PreviewExhibitions
Picasso Blue Period blockbuster to finally open in Toronto early October
The show, delayed because of Covid, focuses on three works painted by the “insanely ambitious” artist during a low point in his early career
NewsArt market
Place your bids: Sotheby’s to auction 11 Picassos live from Bellagio in Las Vegas
The works, chosen by casino mogul Steve Wynn, will be auctioned as the entertainment group MGM Resorts moves to focus its art collection on "diversity and inclusion"
AnalysisArt market
Connoisseurship: is it time for a comeback?
When prices and cultural value are so easily confused, there is a case for the return of critical evaluation—in updated form
NewsArt theft
'The biggest mistake of my life': 49-year-old ‘art freak’ confesses to stealing a Picasso and Mondrian from National Gallery in Athens
During an interrogation with Greek police, a construction worker explains what drove him to commit a brazen heist in 2012
NewsArt theft
Greek police recover Picasso and Mondrian paintings stolen nine years ago in major heist
Authorities have reportedly arrested a man after the paintings were found in a gorge
BlogDiary
Agnes Gund's celebrated collection inspires arty new card game
NewsPablo Picasso
Why do some Picasso paintings deteriorate faster than others? Researchers have solved the mystery
A three-year research project looked at the materials in four works from the same period to explain their differing conditions
NewsArt market
Picasso portrait of Marie-Thérèse to sell for $55m at Christie’s New York this May
The 1932 work was last sold in 2013 at Sotheby's when it seemingly sold to the guarantor for a low estimate £28.6m
ReviewExhibitions
Calder-Picasso connections are thin in San Francisco show
The De Young’s current exhibition, comparing the work of the two Modern artists, is not a perfect coupling
FeatureDecorative arts
Meet the Hugos, a family of goldsmiths that worked with Picasso and now collaborates with contemporary artists
The third-generation Ateliers Hugo has been casting artists’ creations using ancient techniques from the same workshop in the south of France for nearly 70 years
NewsGuernica
Tapestry replica of Picasso's anti-war masterpiece Guernica removed from United Nations headquarters after 35 years
The work was loaned by the Rockefeller family, who have now requested it back
NewsPablo Picasso
Saga of Picasso murals ripped from Oslo building continues as heirs head to court
Family of artist Carl Nesjar—who collaborated on the works with Picasso—say they have a copyright claim and should help decide where the pieces are relocated
NewsPablo Picasso
This Picasso photo puzzle has stumped experts. Can you help solve it?
The identity of those posing with the master remains a mystery a century after the picture was taken
NewsOpenings
Art in 2021—treats include Dürer blockbuster, new Munch museum and Caravaggio anniversary
Influential works by Duchamp, Picasso and Mondrian also celebrate centenary this year
AnalysisArt market
Six of the best catalogues raisonnés
From Leonardo to Bacon, take your pick from a selection of essential texts on leading artists
NewsMuseums
Plans for world's biggest Picasso museum in south of France scuppered
Aix-en-Provence city council says that sale fell through after negotiations with artist’s stepdaughter broke down
NewsExhibitions
Basel’s new culture hub puts Caribbean artists, Picasso and Klaus Littmann’s nature project in the mix
Delayed by coronavirus, the new Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger has opened with the promise of free entry and catalogues for visitors
NewsArt crime
Man who punched £20m Picasso painting at Tate Modern is jailed for 18 months
Repairing the piece—on long-term loan from a private collection—will take more than a year and cost up to £350,000
NewsControversies
Picasso murals ripped from Oslo building as legal battle intensifies
Daughter of the works' co-creator Carl Nesjar says safeguarding the sandblasted works is imperative
NewsRoyal Academy of Arts
Picasso show sells out before it even reopens—but Royal Academy of Arts is still making a loss
The London institution has reopened after four months of coronavirus lockdown but under very different circumstances
InterviewControversies
With demolition of Oslo's Picasso-Nesjar murals imminent, Norwegian sculptor’s daughter speaks out
Carl Nesjar’s daughter talks about the Norwegian sculptor’s long collaboration with the Modern master and shares exclusive images of the pair
NewsArt market
Trial of Paris gallery over stolen Picasso works delayed until next year due to coronavirus court backlog
A handyman allegedly stole works on paper from the artist’s stepdaughter over three years, before they were discovered in the possession of the owner of Belle et Belle gallery
Featurecoronavirus
Significant art emerged from traumas of the past—will the pandemic prove different?
As the coronavirus crisis stretches on, we look at how artists have captured confinement in recent history and what is being done now
NewsHeritage
Battle to save concrete Picasso murals in Oslo intensifies after MoMA steps in
“Workers at the Y-Block site have started drilling, but it’s worrying as once they start moving the mural, it will crack,” says co-creator’s daughter
NewsMuseums & Heritage
China’s Giacometti and Picasso museum delayed by coronavirus
Launch of Beijing venue combining works by both artists is postponed—and some loans in doubt
BlogDiary
Coronavirus celebrity appeal: Elizabeth Hurley sports a Picasso facemask in aid of the NHS
BlogDiary
On the block at Sotheby’s: David Bowie’s wallpaper featuring Lucian Freud nude—and emasculated minotaurs
NewsExhibitions
Picasso packs a punch: photography show offers unseen candid glimpses of artist's personal life
Exhibition at Le Vieux Chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, shows images captured by the war photographer David Douglas Duncan
ReviewExhibitions
Zervos: the name that can make or break a Picasso
An exhibition in Athens about the life of Christian Zervos, whose 33-volume catalogue of the artist is indispensable to the Picasso market
ReviewThree to see
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
From Ruth Asawa's delicate structures to a revelatory show of Picasso's paper works
NewsPablo Picasso
Caught smuggling Picasso on his yacht, Spanish billionaire collector gets €52m fine and 18 months in prison
Jaime Botin, of the Santander dynasty, did not have a permit to export the painting
PreviewPablo Picasso
Royal Academy of Arts to show rare Picasso drawings from ground-breaking 1956 film of the artist at work
Most of the works, created with felt tip pen on newsprint, have been lost, but two have been specially restored for London show
NewsVandalism
Picasso painting of Dora Maar vandalised at Tate Modern
Conservation team assesses the defaced work; man is charged with criminal damage
NewsArt market
At $6.8m, Picasso hits the high mark at Toronto sale
Portrait of Dora Maar eclipses other auction offerings at Heffel
NewsArt law
French court upholds suspended sentence for Picasso's former electrician
Pierre Le Guennec and his wife Danièle hoarded 271 works for 40 years
NewsChina
Museum dedicated to Picasso and Giacometti to launch in Beijing
Paris-based institutions Musée National Picasso and the Fondation Giacometti will open space in 798 district next June
NewsArt fairs
How to pick the best print at New York's IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair
Under new leadership, the longest-running fair dedicated to prints hopes to educate buyers on the pros and cons of the medium
PreviewMuseums & Heritage
Blue on Blue: Picasso blockbuster comes to Toronto in 2020
An exhibition focusing on the artist’s Blue Period came together after high-tech examinations of the work revealed hidden surprises
ArchiveArtist interview
Interview with Sean Landers: Appropriating Picasso “because I want to be as great as him”
“I would like to leave a sad, funny, little painting”
Podcast
Ibrahim Mahama's ghosts of Ghana. Plus, China's epic Picasso show
We speak to the Ghanaian artist as he unveils a major new commission at the Whitworth as part of the Manchester International Festival. Plus, we find out about the Picasso blockbuster at UCCA in Beijing. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
ReviewThree to see
Three exhibitions to see in Basel this weekend
From the towering ambitions of a young Picasso to Rebecca Horn's Body Fantasies
NewsArt Basel 2019
Fondation Beyeler's Young Picasso exhibition is the second most popular in the museum's history
Swiss museum extended the show to accommodate visitors to Europe for Art Basel and the Venice Biennale
PreviewArt Basel 2019
Kunstmuseum Basel digs into the roots of Cubism
Exhibition traces the evolution of the splintered style that changed Modern art forever
PreviewExhibitions
At last, Dora Maar emerges from her lover Picasso’s shadow
Major survey of the Surrealist photographer at Centre Pompidou will travel to Tate Modern and the Getty Center
NewsExhibitions
Picasso’s muses to be celebrated in three shows this summer
A show of the Spanish master’s works at Gagosian in New York will be followed by Dora Maar and Olga Khokhlova surveys in Europe
BlogIn the frame
Down on the farm: Picasso masterpiece hangs in a Swiss barn
NewsPablo Picasso
Picasso painting of Dora Maar recovered by ‘Indiana Jones of the art world’
The €25m work was stolen 20 years ago from a yacht on the French Riviera
InterviewCollecting
Five minutes with… Lorraine Kiang Malingue on the Asian art market
Dealer tells us about the challenges of running a space in Shanghai’s West Bund and how the gallery keeps up with the growing competition
Podcast
David Bailey in focus, plus Picasso biographer John Richardson remembered
We meet the photographer David Bailey at his London studio to discuss his new book and we talk with Gijs van Hensbergen about John Richardson, who died aged 95 last week. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
InterviewArtists
Picasso biographer John Richardson dies, aged 95
We recently spoke to the art historian about his new book focusing on his extraordinary life, his homes and his eclectic personal collection
ReviewExhibitions
Skip the art history lesson—experience Picasso ‘intuitively’ at Musée d’Orsay's Blue and Rose blockbuster
The show promises a continuum in Picasso’s work, a gentle slide, rather than rigidly compartmentalised episodes
NewsArt market
US anti-money-laundering bill could reappear early next year
Critics say the proposed law, which stalled following the US mid-term elections, would place an unnecessary burden on dealers
NewsMuseums & Heritage
In a Met protest, an artist posts her own labels next to a Picasso and Gauguin
She calls on museum to incorporate misogyny into the art historical narrative
NewsLaw
Legal battle over Met's famous Picasso reignited by estate
The museum stands by its ownership of The Actor, which it says was never in the hands of Nazis
NewsArt Basel 2018
Multi-billion-dollar Picasso show heads to the Beyeler
The exhibition, which opens in February, will focus on Blue and Rose Periods
NewsConservation & Preservation
New research reveals secrets beneath the surface of Picasso paintings
Discoveries about two Blue Period works in the Art Gallery of Ontario’s collection have inspired an upcoming exhibition
NewsArt market
Nahmads confirm Picasso’s $115m flower girl will go to Paris
Dealing dynasty says that the painting bought in the Rockefeller sale will be loaned to the Musée d’Orsay
NewsArt market
Modigliani nude leads Sotheby's $318.3m Impressionist and Modern auction
Sex sells—but only if it is guaranteed
NewsAmedeo Modigliani
Modigliani the maverick? Vienna show to position Italian artist alongside Picasso
Exhibition at the Albertina Museum in 2020 will “reposition” artist as an avant-garde innovator, organiser says
NewsArt market
Rockefeller heavy-hitters pull in $646m for charity at Christie's
Evening auction featuring the family's most valuable works set new records for Monet and Matisse
BlogIn the frame
A New Spirit of Painting makes a comeback (with one woman artist this time)
NewsTate Modern
Tate Modern hit with protests over cleaner dispute
There has been controversy at the gallery over the sponsor for the Picasso 1932 exhibition
NewsArt market
Picasso’s broad brush lifts the market
Is the Spanish artist’s star turn in London the start of a new phase of his market, or business as usual?
NewsArt market
Have we reached peak Picasso?
The Modern master's star continues to rise in the market
CommentRestitution
Nazi policies forced Jewish collectors like Paul Leffmann to sell their art, whatever the price
Restitution experts say New York law recognises third party duress, so why did a recent court decision on Picasso’s Actor not recognise this?
AnalysisArt Basel Hong Kong 2018
How big is the Picasso 'brand' in China?
Sotheby’s tests the waters with first oil painting at auction in Hong Kong
NewsPablo Picasso
VR project brings late Picasso work to life, at last
Bust of a Woman, which was never realised, would have been the world's tallest concrete sculpture
ReviewBooks
Peter Wilson: The man who invented modern auctioneering
Buccaneering, brilliant, art-loving—he created the power of Sotheby’s (and Christie’s learned by imitation)
NewsAuctions
Picasso painting of Marie-Thérèse gives Phillips the edge in London’s contemporary sales
A record sale at Christie’s and a solid result at Sotheby’s show the market is in full recovery
NewsThree to see
Three to see: London
From Picasso's year of masterpieces at Tate Modern to his fellow Spaniard Murillo's portraits at the National Gallery
PreviewExhibitions
Dreaming to drowning: a year in the life of Picasso
Tate Modern’s major new show focuses on 1932, a period of turbulent creativity that gave rise to some of the artist’s greatest work
NewsPolitics
Polish art world calls on national museum to stage 'major international show' against fascism
An open letter to Krakow institution asks for exhibition to counter rise of the right in Poland
NewsPablo Picasso
French court annuls conviction for electrician in possession of stolen Picasso works
Another court will have to uncover how the 271 works were stolen and by whom before being received by Pierre and Danielle Le Guennec
NewsArt market
Mystery Picasso collector on spending spree buys £49.8m portrait of Marie-Thérèse
Buyer bidding through advisors Gurr Johns, combined with strong Asian interest, buoys London Impressionist and Modern art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's
News
Picasso’s stepdaughter to open museum in Aix-en-Provence with huge collection of artist's paintings
Former convent in south of France will house Catherine Hutin-Blay's collection of more than 2,000 works
NewsArt market
Ageing Picasso’s painting of lover and virile musketeer could make £18m at Christie's
Mousquetaire et nu assis is among highlights of London evening sale of Modern and Impressionist art in February
NewsAuctions
Sotheby's snags a fresh £36.5m Picasso for February auction in London
Price sets a high bar for the auction house's first Impressionist & Modern offering of 2018
NewsIn the frame
PR campaign helps us find our inner Picasso (played by Antonio Banderas)
NewsLaw
Federal authorities want to seize Martin Shkreli’s Picasso and Wu-Tang Clan album
The objects are among $7.3m in assets prosecutors are seeking from the jailed “pharma-bro”, who was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy
NewsArt market
Phillips and Sotheby's deliver healthy totals for contemporary art
Capping an epic week of auctions, solid results featuring records for female artists and a Ferrari bode well for market's future—so long as it doesn't overheat
NewsArt market
Solid $269.7m at Sotheby's maintains momentum in Impressionist and Modern market
New York sale results boosted by strong Asian and Russian buying, and shored up by guarantees
NewsArt market
Christie’s $479.3m Impressionist and Modern sale hits highest total since 2007
Pent-up demand for top material kicks off New York's key auction week, with a $81.3m Van Gogh and records for Léger, Magritte, Man Ray and Vuillard
NewsDonations
Berlin art dealer and family donate art by Picasso, Warhol and Richter to city of Chemnitz
Bastian family have collaborated with the German city’s art collection since 2002
NewsExhibitions
Picasso show to reunite trio of Marie-Thérèse Walter nudes for first time since 1932
Tate Modern exhibition will include several portraits of artist’s 22 year-old muse
NewsPublic art
The story behind the ‘controversial’ Picasso sculpture that became a symbol of Chicago
When it was first unveiled 50 years ago in the city centre, the monumental "homely" figure was not beloved by all
ArchiveArt market
Chinese businesswoman buys a Warhol
Zhang Lan bought Little Electric Chair for $10.5m
ArchiveActivism
Ethics and aesthetics: the increasing prominence of socially engaged art
Away from the glitz of record-breaking auction prices and extravagant art parties, austerity has given strength to a new movement of socially engaged artists
ArchivePablo Picasso
Comprehensive exhibition at Basel's Kunstmuseum features world's best Picassos
A major show explores the city’s rich history of collecting works by the Modern master
ArchiveWomen in art
Women through men’s eyes in Munich's Pinakothek der Moderne
Picasso, Beckmann, De Kooning and the female form
ArchiveMuseums
Rivera’s MoMA murals revisited
After 80 years, works by the Mexican artist known for his volatile relationship with Frida Kahlo are again on view
ArchiveSotheby's
Impressionists and Modern auction report: Picasso and Dalí rule the rooms
Russian money behind many sales as records tumble
ArchiveArt market
Lesser-known artists exhibited alongside the big names of Matisse, Picasso, and Miró at Basel
Blue-chip dealers have been using Basel as an opportunity to build the potential stars of the future
ArchiveArt Basel
Collectors at Art Basel vie for works by established artists
Art Basel '10 fair report
ArchiveMay 2010
Why do certain works still set auction records during recessions
We noted in 2010, amid a painful global downturn, that a Picasso nude carried the largest pre-sale auction estimate in history at $70m to $90m
ArchiveKazimir Malevich
Matisse to Malevich: Pioneers of Modern Art from the Hermitage
The exhibition underlines art history’s—and the Hermitage’s—debt to Ivan Morozov and Sergej Shchukin who commissioned and collected many of the works
ArchiveArt market
Institutions are increasingly likely to loan works of art to the most powerful private galleries
Public art for private gain?
Comment
Two steps forward, one step back for Holocaust restitution
In a recent decision regarding Picasso’s Actor, the courts need to catch up with US government policy on Nazi-looted art
David Rowland