A coalition of UK-based artists is leading a legal push against dealers who have refused to pay the resale royalties on artworks sold at auction since the British Government passed legislation mandating the payouts in 2006.“The honeymoon period is now over,” says artist Maggi Hambling, who is leading the charge against dealers. “The law changed in 2006 and there are people who are still trying to get away without paying. I’m not saying all dealers are crooks. But it’s high time that everyone was doing the right thing.” (more…)

Tracey Emin, My Bed, via Christie’s

The sales have ended on Christie’s Contemporary Evening Auction in London, following a lengthy 75-lot sale that brought in a final sales tally of $170,537,894.  The evening was marked by moderates sales on most lots, often falling within sales estimates, with a few surprises scattered throughout the evening’s offerings. (more…)

Angolan millionaire Rui Costa Reis has reportedly made a offer to purchase the nation of Portugal’s collection of works by Joan Miró, making a 44 million euro offer for the collection of 85 paintings.  The works were previously made for sale in February, but the offering was canceled after strong protests in Portugal. Barring a sale, the works will reportedly be on the auction block at Christie’s in London this June. (more…)

Mayor of London Boris Johnson is actively courting the Guggenheim Foundation to open a location on the grounds of the 2012 London Olympics, the Art Newspaper reports.  The area, which has already been earmarked as a new cultural quarter called E20, will be home to a new location for the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Johnson wants the Guggenheim to set up shop as well.  “We are in talks with other global cultural brands, as we will need at least one more cultural institution to achieve the critical mass and very high visitor numbers the site deserves,” Johnson says. (more…)

An article in The Art Newspaper analyzes the potential vote on Scottish Independence this year, and the potential impacts an independent Scotland may have on the nation’s art collection.  If Scotland changes its tax structure to more heavily impact the wealthy, some are worried that lending collectors are likely to remove their works from Scottish museums, moving them south.  The National Galleries of Scotland board chair Ben Thomson, however, is more optimistic. “We are extremely confident that we will continue to enjoy very positive support from the Scottish government for our ongoing collaborations with private collectors,” he says. (more…)

The late Lucian Freud has left a number of works from his collection, including a late work by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot and several sculptures by Degas, to Great Britain as a token of gratitude for the country’s welcoming of his Jewish family, who fled Nazi Germany in 1938.  The Corot work is now on view at the National Gallery, in room 41.  “Although we have a very strong collection of Corot’s works, we have no example of a late figure painting like this,” says National Gallery director Nicholas Penny. “Its rough-hewn monumentality and abrupt transitions anticipate Picasso’s exercises in the classical manner and make it one of the most modern looking pictures in the collection.” (more…)

In a bid to become a global destination for art lovers, the British city of Yorkshire has created the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle, a coalition of galleries and institutes dedicated primarily to the art of sculpture.  The Triangle includes the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and The Hepworth Wakefield, and showcases a variety of both classic works and new pieces from around the world.   “I’m delighted that we can support a project that will attract further investment and visitors to Yorkshire. It is a great example of how partnership-working can help more people to become more familiar with Yorkshire’s pre-eminence in modern sculpture.”  Says Cluny Macpherson, director of the Yorkshire Region of the Arts Council. (more…)