IFAR Journal

An article by a renowned Leonardo scholar and author, based on his illustrated IFAR Evening talk of May 7, 2012, in which he argues in favor of a Leonardo attribution for two works, a Salvator Mundi and a mixed media drawing of a young woman nicknamed La Bella Principessa.

In a follow-up article to the edited proceedings of IFAR’s May 2011 program, “What Frames Can Tell Us,” published in a previous issue of IFAR Journal, Elizabeth Easton puts Impressionist frames in context.

In a follow-up article to the edited proceedings of IFAR’s May 2011 program, “What Frames Can Tell Us,” published in a previous issue of IFAR Journal, Jared Bark, whose company designed the controversial modern frame for a van Gogh painting formerly shown in a gilded frame, discusses the rationale for that choice.

A discussion of the legal case against Eric Prokopi, who attempted to sell a Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton at a May 2012 auction in New York. The governments of the U. S. and Mongolia claimed that the dinosaur fossil was protected by Mongolian patrimony laws and was illegally imported into the U. S.

Details about the federal court case against Sotheby’s and its consignor of an ancient Cambodian statue withdrawn from sale at the request of the Cambodian government. The case hinges on whether the U.S. government can prove that the sculpture was stolen, not just removed, from Cambodia, that it was protected by French Colonial laws at the time of its removal, and that Sotheby’s brought it into the U.S. knowing that it was contrary to law. The article also discusses a potential complaint against the Norton Simon Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A discussion of the lawsuit brought by Peter Paul Biro, a proponent of fingerprint analysis in art authentication, against the publisher Condé Nast and the author David Grann for allegedly defamatory remarks made about him in a July 2010 New Yorker article.

A report on the recent recoveries of two stolen Matisse paintings – Le Jardin, stolen in 1987 from a museum in Stockholm, and Odalisque with Red Pantaloons, stolen in 2000 or earlier from a museum in Caracas, Venezuela and replaced with a fake.

A discussion of the recent amendments to the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law that strengthens the trust between artists/consignors and dealers. The amendments were designed in part to prevent consigned property from being seized to satisfy a dealer’s creditors.

An update on a lawsuit previously reported on in IFAR Journal regarding a seller’s claim against Christie’s asserting that the auction house negligently assigned a “19th century German” attribution to a drawi ng some experts believe is by Leonardo.

A discussion of the new revisions to the antiquities guidelines of the American Association of Art Museum Directors. Among other changes, the revisions require that postings on the association’s Object Registry explain how acquisitions fit exceptions to the guidelines.

A discussion of the New York court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by a consignor of a work of art against Sotheby’s for breach of contract. The dealer had consigned a painting that the auction house later withdrew from a sale following the artist Cady Noland’s disavowal of authorship. The ongoing parts of the suit may test the scope of artists’ rights.

An update on the longstanding dispute reported on in previous issues of IFAR Journal regarding the ownership of the mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer. The Saint Louis Art Museum and Republic of Egypt are in settlement negotiations.

Stolen items include 7 paintings and works on paper stolen from the Kunsthal Rotterdam, including Lucien Freud’s Woman with Eyes Closed and Henri Matisse’s Girl in front of open window; four paintings stolen in Stockholm, Sweden, including Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse’s Promenade en bord de la Seine and Anders Leonard Zorn’s Flickan.

Recovered items include Henri Matisse’s Le Jardin, stolen from the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm; Jacques de Lestin’s The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria; a gold brooch in the shape of a winged sea monster stolen from the Usak Museum, Turkey, that was replaced with a fake.

Missing ;items include Josephine Muntz-Adams Sarah, missing in Victoria, Australia; George Brassai’s Café Scene (Woman with Jewelry), missing in Beverly Hills, CA.