country's oil-dependent economy.

He is also seen as the mastermind of last month's rounding-up of more than 200 princes, ministers and businessmen in a sweeping anti-corruption purge.

The painting -- one of fewer than 20 works generally accepted as being by the Renaissance master, according to Christie's -- was bought by little-known Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, reports say.

The Journal reported that Bader was the nominal buyer, but said MBS was identified in US intelligence reports as the true owner.

"He is a proxy for MBS," an unnamed figure in the Gulf art world told the Journal.

American officials are keeping close tabs on the crown prince, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.

On Wednesday, the Louvre Abu Dhabi announced that the record-breaking Da Vinci painting would be displayed there.

The reports come shortly after the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a new military and economic committee, separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In recent years, Qatar has been the biggest player in the Gulf art world, but in June, Saudi Arabia and some of its allies broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Doha, which they accuse of supporting extremist movements.

"Salvator Mundi" -- dated to around 1500 -- is the last known Da Vinci in the hands of a private collector. It was long believed to be a copy but was finally authenticated about a dozen years ago.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: This Igorot MMA fighter is also a painter

Benguet - A mixed martial arts fighter shows how his artistry goes beyond sports.

Netizens have expressed admiration for 23 year-old Harold Banario for his "Beauty and the Beast" painting which featured Hollywood actress Emma Watson.

Harold was was part of the Philippine team in 2012 for wushu and is also a member of Team Lakay, one of the most well known mixed martial arts groups in the Philippines.

He is the younger brother of former ONE featherweight champion Honorio Banario and has another brother Dario, who also fights professionally.

Even as a child, Harold already exhibited a talent in painting.

He has done many paintings, most of which carry the theme of war set in Mankayan, Benguet, his hometown.

"Iyun kasi yung other side ko, fighter," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: Artist paints Pacquiao using blood

MANILA -- An artist from San Jose City in Nueva Ecija expressed his support for Manny Pacquiao by painting the Filipino boxer using his own blood.

Elito Circa, who goes by the Amang Pintor, is known for using his own hair and blood (Type O) for his paintings.

His painting of Pacquiao depicts the different aspects of the boxer's life, including his stint as a singer and his role as a congressman.

Circa also emphasized Pacquiao's religiosity in his painting.

"Kasi 'yung pagiging maka-Diyos, 'yung mapagkumbaba niya, gusto ko 'yun," he said.

Circa added he only uses his blood in painting themes that are close to his heart, like the portraits of his two sons.

"Hindi ko ginagamit sa lahat ng painting ko, kapag mahalaga para sa akin 'yung subject gagamitan ko ng dugo," he said.

The painter also clarified that his work is not for sale.

Whether Pacquiao wins or loses, Circa hopes that the boxer's attitude does not change.

"Sana huwag siya magbago 'pag natalo siya. Ang mahalaga, 'yung personality niya," he said. -- report from Noriel Padiernos, ABS-CBN News North Central Luzon

Mobile users can view the desktop version of the slideshow here.

 

Elito Circa, known as Amang Pintor, painted a portrait of Pacquiao using his own blood. Photo taken from Amang Pintor' Facebook page.

 source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Miro record smashed at London auction

LONDON - Spanish painter Joan Miro's 1927 masterpiece "Peinture (Etoile Bleue)" sold at a London auction for over £23 million ($37 million, 29.26 million euros) on Tuesday, an auction record for the artist.

A telephone bidder at Sotheby's sale of impressionist and modern art beat off competition from three rivals to secure the seminal abstract work for £23,561,250.

The painting, which has tripled in price since it was last sold in 2007, belongs to the Catalan's "dream paintings" cycle.

The final price is the most paid at a London auction this year and comfortably exceeded pre-auction estimates of £10-15 million.

Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Department, Europe, said: "We are thrilled to have been able to offer Miro's Peinture (Etoile Bleue) in tonight's auction.

"At a time of unprecedented demand for the best examples of 20th-Century art, this masterpiece by Miro not only shattered the previous record for the artist, but also made more than three times the price it achieved five years ago."

source: interaksyon.com

Rare Paul Cezanne watercolor auctioned in US

NEW YORK -- A rare watercolor by French artist Paul Cezanne fetched $19.12 million at Christie's auction house in New York late Tuesday.

The painting, titled "A Card Player," kicked off a spring auction of impressionist and modern art.

The watercolor, which measures 46.7 by 30.5 centimeters, was found in the private collection of the late Heinz Eichenwald, a medical doctor and art collector who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1930s and spent his career in Dallas, Texas. The watercolor was last seen in public in 1953.

The work "is one of the artist's preparatory studies for Les joueurs de cartes (Card Players), the seminal five-painting series that Cézanne completed between 1890 and 1896," Christie's said in a statement.

The auction house had estimated it would sell at between $15 million and $20 million.

Over the course of one hour, 31 paintings and sculptures went under the hammer. Several were sold at below or just above their price estimate, while three did not meet the minimum requested bid.

Successful sales include a 1907 Henri Matisse painting titled "Peonies" -- a white-and-blue checkered vase holding flowers -- that was auctioned for $19.2 million, far above its original estimate of between $8 million and $12 million.

"The Sleeper (Marie-Therese Walter)," a 1932 portrait by Pablo Picasso, was valued at between $5 million and $7 million, and sold at $9.88 million.

However a larger Picasso painting, "Two Reclining Nudes" (1968), was sold for $8.8 million. Its value had been estimated at between $8 million and $12 million.

A Joan Miro painting titled "L'arête rouge transperce les plumes bleues de l'oiseau au pâle bec" had an estimated value of between $4.5 million and $6.5 million, and sold for $4.33 million.

An Alberto Giacometti figure, "Bust of Diego," was withdrawn just before the auction began.

Christie's said its sales for the night totaled $117 million dollars.

Late Wednesday at Sotheby's auction house the iconic "Scream" by Norwegian Edvard Munch goes under the hammer. The 1895 painting is estimated to be worth $80 million.

source: interaksyon.com

Todd Marinovich My Art Business is BOOMING!!

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich has finally found success off the field ... as an artist ... and dude tells TMZ he's been blowin' up ever since his work was featured on an ESPN documentary this weekend.

Todd -- who battled serious drug addiction during and after he fizzled out of the NFL back in 1993 -- has been painting and sculpting non-stop ... telling us, "I've been sober for over three years ... the art is my main therapy."

Some of Todd's work was featured in the new ESPN documentary, "The Marinovich Project" ... and T.M. says the exposure is having an insane impact on his business, "Orders are pouring in for the prints."

Todd tells us the main piece of art featured in the doc is called, "The Alchemist" ... which is based on himself. "It's the most sought after print," Todd explains ... "I'm only making 100 of them and I'm almost sold out."

As for Todd's famously over-bearing father Marv -- Todd tells us, "He hasn't bought any of my art pieces yet ... but I've given him a few."

source: TMZ