Stolen Van Goghs Returning to Holland, America’s First Inauguration Day, and More Fresh News

‘Seascape at Scheveningen’ (1882) is one of two Van Gogh paintings stolen from the Amsterdam museum in 2002. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • Two paintings by Vincent van Gogh that were stolen from an Amsterdam museum in 2002 and recovered by Italian police last year are returning to the Netherlands. A court in Naples has cleared Van Gogh’s Seascape at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen to go back to the museum. [Read more from the Associated Press/Washington Post]
  • What was Inauguration Day like for America’s first president? It was a grand historical event in New York City, attended by … hundreds. [Read more from George Washington’s Mount Vernon]
  • Just in time for Inauguration Day celebrations, a bottle of Trump Scotch whisky in a box autographed by America’s new president has sold at auction for $7,334. The 26-year-old single malt whisky was bottled in 2012 to mark the opening of Trump International Golf Links in Scotland. [Read more from The Scotsman]
  •  Emily Dickinson is the subject of a new exhibition at New York’s Morgan Library & Museum. Although Dickinson wrote almost 1,800 poems, her work was largely unknown during her lifetime, since few of her works were published until after her death in 1886. [Read more from The Morgan]

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Photography, paintings achieve strong prices at Clars Auction Gallery

‘Out of the Darkness,’ an Orotone by Edward Sheriff Curtis (American, 1868-1952) sold for an impressive $10,710. Clars Auction Gallery image

 

OAKLAND, Calif. – Clars Auction Gallery’s Jan. 14 and 15 sale was highlighted by the exceptional prices achieved on a significant collection of photography. Also, a new world auction record was set for Chiura Obata and a Chinese painting of a censer soared to a remarkable sale price of over $20,000. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Rare treasures, prized artwork abound at Fontaine’s auction Jan. 21

Exceedingly rare 18th century English-made pagoda form automaton musical clock produced for the Chinese Qing Imperial Court. Estimate: $800,000-$1.2 million. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery image

 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – A rare 18th century English-made pagoda-form automaton musical clock, produced for the Chinese Qing Imperial Court, is expected to soar to $800,000-$1.2 million at an Antique & Fine Arts Auction taking place on Saturday, Jan. 21, by Fontaine’s Auction Gallery. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

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