Activist Hedge-Fund Investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC has acquired a 5.7% stake in Sotheby’s Auction House, a $156.7 million holding that hints to a potentially intervention on the part of Third Point.   “They [Sotheby’s] haven’t radically rejigged their business in the past 10 years,” says former Christie’s COO Michael Plummer, now a principal of Artvest. “It would appear that these hedge funds have an idea that Sotheby’s could be doing its business differently.”

(more…)

Damien Hirst’s spot paintings are once again the subject of analysis and discussion, this time in the New York Times, which looks forward to the publication of his catalogue raisonné for the series this fall.  Released by Other Criteria, the book will catalog the full series of spot paintings, 1,365 in all, and is speculated by some as a way to lend authenticity to the work of an artist whose auction prices have fallen in recent years.  “He needs to regain the trust of the marketplace,” said Jeff B. Rabin, an advisor and co-founder at Artvest Partners. “It seems the catalog is one measure he could perhaps take to start to rectify some of the ill feeling out in the marketplace.” (more…)

Online mega-retailer Amazon has outlined plans to launch Amazon Fine Art Gallery this summer, a new branch of its site that will allow users to purchase art directly from partnering galleries.  “We have received overwhelming support from the galleries that have already joined the platform and we would love the opportunity to offer your gallery’s selection in the Amazon Art store.” says an email from Amazon to potential new galleries. (more…)

Following the week’s record-setting contemporary art auctions, CNBC analysts weighed in on the current setting of the contemporary art market, criticizing the easy classification of the market as a bubble set to burst, and noting the ongoing theme of art market commentary asserting a link between money laundering and the increasing speculation on the art market. (more…)

Storming back from its brush with financial insolvency earlier this year, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has announced that it has raised over $50 Million in the past month, bringing its total endowment past $75 Million.  The new contributions come from a number of prominent names, including new board member Bruce Karatz, Jeffrey Soros, and Eli Broad.  “The level of support we have received is fantastic. There is a new energy and excitement about MOCA’s future and its leadership role in the art world,” says Eugenio Lopez, co-chair of  the endowment campaign. (more…)

Despite the increasing number of wealthy tech entrepreneurs in the gallery-rich New York neighborhood of Chelsea, The New York Times points out a considerable disconnect between this group and the art market in general that has resulted in a failure to bolster sales.  While a range of issues stand in the way, many gallery owners remain hopeful for cracking this emerging pool of wealth.  “It’s hard to get those guys’ attention,” says art advisor Thea Westreich. “I think they will eventually collect, and collect very heavily and be a part of the community. But I think that’s going to be a hard wall to go through, at least in the short run.” (more…)

More conflicts have come to light in the recent dispute between the board members of the Cy Twombly Foundation.  A lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in Delaware state court, accuses director Thomas Saliba and lawyer Ralph Lerner of taking an unauthorized $300,000 in investment fees from the organization.  “Lerner and Saliba have refused to provide a copy of the trust or disclose their trustee commissions, which makes it impossible to confirm the extent of their wrongdoing, but the facts currently known raise very serious questions about Lerner’s and Saliba’s conduct,” the lawsuit said. (more…)