Mark Rothko

12 Stories

How a Queens Man Forged Modern Masterpieces

Heat, tea bags used to "age" Pei-Shen Qian's paintings

(Newser) - A painter in Queens and his co-conspirators reportedly managed to trick experts for years with forgeries of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and other masters—and the techniques they used were, it seems, surprisingly simple. For instance: An art dealer in the $33 million scheme, one Jose Carlos Bergantiños Diaz,...

Art Dealer Admits Her Role in 15-Year Scam

Sold Pollocks, Rothkos, Motherwells ... painted by guy in Queens

(Newser) - An art dealer scored some $33 million selling works supposedly by 20th-century greats like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko—but yesterday she admitted they weren't real, the Wall Street Journal reports. In fact, they were all painted by a Chinese immigrant living in Queens; he hasn't been named...

Sotheby's Sets Record Thanks to $75M Rothko

$375M total for contemporary-art auction is biggest in house's history

(Newser) - What is it about Rothko that drives auction-goers wild ? One of the painter's works went for $75 million at a contemporary-art auction yesterday, helping make the evening's total haul—$375 million—a record-setter in the category for Sotheby's, reports the Wall Street Journal . A multinational group...

Alleged Rothko Vandal Pleads Not Guilty

Lawyer says he welcomes trial to talk about art

(Newser) - The 26-year-old Polish man accused of vandalizing a Rothko painting probably worth millions pleaded not guilty to criminal damage today. Wlodzimierz Umaniec allegedly stepped over a wire at the Tate Modern in London on Sunday to tag the "Black on Maroon" painting with the cryptic message: "VLADIMIR UMANETS...

Guy Defaces Rothko Mural in Broad Daylight

'Black on Maroon' vandalized at Tate Modern

(Newser) - A man sat in front of a Mark Rothko mural at the Tate Modern yesterday and—in front of a number of onlookers—defaced the painting with black paint. "By the time we turned around he was pretty much finished with his tag," says one museumgoer, who tweeted...

Modern Art Auction Shatters Records

Rothko painting stars with $86.9M final price

(Newser) - The modern art market is boiling hot right now. For evidence, take a gander at the results from last night's Christie's auction, which saw a Mark Rothko painting sell for nearly $87 million, shattering the gallery's $35 million to $40 million estimate. The sale is a record...

Obamas' Art Collection: Modern, Aggressive

White House borrows 47 works of art from Washington museums

(Newser) - Barack and Michelle Obama, working with curators at the White House and DC museums, have borrowed 47 artworks for their walls, and their selections are far more modern and discerning than their predecessors', writes Blake Gopnik. The Washington Post critic is impressed by the "surprisingly sober, even dour" choices...

Madoff's Money Man Sells Rothkos for $310M

Merkin unloads art, but buyer's identity a mystery

(Newser) - Ezra Merkin, the financier who pumped billions of his clients' money into Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, is selling more than 10 paintings by Mark Rothko and two sculptures by Alberto Giacometti for $310 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some of the proceeds may go to his defrauded investors, who...

Strapped Art Market Preps for Auctions

Expectations low as auction houses try variety of tactics

(Newser) - After a 7-year boom, art auction houses are struggling as collectors hit hard by the recession close their wallets. Sotheby’s predicts it will pull in $179 million to $256 million at spring sales, compared to $742 million a year ago. As the spring events approach, auctioneers are employing an...

Art Continues to Buck Ragged Economy

Contemporary works bring $348M at Christie's—which even sells a house

(Newser) - Christie's auction of contemporary art in New York belied an economic downturn, the Times reports, with paintings, sculpture, and even a house fetching handsome prices. Two works drew particular attention: a portrait of a 280-pound nude woman by Lucian Freud, which sold for $33.6 million, and a house in...

$72M Sale Shatters Warhol Record
$72M Sale Shatters Warhol Record
May 17, 2007 4:33 PM CDT

$72M Sale Shatters Warhol Record

Auction madness continues as contemporary-art market sizzles

(Newser) - An Andy Warhol painting sold for $71.7 million last night at Christie's, more than quadrupling the previous record price for a work by the pop artist. The price for "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," part of Warhol's "Death and Disaster" series, more than doubled...

Rothko Fetches $73 Million
Rothko Fetches $73 Million
May 16, 2007 8:18 AM CDT

Rothko Fetches $73 Million

Record price for seminal modern work marks trend in art purchases

(Newser) - Sotheby’s sold a Mark Rothko painting last night for $72.84 million, a record price for a piece of art created after World War II and a signal of a new boom in the market. Seller David Rockefeller bought the 7-foot-tall "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender),"...

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