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art collection
Lauren Bacall’s collection of art, jewellery, furniture and clothing has fetched $3.64 million at two-day Bonhams auction in New York.
A hand-colored etching of an American white pelican by John James Audubon sold for $173,000 – three times more than was expected, according to auction house Bonhams.
A granite games table from the home Lauren Bacall shared in Los Angeles with her husband Humphrey Bogart sold for $26,250.
Lauren Bacall died in August 2014 at the age of 89.
The New York home in which the star died, in the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot, is on the market for $26 million.
Lauren Bacall’s Tiffany necklace, a brass Japanese tea set and sculptures by Henry Moore were among other lots to be sold on March 31 and April 1.
Bonhams’ vice president Jon King said the “extremely personal” collection “truly reflected Lauren Bacall’s formidable collecting sense and uniquely intuitive style”.
Proceeds from the auction will go to Lauren Bacall’s three children: Stephen and Leslie, the son and daughter she had with Humphrey Bogart, and Sam, the son she had with second husband Jason Robards.
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Paintings belonging to Imelda Marcos have been seized by Philippine authorities who claim they were acquired with stolen state funds.
A small number of works were taken away from properties owned by the 85-year-old former first lady on the order of the courts.
Pieces by Picasso, Gauguin and other masters are thought to be in the possession of the family of the Philippines’ former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.
Imelda Marcos lived a lavish lifestyle during her husband’s 21-year rule.
She is best known for amassing a huge collection of designer shoes during the family’s tenure in power, but has never been imprisoned despite being charged with a number of crimes.
State authorities claim that a selection of paintings were illicitly obtained using public funds during the Marcos era, which lasted from 1965 to his overthrow in 1986. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile three years later.
Paintings belonging to Imelda Marcos have been seized by Philippine authorities who claim they were acquired with stolen state funds
The family and associates are estimated to have amassed more than $10 billion in property, jewellery, cash and other assets during their time in power.
Imelda Marcos, who was elected to the Philippine congress in 2010, has consistently denied embezzlement.
Pablo Picasso’s Reclining Woman VI, Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child, and a still life by Paul Gauguin are among those the Philippine courts are keen to seize.
State spokesman Nick Suarez confirmed that a number of pieces of art had been removed from Imelda Marcos properties, but they “have yet to determine which ones or how many”.
The other works on the court’s list are Francisco de Goya’s portrait of the Marquesa de Santa Cruz, Pierre Bonnard’s La Baignade Au Grand Temps, Vase of Red Chrysanthemums by Bernard Buffet, Joan Miro’s L’Aube, and one of Camille Pissarro’s Jardin de Kew series.
Imelda Marcos is said to be a keen art collector, and her lawyer said that the court order and seizure were “highly questionable” and there would be an appeal.
Robert Sison said that the paintings were not included in a forfeiture case which the Philippine government brought against the Marcos family more than a decade ago.
There are thought to be a total of 150 artworks in Imelda Marcos’ possession, which the authorities are keen to track down.
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Cornelius Gurlitt, known as the “Nazi art hoarder”, has died aged 81, with no definitive answer on what will happen to his secret collection, which included many Nazi-looted pieces.
More than 1,400 works were found in Cornelius Gurlitt’s Munich apartment, including pieces by Picasso and Matisse.
Many of the artworks were feared lost or destroyed before tax investigators uncovered his priceless collection in 2012.
More than 1,400 works were found in Cornelius Gurlitt’s Munich apartment, including pieces by Picasso and Matisse
Cornelius Gurlitt was the son of Adolf Hitler’s art dealer, Hildebrand Gurlitt.
Hildebrand Gurlitt was ordered to deal in works that had been seized from Jews, or which the Nazis considered “degenerate” and had removed from German museums.
Cornelius Gurlitt, whose death followed ill-health after heart surgery, told Der Spiegel magazine last November that he would never willingly give up the paintings.
“I haven’t loved anything more than my pictures in my life,” he said.
But he changed his position, agreeing to co-operate with the German authorities on establishing the paintings’ provenance, and returning them if they were shown to be stolen.
German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters praised him for that, saying: “He will be rightly recognized and respected for taking this step.”
Cornelius Gurlitt died “in his apartment in Schwabing, in the presence of a doctor,” spokesman Stephan Holzinger said in a statement.
He did not live an extravagant life but would sell a painting only when he needed money.
Cornelius Gurlitt’s collection only came to light after a routine check found he was carrying wads of cash on a train from Switzerland, triggering a tax inquiry.
Investigators found more than 1,400 works in his flat in Munich in February 2012 – though they only revealed the discovery in late 2013 – and a further 60 in his house near Salzburg, Austria, earlier this year.
Among them were works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Emil Nolde and Max Liebermann.
The collection is estimated to be worth up to a billion euros ($1.35 billion).
Under German law, Cornelius Gurlitt was not compelled to return any paintings to their owners, as he was protected by a statute of limitations, which negates any claim for incidents that happened more than 30 years ago.
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German authorities are to release 1,280 works of art confiscated two years ago from the Munich apartment of collector Cornelius Gurlitt.
Cornelius Gurlitt’s father bought and sold art under the Nazis, including works looted from Jewish homes and works bought from Jewish owners under duress.
The collector’s lawyers accept a small portion of the works may be disputed.
But the great bulk of the trove, they say, is the collector’s for him to do with as he wishes.
Cornelius Gurlitt has been recovering from heart surgery and it is not known how he has reacted to the decision.
The immediate likelihood is that the paintings, some by Matisse, Picasso and other masters, will remain in a secure warehouse in Bavaria while legal disputes continue but the prosecutors’ decision implies he has a right to them.
A smaller number of works found at a property of Cornelius Gurlitt’s in Austria are not affected by the German decision.
German authorities are to release 1,280 works of art confiscated two years ago from the Munich apartment of collector Cornelius Gurlitt
Wednesday’s decision came shortly after the collector agreed to co-operate with the authorities to determine which of the paintings had been stolen by the Nazis and to enable their return.
Augsburg prosecutor Matthias Nickolai said in a statement that the works had been formally released after prosecutors re-evaluated the legal situation. Prosecutors, he said, had been “absolutely convinced” at the time of the seizure that it was legally correct.
Cornelius Gurlitt’s lawyer, Tido Park, said his “rehabilitation [would] be further strengthened” by Wednesday’s decision.
“So this is a good day for Cornelius Gurlitt,” he added.
The collector’s lawyers have agreed with the German authorities to return any works proven to be looted to their rightful owners but they believe that to be only 3% of the trove, and it will not be easy for claimants to get them back. There is a one-year deadline on proving ownership.
The lawyers say that just over 300 of the works are without doubt Cornelius Gurlitt’s because his father acquired them before the Nazis were in power.
Only six paintings are so far being claimed by other people. In the case of one of those paintings – a Matisse – the lawyers say there are now two competing claims.
Negotiations between Cornelius Gurlitt’s lawyers and claimants have been tough.
According to the Sud-Deutsche Zeitung, one claimant replied to an offer to sell back a looted painting in blunt, Anglo-Saxon words of one syllable.
There has been outrage among Jewish groups, who say that the authorities in Germany have made it very difficult for people to get their rightful property back.
The prosecutors were heavily criticized for not publicizing the fact that they had found the trove of pictures. It only emerged in the press a year later.
At the end of it all, it seems likely that Cornelius Gurlitt will keep all but a small part of the collection built up by his father.
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