U.S. Government Returns Degas Painting Stolen 37 Years Ago to French Government

NEW YORK, NY (AP).- An Edgar Degas painting that was stolen 37 years ago and recently rediscovered before an auction in New York will be returned to the French government, U.S. officials said Thursday. U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch and James T. Hayes Jr., head of the New York office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced that a Manhattan seller had agreed to turn over the painting, “Laundry Woman with Toothache,” without a forfeiture proceeding. Sotheby’s had given the small oil [...]

Early Mondrian Painting Stolen in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM (AP).- Police say a portrait painted by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian early in his career has been stolen from a museum in the Netherlands. Thieves apparently forced the doors at the Freriks Museum in the eastern town of Winterswijk in the early hours of Tuesday morning and took the painting, police say in a statement. The piece, Portrait of Arda Boogers, is dated to around 1908. It is a naturalistic portrait of a young woman, far different in style [...]

Old Master Paintings Sales Soar Despite Global Woes

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s hopes that the fervent mood at an auction this week in London of important Old Master paintings will travel overseas when several rare art works will be auctioned next month. The fragile state of the world economy didn’t influence the few deep-pocketed art collectors who vied for rare 17th century masterpieces in the British capital on Wednesday. Sotheby’s sale of Old Master & British Paintings in London saw a new auction record set for Anthony van [...]