Cleveland museum unveils $350M expansion

CLEVELAND.- The Cleveland Museum of Art has given some of its prized treasures more elbow room to show off. Galleries housing Egyptian, Greek, Roman, early Christian, Byzantine and African art open Saturday. The new space marks another milestone in an eight-year, $350 million expansion and renovation that began in 2005. The museum’s iconic 1916 neoclassical building holds items spanning 5,000 years. The galleries highlighting art from ancient Greece to the Medieval era surround those with Egyptian and African art. The [...]

Roman Imperial Marble Torso of an Emperor Sells for $7.4 million at Sotheby’s

NEW YORK, NY.- In a packed salesroom at Sotheby’s this afternoon, a Marble Torso of an Emperor (probably Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius), Roman Imperial, Julio Claudian, 1st Half of the 1st Century A.D., surpassed all expectations, selling for a remarkable $7,362,500, more than six times the high estimate of $1.2 million. At least seven bidders in the room and on numerous telephones pursued the stunning piece, which was from an Austrian family collection. The salesroom erupted in applause when an [...]

Three Gems Saved for Seaton Delaval by The Art Fund

LONDON.- Leading independent art charity The Art Fund today announces that it has helped save two important objects housed at Seaton Delaval Hall, the Vanbrugh mansion which has been the subject of a major fundraising campaign by the National Trust. The Art Fund has pledged £100,000, enabling the Hall to acquire the Fairfax Jewel, which consists of three enamelled roundels set in an engraved, rectangular gilt-metal plaque, and a marble bust of Charles II by Bushnell. News of the charity [...]