The Art Newspaper takes a second look at La Bella Principessa, the work attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci that forger Shaun Greenhalgh claims to have executed, and which continues to confound experts to this day.  “The silly season for Leonardo never closes,” argues Martin Kemp, the Oxford professor who has attributed the work to the Renaissance master.  “The story satisfies the public taste for ‘experts’ and the ‘art world elite’ being made to look ridiculous, but it is low on credibility. We are asked to believe that a self-taught 17-year-old was capable of such refined pen work and chalk drawing. His drawing has some lightweight decorative charm, but nowhere suggests that he could achieve this tautly descriptive line and subtly blended modeling.” (more…)

A fresh series of tests on a Swiss-held portrait of the Mona Lisa has bolstered claims that it is in fact an earlier version of the famous portrait by Leonardo Da Vinci.  The “Isleworth Mona Lisa” was recently examined by experts of Da Vinci’s sacred geometry techniques, and also underwent a series of carbon dating tests, both of which supported evidence of the work being an earlier version of the immediately recognizable painting.   “When we add these new findings to the wealth of scientific and physical studies we already have, I believe anyone will find the evidence of a Leonardo attribution overwhelming,” said David Feldman, vice-president of the Mona Lisa Foundation. (more…)

The British Library has digitized its full collection of Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks, allowing any viewer to browse the Renaissance master’s personal manuscripts and illustrations.  Covering many years of work, the notebooks include plans, sketches, shopping lists and schematics for unfinished projects and architectural innovations.  The self-taught artist and scientist had been a prolific note-maker during his lifetime, but never took pains to publish these works in a widely readable format.   (more…)

Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of the Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, and the Zurich-based Mona Lisa Foundation will unveil what could be the Isleworth Mona Lisa in Geneva on Sept 27th. It is owned by a Swiss-based consortium, who says that the version is the first of the famous portrait. In contrast to the Louvre‘s Mona Lisa dated ca. 1503-06, this work is on canvas and some formal aspects of the composition differ. Experts will decide whether the work is from the studio of Leonardo da Vinci or a copy from the late 16th century. (more…)

Having spent the last 60 years hanging in a Scottish farmhouse, a possible work of Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered. Facing financial difficulties, Fiona McLaren unknowingly brought her painting to Sotheby’s Scotland for appraisal, where it was discovered to be possibly worth over £100 million (about $156 million). The painting will be sent to London next year to be inspected by experts at the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the University of Cambridge and dated conclusively.

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‪‬Leonardo da Vinci’s original ‘Mona Lisa’ painting has been redated from 1503-6 to 1503-19, with the Prado’s version and ‘Virgin Child with St Anne’ also possibly redated, the Louvre verifying such based on recent scientific work and additional drawings [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Battle of Anghiari’ may possibly be beneath Giorgio Vasari’s ‘The Battle of Marciano,’ as drilled probes detect similar pigments used in Mona Lisa, though Florence researchers maintain evidence is “not conclusive” at this stage [AO Newslink]

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Two French art advisers resign from the Louvre’s committee after Leonardo da Vinci’s 500-year-old “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” was deemed overcleaned, thus too bright to retain Renaissance sfumato and overall art historical accuracy [AO Newslink]

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Leonardo da Vinci, St. Jerome (circa 1482). Image via the Vatican Museum.

The National Gallery‘s Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan brings together the most comprehensive display of surviving paintings and drawings by the artist to date, as only a small number of da Vinci’s works remain accounted for. While da Vinci’s interests included painting and sculpture, anatomy, engineering, and music, the National Gallery defines the scope of the show to drawings and paintings dated primarily within the 1480s and 1490s—the period in which da Vinci was the court painter to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza.

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani: Lady with an Ermine (1489–1490). Image via the Czartoryski Museum.

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Diana and Callisto, Gaetano Gandolfi. Estimate: $800,000 – $1,200,000. Price Realized: $4,114,500

After the success of London’s ‘Old Master Week’ that took place in December 2009, expectations were high for the Old Master auctions that took place this week at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in New York. While perhaps not as rousing as the sales in London, the Old Master auctions in New York marked the first opportunity to verify suspicions that buyers were returning to the art market with confidence. Christie’s two days of sales included the two-part auction of Old Master & 19th Century Paintings, Drawings & Watercolors on Wednesday and a special private collection sale, A Cabinet of Curiosities: Selections from the Peter Tillou Collections on Thursday, achieved a combined total of $40,858,500. While these auctions were successful, the auction that led the week was Thursday’s sale of Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture at Sotheby’s, which brought $61,599,250 – twelve lots sold for more than $1 million, and almost 60% of the works sold brought prices above the high estimate.

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La Belle Ferronnière, Follower of Leonardo da Vinci – probably before 1750

Dubbed as “an historic event for the art market,” Christie’s Old Master & 19th Century Art sale in London in December realized £68,380,250 – the highest ever total for an Old Masters auction. Following this ground- breaking success, expectations are high as Christie’s kick-off ‘Old Master Week’ in New York today, January 27, with their two-part sale of Old Master & 19th Century Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolors. This sale will present over 320 works from Lucas Cranach the Elder, Jan Brueghel II, Thomas Gainsborough, Gaetano Gandolfi, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, and Samuel Palmer, among others. Total sales are expected to achieve in excess of $48 million. Sotheby’s “Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture” auction will take place on Thursday, January 28 and is dominated by a Rembrandt portrait of a young woman from 1632 estimated at $8m-$12m, along with the controversial painting linked to Leonardo da Vinci – ‘La Belle Ferronnière.’

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Head of a Muse, Raphael via Guardian UK

-Offered for the first time at public auction as part of Christie’s Old Masters sale, Raphael’s drawing “Head of a Muse”- a study for a figure in one of his Vatican frescoes, if it achieves its estimate £12-16million, will break the auction record for an old master drawing currently held by Michelangelo’s and Leonardo da Vinci’s works [Guardian UK]

-As art collectors become more cautious with their purchases, dealers at Frieze and FIAC fairs put works on reserve, among them $40 million Mondrian allegedly put on hold for Bernard Arnault [Bloomberg]

-Ms. Temkin, the chief curator of painting and sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, introduces unexpected changes, unframing certain paintings and subjecting the almost sacralized permanent collection to frequent renewal [The New York Times]

“Your Mercury Ocean” Skateboard by Olafur Eliasson via aarting

-Another collaboration between Mekanism and Olafur Eliasson results in a 13-ply deck 3d patterned skateboard with a mirror coating [aarting]
-In related, Olafur Eliasson commissions by the mayor of Copenhagen to design a bridge for the Danish capital; the artist shares his plans for a transparent bridge in a close vicinity to the water [The Art Newspaper]

– The survey carried out by the Art Fund, the UK’s independent art charity, shows that despite the substantial drop in public funding and investment income, a figure that proves to grow in the context of economic fall is the number of visits to museums [Art Knowledge News]

-In the midst of economic uncertainty, gallery Matthew Marks, which represents artists such as Jasper Johns, and Peter Fischli and David Weiss, plans on expansion with a new space on the West Coast [The New York Times]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)

Jeff Koons’s giant rabbit at the Covent Garden in London via Hypebeast

A giant helium-filled Jeff Koons balloon made its UK debut on October 8th, the inflatable rabbit floated above central London, it will be displayed in Covent garden [The Independent]
Coinciding with the Frieze fair, the 10th Turbine Hall commission launches, Baldessari’s retrospective opening the same day, Hayward Gallery presents Ed Ruscha, Turner Prize coming up and many other shows and openings, turn London into the center of attention [Guardian UK]
Frieze art fair excites not merely the International art scene, but also the social diaries of those who like to mingle with the rich and famous [Guardian UK] the contemporary art event even has installations to turn its visitors into the subjects of the artwork. [The Independent] Only displaying works by contemporary living artists, Frieze has been considered 1-dimensional in the past. Frieze helps London take over the art world in October [The Independent]- but not without competition, as FIAC, the Parisian fair, is to begin next week and may steal the battle as art collectors in today’s economic climate are forced to pick which fairs they will be attending [The Wall Street Journal]

Unrecognized work by Leonardo Da Vinci via Antiques Trade Gazette

A drawing sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s is now attracting attention for its authorship, if by Leonardo Da Vinci, a theory that recent research strongly suggests, the work could be worth as much as $147 million [Bloomberg]
The Wapping Project in London, often compared to Tate Modern, is expanding with the opening of the Wapping Project Bankside- a new gallery reminiscent of a New York loft to feature film, video and photography almost “a stone’s throw” from Tate [The Moment]
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s plans for a second Renzo Piana location have advanced [The New York Times]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week … (more…)

Kirsten Dunst on the set of a production by Takashi Murakami in collaboration with McG via aarting

Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World,” features a video that is a collaboration between McG – famous Hollywood director, and Murakami – Japan’s king of pop art: starring actress Kirsten Dunst on the streets of Akihabara in Tokyo for “Turning Japanese” by rock band The Vapors [The Wall Street Journal]
A 1984 work by Chinese artist Li Keran sold for $940,000, the most for a print at a Hong Kong auction, where bidding led by mainland buyers has taken many prices several times above estimates [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s Asia sales in Hong Kong revealed that demand for Chinese paintings, while firm, is mixed; as the market is still vulnerable, less pricey, quality pieces were the ones to realize numbers higher than their estimates [Reuters]
Works including those by Renoir, Pollock, Degas and Rembrandt stolen from the home of a retired Harvard Medical School professor and collector, and his business partner; only authentic pieces were taken, leaving behind impeccable reproductions [Boston Globe via Art Market Monitor] in related Uncooperative and unable to produce evidence that the stolen art existed, Angelo Amadio and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, become suspects of the theft to which allegedly they are victims [ArtDaily]

Tracey Emin via Guardian UK

Discouraged by British government’s top rate tax, Tracey Emin threatens to abandon England for France where she claims the politicians understand the importance of supporting culture and art [Guardian UK] in related At the London’s Frieze Art Fair, in the booth of New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Tracey Emin, known for her confessional artwork, is offering to make customized artworks based on answers to fifteen personal questions [Artinfo]
Fanjul paintings nationalized by Cuba in an exhibit in Museo del Prado in Madrid involve legal consequences as the Museum is being investigated by the US department of state for illegal trafficking of a work of art owned by US citizen confiscated by Cuban government [The Art Newspaper]
Turner Prize exhibit at Tate Britain in London this time startles the viewers with the lack of now expected blood, outrage and other shock factors [Bloomberg]
The Bloomberg administration makes an announcement of its plan to give nonprofit cultural groups access to gallery and theater space in city owned properties and help artists develop business plans [Crain’s Business]

Donald Judd concrete constructions in Marfa Texas via Hip-Ster-Krit

6 of 15 concrete constructions built by Donald Judd in Marfa Texas required repair and conservation work, October 10th the works will once again be open to the public [Artinfo]
A look at the Chinese Gao brothers who are shocking their country with brave, politically challenging art works, such as a life-size sculpture of Mao whose body is only reunited with his head on ‘special occasions’ [The New York Times]
When most artists’ prices are decreasing in a recession, a few go up: Italian Maurizio Cattelan is one of those who thrive in the tough economic times, an analysis of his work reveals some truths on the variables of the art market [The Economist]

Damien Hirst posing in front of his work via ARTblog +

A portrait of Damien Hirst built through an interview: his influences, unusual artistic paths (such as painting) and mediums to come, and a subjective depiction of the artist’s personality [Times Online] in related Hirst tells BBC that he will not be producing large scale installations and will rather concentrate solely on painting by applying oil to the canvas with his hands, something he has been secretly doing these recent years [BBC] and in related the FT reports that Hirst lays off much of his staff, closes two studios and is actually making paintings himself; while the galleries give no comments on the unsold works worth millions [Financial Times]
As art fairs struggle to retain exhibitors, a new modern and contemporary fair in Abu Dhabi signs up forty-eight names, including PaceWildenstein, Gagosian, Acquavella and White Cube [Lindsay Pollock] related 50 paintings from the New York Guggenheim Museum to be shown in Abu Dhabi [Arts Abu Dhabi]

‘Fuego Flores’ by Jean Michel Basquiat via Auction Publicity

Sotheby’s October Contemporary Art Auction, estimated to realize in excess of £9 million, will include works by leading artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anish Kapoor, Andy Warhol, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Antony Gormley and Yan Pei-Ming [Auction Publicity]
Following in the footsteps of Anselm Kiefer and Toni Morrison, Umberto Eco has been named the next guest curator at the Louvre; the show “Vertige de la Liste” (Vertigo of Lists) will revolve around his chosen theme “the list” [Artinfo] in related news, talks are underway to open a McDonald’s restaurant and a McCafé at the Louvre next month [Telegraph]
An art dealer from Stockholm, Sweden has been accused of faking works by heavyweight modernists including Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Edvard Munch, and Egon Schiele [Artnet]

Child of lonely – performance by Terence Koh October 6 at Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Photo Olivier Zahm via purple DIARY

Terence Koh prepared his first solo show at the Parisian gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, which takes a form of an imaginary opera in eight acts, the first act taking place October 6, 2009 [The Art Newspaper]
The four artists shortlisted for Turner Prize 2009 are: Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright; the winner is to be announced December 7th [Turner Prize 2009]
Jerry Saltz writes about new galleries emerging despite the economic crises, provides a list of new galleries to see and comments on the effects of the recession on the female artists [New York mag]

The current state of the building to house Sperone Westwater and the computer rendering of it via Lindsay Pollock

A concrete foundation is rising at the site of the future Sperone Westwater gallery designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster on the Bowery; the 10 story building will rise only one block away from New Museum [Lindsay Pollock]
As opposed to expanding outside their home in LA, Tim Blum and Jeff Poe open a new 21,000 square foot space conveniently located in front of their existing gallery on South La Cienga Boulevard, Los Angeles [Los Angeles Times]

Jacket designed by JR via The World’s Best Ever

A jacket from JR’s Face2Face Project comes in a limited edition of only 100 [The World’s Best Ever] in related A video interview with JR in Paris about his project Women are Heroes, which allows the viewers to call a number and hear an interview with one of the chosen women for the project [Vernissage TV]
An interview with Dasha Zhukova that notes her easy acceptance in the art world [Guardian UK]
28 as opposed to 40 exhibitors had pulled out of the Frieze Art Fair, yet despite the equally disappointing numbers, many lesser known, but in no way inferior galleries, will get a shot at the famous art fair [Telegraph]

Miranda July via Vice

Miranda July creates a series of photographs to imitate and bring attention to the extras in iconic movies [Vice]
An Italian professor, Dr Seracini, has been working on technology that can enable the search for the largest painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted – The Battle of Anghiari, a work he believes to be hidden underneath the frescoes in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio [The New York Times]
MoMA received an unexpected gift this month – an estate, estimated to be worth more than $10 million, belonging to the late Michael H. Dunn, a bachelor from Derby, Vermont [The New Yorker]

Portrait of Pastor Swalmius, Rembrandt via BBC

Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp restores the “Portrait of Pastor Swalmius” and discovers it is Rembrandt’s creation, as such, the value of the work increases from $1.4 million to $28 million [BBC]
Russian Minister of Culture, looking for $100m to fund the development of a museum of contemporary art in Moscow, turns both to governmental support and private investors [Art Info]
The destruction in fire of Peggy Cafritz’ Collection mourned not only by her, but also by museums and galleries that recognized its value [The New York Times]
This Thursday night, Artist Duke Riley planning a naval battle for Queens Museum of Art gets support from volunteers, the event titled “Those About To Die Salute You” promises to be the city’s art party of the summer [Wall Street Journal]
A major site-specific sculpture installation by Anish Kapoor will be at Guggenheim for the Museum’s 50th anniversary [Guggenheim]
An $150,000 Philadelphia art prize announces finalists and boasts being the largest prize given for visual arts in a juried competition [Art Review]
In related, The Kandinsky Prize, the most important Contemporary art prize in Russia, will be showing works in London and will coincide with the Frieze Art Fair [Art Daily]

Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa via Louvre

A woman threw a tea cup at Mona Lisa in Louvre, as the painting hangs behind a bullet proof glass it is not damaged, the woman is taken to a psychiatric word [CNN]
Rocco Landesman’s pending appointment as the head of National Endowment for the Arts has been confirmed by US Senate [Los Angeles Times]
Elizabeth Andrews, a gallery supervisor, intends to file a lawsuit against the Tate Modern regarding its cold temperature contributing to her deteriorating health as she is forced to move there from Tate Britain [Art Review]

Bruce Nauman via Sperone Westwater

A plane will perform Bruce Nauman’s Skywriting Project on September 12 in Pasadena, 40 years after the idea’s conception [Artforum]
3 months after its inauguration, MoCA China runs out of money and Mr. Aranita, its founder flees to Hawaii leaving his ex-girlfriend and only legal partner to deal with his many debts [Art Newspaper]
After Ryan McGinley spent two months in caves of North America for photo shoots, his Manhattan food choices are documented by New York Magazine [Grub Street]

Unicorn The Child’s Dream, Damien Hirst via Guardian

Damien Hirst’s vitrine “The Child’s Dream” will become a part of Tate St Ives exhibition titled “The Dark Monarch” starting 10 October [Art Daily]
After Sotheby’s profit declines 87%, William Sheridan, its Financial Officer, claims that art prices and sales have bottomed [Bloomberg]
Due in part to failed relationship with Sotheby’s, Stephen Ranger resigns as president of Toronto auction house Ritchies, as the auction house lays off its entire staff of 25 people [CBC]

Presidio, San Francisco – a historical site where Fisher planned to build a museum via LAT

Gap founder Donald Fisher’s immense collection of art may not be available to public in San Francisco, since his plan of building a museum in Presidio has been opposed by the preservationists [Los Angeles Times]
With rent prices dropping almost to half of what they used to be, art dealers open galleries in the Hamptons where their clients spend Summers [The Art Newspaper]
To stop graffiti artists, Rome’s Mayor tries to pass a new law which assumes not only fines but also mandates cleaning up the defaced walls [Life in Italy]
In reaction to decline of art donations, senator Charles Schumer tries to pass a bill making donating tax-advantageous [Wall Street Journal]
Christie’s in collaboration with Pierre Bergé and Associates announce the second Yves Saint Laurent auction estimated to raise $3-4 million for H.I.V research and in related Sotheby’s 4 November, 2009 sale will include seven Impressionist paintings from the Durand-Ruel collection [Auction Publicity]

Newport Mill transformed into an exhibition space via The Moment

Enormous old mill in New Hampshire is transformed by William Ruger into an exhibition space where an inaugural show “H2O Film on Water” will be held [The Moment]
Ryan McGinness is commissioned to create his first site-specific work to celebrate the opening of a new wing in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts [Art Info]
The 5 star Hotel Marienbad in Berlin accepts artwork as a form of payment as long as artists are not local [Guardian]
Glenn D. Lowry, the director of MoMA took a voluntary pay cut and yet managed to be the highest paid Museum Director in the six US museums with biggest budgets, landing $1.32 million for the fiscal year [The New York Times]
Funded by team owners, 14 site-specific works are created by prominent contemporary artists including Olafur Eliasson for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium [The Art Newspaper]

The Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City via panoramio.com

Mexico City opens a new 3,300 sq. m, $20 million contemporary art museum [TheArtNewspaper]
Sculptor Richard Serra awarded the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain [ArtDaily]
A Sotheby’s video offers refreshing transparency into its process in the current environment [Sotheby’s]
In more video, Takashi Murakami on money and art, New York vs. Tokyo and more [TMagazine – The Moment]
And finally, video of Damien Hirst on his Statuephilia installation in London [Aarting]

Tom Sachs opens his online store [tomsachs.org via supertouch]
Gallerist/web presence Edward Winkleman announces his book ‘How to Start and Run a Commercial Art Gallery’ [edwardwinkleman]
The Louvre finds 3 possible Leonardo Da Vinci drawings on the back of his painting [Bloomberg]

Gallerist Mellissa Bent, artist Hope Atherton and artist Georgia Sagri make the scene at Rivington Arms via ArtForum

On the closing of Lower East Side Gallery Rivington Arms [ArtForum] more on this here [NYObserver]
Similarly, the International Asian Art Fair is canceled [ArtInfo] Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin Miami, opened in 2005, will also close [ArtLurker]

The installation entitled ‘Moscow on the Move’ via the Guardian

Dasha Zhukova and the Moscow Garage organize a 17-artist public video installation which includes work by Doug Aitken, Fischli and Weiss and Pippilotti Rist [GuardianUK]

Sam Taylor-Wood via TelegraphUK

Sam Taylor-Wood, YBA artist turned filmaker (and wife of White Cube Gallery owner Jay Jopling), to direct John Lennon film [FirstPost]
Selling dealer weighs in on the Leonardo Da Vinci portrait authenticity debate [NYTimes]
More on the contemporary art market’s surge in China [Financial Times]
Louvre to lend 17th-century art to Japan [ArtInfo]
Charlene Weisler documents NY Street art [New York Sun]
A critique of Jeff Koons-in-Chicago as “overexposure” [WallStreetJournal]

Dakis Jaonnou’s Yacht “Guilty” Designed by Jeff Koons

More on Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou’s Jeff Koons-designed yacht [GQ]
Interview with Takashi Murakami: “maximalist” [Esquire]
More on Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World [Portfolio]
A telling selection of 30 years of quotes from Tracey Emin [GuardianUK]
Portrait auctioned for $21,850 in 1998 by Christie’s is now attributed by some to Leonardo Da Vinci and may sell for over $50M [NewYorkTimes]