ROME (AP) – On July 22, Italian environmental activists glued their hands to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s painting Spring in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, police said. The museum said thanks to the glass, which was installed as a precaution several years ago, the masterpiece was unharmed.
St. Louis Art Museum shows expanded collection of postwar American prints
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Saint Louis Art Museum is showing Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection until September 11. The exhibition celebrates the 2020 acquisition of more than 800 works of art that has elevated the museum’s holdings of postwar American prints.
Auctions at Showplace to offer fine estate goods, Aug. 7
NEW YORK – Auctions at Showplace will present a summer estate auction on Sunday, August 7, which will bring together 280 lots of fine art, decorative arts, furnishings, fine jewelry and luxury goods. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Chrysler Museum of Art exhibits exceptional collection of prints
NORFOLK, Va. – The Chrysler Museum of Art has welcomed an extraordinary collection of modern prints on loan. Lasting Impressions: Prints from the Collection of David R. and Susan S. Goode will be on view until November 6. This exhibition was announced earlier this year following the Goodes’ $2.5 million donation to the museum to establish the Goode Works on Paper Center and a group of 100 photographs by O. Winston Link, which will be added to the Chrysler collection during the next three years.
Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 inflight jacket soars to $2.7M
NEW YORK – On July 25 at Sotheby’s, Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 inflight coverall jacket, worn during the historic 1969 mission to the moon and back, achieved $2,772,500 – making it the most valuable American space-flown artifact ever sold at auction, and the most valuable jacket sold at auction. The exceptionally rare garment was chased by multiple bidders for almost 10 minutes before selling to a bidder on the phone.
Lauded antique dealers’ collection presented at John McInnis, Aug. 4-6
AMESBURY, Mass. – John McInnis Auctioneers will offer material from the celebrated Massachusetts antiques dealers Jack and Grace Weil as part of its Three Day Summer Event, taking place from Thursday, August 4 through Saturday, August 6, with the three auction sessions beginning at 10 am Eastern time on each day. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Peabody Essex Museum salutes late Black fashion designer Patrick Kelly
SALEM, Mass. – The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is currently hosting an exhibition that celebrates the life and legacy of the late fashion designer Patrick Kelly. Rooted in expressions of love and joy and inspired by his experiences growing up in the American South, Kelly’s fearless yet lighthearted designs pushed racial and cultural boundaries. First exhibited by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2014, and reconstituted for a run at the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 2021, Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love will be on view at PEM through November 6.
Muhammad Ali’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ belt sells for $6.1M
DALLAS (AP) – Muhammad Ali’s championship belt from his 1974 Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight title fight was sold at auction on July 24 for $6.18 million. The winner of the heated competition for the belt was Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, according to Heritage Auctions in Dallas.
Spectacular Sabbadini gold and diamond ring topped Doyle auction
NEW YORK – Doyle’s jewelry sales continue to surpass expectations. With competitive bidding, the auction of Fine Jewelry & Luxury Handbags on Wednesday, July 20 totaled a successful $759,843, with an exceptional 100% sold by value.
Vatican says artifacts were gifts; some Indigenous groups push for their return
VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican Museums are home to some of the most magnificent artworks in the world, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to ancient Egyptian antiquities and a pavilion full of papal chariots. But one of the museum’s least-visited collections is becoming its most contested before Pope Francis’ trip to Canada.