Art World News is My "Real Housewives"
3 absolutely insane news stories from the art world last week
Hello art people,
I was in the middle of writing my “Botero part 2” article, when I stopped and shifted gears completely, because the articles that came out of the art world last week were absolutely bananas. In other exciting news, we are almost at 100 subscribers here, which means it’s almost time to take it to the people! I also have a fun personal announcement that I will make shortly; without making it too obvious, let’s just say the adventures of the tinyartprincess will soon continue in another land far, far away.
Let’s get back to the fun part! Most of you know, I am a poor participant of popular media and culture; I don’t watch a lot reality TV, news or the latest streaming series (with exceptions for anything to do art and/or murder) and I’m not that up on the trends. This is mostly due to the fact that since I was about 19, my brain has been completely consumed with art information… past, wayyy past, present and future. The art news articles that come out are sometimes are so bonkers. I’m happy to be finally sharing these stories with you as I discover them.
1. A pair of British brothers and their crew are found guilty of an art smash- and-grab. One of the stolen artifacts, an Ancient Chinese chicken cup, is still missing.
This one reads like a Guy Ritchie movie script.
In 2019, two British brothers from South-East London got together a so-called “crew,” and (poorly) planned out an epic art heist. The crew in question, which included a getaway driver and a “once-promising” football player, had targeted the Baur Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. The Foundation owns and operates The Museum of Far Eastern Art; an elegant townhouse and the home to an extensive, world class collection of Chinese and Japanese artifacts.
On the evening on June 1, 2019, the thieves essentially used basic construction tools to saw a hole in the front door, at which point, they walked through the hole and into the museum, smashed the glass and took three particularly important 14th century artifacts of the Ming Dynasty Era.
The whole conquest took one minute. However, one of them accidentally scraped themselves on the jagged edged of the man-made hole on the way out, leaving behind some DNA…& cue the CSI part of the movie.
How they were traced, found, and caught red-handed, is also quite remarkable. After a series of very major flaws (such as renting the getaway car in their own name), the Swiss and British detectives, and a Chinese auction house called “China Guardian,” seemingly collaborated on a sting operation to catch the thieves and retrieve the artifacts.
Undercover British officers posed as buyers and an appraiser (fake-named Miranda lol), and agreed to meet a person supposedly “connected” to the art thieves at a fancy restaurant in Mayfair, London. I just cannot get over the thought of sitting next to two officers posing as art world aficionados and an art thief at Scott’s.
The final meeting to complete the “sale,” took place in a hotel room in a Marriott near Grosvenor Square, where the thieves brought the vase out of a suitcase, wrapped in a JD Sports bag (LOL LOL). Once “Miranda” had the vase, the police came in and arrested the culprits.
The members of the crew were charged in the UK, and the brothers, who had been extradited to Switzerland, recently confessed to their involvement in the ordeal about a week ago, January 15, 2024, hence why its back in the news again.
One of the bowls, known as the “chicken cup” (a doucai-style wine cup possibly worth approx. £28 million) has not been found.
So please everyone, especially my UK/European art people, keep your eyes peeled for a priceless, stolen ancient Chinese antique chicken cup. Seriously.
the article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67950948
2. A well-known New York Gallerist was found stabbed to death in Brazil at his apartment
Okay, so this story is fairly straightforward to understand, but very grim. Well-known New York art gallerist Brent Sikkema, who founded a gallery called Sikkema Jenkins & Co, was found stabbed to death in his apartment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last week. It’s a very sad story for Sikkema, who founded his first gallery in Boston in 1976. His home in Rio was his “oasis” outside of his New York City life, which I think all big city people can relate to.
They have a suspect in custody; a Cuban national who was found and arrested Thursday January 19th, 2024, with jewelry and upwards of $36,000 USD in cash from Sikkema’s home.
Where the waters get even more murky, is when you consider the fact that Sikkema was in the middle of a divorce with his estranged husband, allegedly in a battle over custody of their son, and a financial settlement of $6 million. The estranged husband is also a Cuban national (like the suspect), and therefore the police are now investigating whether or not there is a connection between the ex-husband and the suspect in custody. The murder is confirmed by surveillance to be pre-meditated, but there are some additional elements that make the crime look suspicious.
Story aside, I have been reading the tributes from art critic Jerry Saltzs’ comment section on instagram, and it seems that Brent Sikkema was a well-loved, well-respected and all-around great supporter of artists; a person who gave many their first show. He also appeared to inspire collectors when discussing artists’ work with passion and knowledge. In the art world, this is the type of person you dream of meeting, working with and molding into. It’s incredibly sad news for everyone, and my condolences go to anyone who is grieving this tragedy.
the article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/suspect-art-dealer-stabbing-brazil-nyc-b2481200.html
3. International Auction House Sotheby’s VS. a Russian Billionaire
This one is focused on the financial and legal systems that support the “art world,” and show us just how intense and opaque it truly is. Proceedings take place this month of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who brought a civil suit in Manhattan against world-renown auction house Sotheby’s. The billionaire claims that Sotheby’s aided well-known and controversial Swiss art dealer, Yves Bouvier, in over-charging him for a small amount of 1 billion dollars for a series of sales and purchases of big name art masterpieces. It’s complicated to explain, but I’ll give it a go…
- There are four parties involved: The seller (anonymous), the buyer (Russian billionaire read: oligarch), the art dealer (Yves Bouvier), and the auction house (Sotheby’s), which housed the transactions.
- The buyer, in one example, has paid $42 million for a painting by Rene Magritte, in which the seller and the art dealer had agreed to sell for $25 million. It has been confirmed the seller received $25 million. So, who actually charged the Russian billionaire buyer $42 million, was it the auction house, the dealer, or both? Who is this brave?
- The buyer is suing the auction house, alleging that Sotheby’s possibly assisted in, or at least knew the dealer had recklessly and outlandishly inflated the prices of the paintings, and is demanding more transparency from art institutions, brokers and the art market, in general.
It’s wild that a shrewd Russian businessman, worth billions, who made his money in post-soviet Russia, is the only one who is legally battling the tactics and blurry financial system of the art market. This case has been going on for ten years +, contains some of the world’s greatest art masterpieces, not ot mention that America was the only country that accepted the civil case, and there is an eye-watering amount of money being discussed.
The Russian billionaire has now officially settled his disputes with the art dealer, so this case is essentially to make a point to the auction houses and industry on a whole.
At this moment, we don’t know if the case will go to a verdict, or if it will settle, but stay tuned and in the meantime, buyer beware.
the article: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/01/19/rybolovlev-vs-sothebys-a-closer-look-at-the-epic-court-battle
podcast:
4. Bonus: Picasso & Chagall found, 14 years after they disappeared
Just when I thought we were tapped out on crazy in the art world for one week, this story came out late last Sunday night, so I decided to add it on. Albeit, it’s just a classic lost-and-found of stolen, specifically of Picasso (of course), artwork.
Picasso’s portrait Tête (1971) and Chagall’s L’homme en prière (1970), were taken from the home of an art collector Tel-Aviv in 2010. Police were tipped off that a 68-year-old Israeli watch-dealer was selling the paintings, in Antwerp, Belgium.
Police found the paintings, untouched, in their original frames
the article: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/stolen-picasso-chagall-paintings-found-antwerp-basement-1234693259/
Thanks for tapping into my tiny art (crime) world. If you know of another wild story, you would like to discuss anything art-related, would like to learn more about a specific art topic or have feedback—send me an email by replying to this story. As always, if you love me you will share this with someone who would enjoy it. by clicking the button below
xoxo,
-Amédée-