Looted antiquities returned to Turkey and Italy was seized from the New York home of Met trustee Shelby White

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

Max Beckmann\’s self-portrait sold at a German auction for $20.7M

A self-portrait created during World War II sells for 20 million euros ($20.7 million). The purchase price is believed to be a record for a German art auction. The buyer of Max Beckmann\’s \”Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink\” was not disclosed. In 1884, Beckmann was born in Leipzig. He was one of the painters whose works were labelled as \”degenerate art\” when the Nazis took power in 1933, and hundreds of his creations were removed from German museums. He moved to Amsterdam and created the melancholy self-portrait that was sold at auction on Thursday. Beckmann gave his wife Mathilde Kaulbach the artwork, and she maintained it until her passing in 1986. Beckmann immigrated to the US in 1947 and passed away in New York in 1950. German media said that the previous record for an art auction in Germany was a 15th-century bronze sculpture of a Buddhist deity from China that sold for 9.5 million euros last year. That was more than the 4.7 million euros for which \”The Egyptian,\” a different Beckmann painting, sold at Grisebach in 2018. Read more on abcNEWS.

Looted antiquities returned to Turkey and Italy was seized from the New York home of Met trustee Shelby White

A number of looted artifacts have been revealed to be from philanthropist Shelby White\’s private collection. The objects were seized from White\’s Manhattan home over the past 18 months, as part of a longstanding investigation scrutinizing her collection\’s provenance. Search warrants issued by the Manhattan District Attorney\’s Office list five and 18 works, respectively, that Homeland Security agents found \”reasonable cause\” to believe were stolen. A life-size bronze statue of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus and four sections of an Anatolian columned sarcophagus from the ancient city of Perge have been repatriated to Turkey. According to the US Consulate General in Istanbul, the artifacts were extracted from illegal digs in Turkey more than 50 years ago and smuggled into the United States.

A list of objects seized from Shelby White\’s apartment and repatriated to Italy by the Manhattan DA has been published. Objects include a red-figure calyx krater (around 515 BC, valued at $3m) and an Apulian guttus with a ram\’s head spout ($15,000). The items were among 58 antiquities that the DA returned in September, including 21 from the Met Museum of Fine Arts in New York. Museums should take heed and properly assess future loans from White and Levy\’s collection, says Greek antiquities expert Nikos Tsirogiannis. \”Clearly, they\’ve acquired a number of objects that have been dug up illicitly and removed from their countries of origin outside the legal framework,\” he says. Museums need to do their due diligence when they\’re accepting loans, he adds. Details onArt Newspaper.

BTS Leader RM Honored for Helping Preserve Korean Cultural Artifacts

RM, the leader of the pop group BTS, was recognized by a South Korean agency for his overseas efforts to help preserve and restore Korean cultural artifacts. RM has established a reputation for his interest in art through visits to museums, galleries, and major art fairs. The singer released his solo album Indigo on Friday. RM, whose real name is Nam-Joon, shared the news on Instagram with a short “Thank You” note. According to the Korea Times, the plaque’s engraving says, “You have contributed to preserving and promoting Korean cultural artifacts outside the country with great affection for our cultural heritage and history. You are being honored with much appreciation and gratitude.” In addition to collecting art from domestic and foreign artists, RM loaned a terra cotta sculpture of a horse by the Korean artist Kwon Jin-kyu to a Seoul Museum of Art for a retrospective that ran until May of this year. Read more onArt news.