The Best and Worst of the Art World This Week in One Minute

Including the abrupt end of the Knoedler trial and John Lennon's hair.

John Lennon via GettyImages.
Collector Fabiola Beracasa Beckman. Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Patrick McMullan

Collector Fabiola Beracasa Beckman.
Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Patrick McMullan.

BEST
Here are 12 up-and-coming art collectors to keep an eye on, including Emma Hall, Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, and basketball legend Amar’e Stoudemire.

At the London contemporary evening sales, an early Lucian Freud painting leads Sotheby’s $100 million auction, while Phillips bags a modest $35 million in sales.

Art lover Kanye West tapped Vanessa Beecroft to collaborate on a fashion show-cum-listening party during New York Fashion Week.

Got $8.3 million? You could be the proud new owner of Michelangelo‘s picturesque Tuscan villa.

We interviewed actor and performance artist Shia LaBeouf and his two collaborators, Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner, and the results are illuminating.

GettyImages-3286083

WORST
That’s all, folks: the Knoedler forgery trial came to an abrupt halt this week when both the gallery and former director Ann Freedman settled out of court with collectors Domenico and Eleanore De Sole.

Luckily, there were a few good moments in court before the settlement, including testimony by gallery consultant consultant E.A. Carmean Jr. and accountant Ruth Blankschen‘s admission that owner Michael Hammer dropped $1 million on two cars.

In other news, it appears that disgraced art dealer Eric Spoutz may have supplied the Smithsonian and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston with his forgeries.

A legitimate lock of John Lennon‘s hair is for sale at Heritage Auctions, and it already has a bid (with buyer’s premium) for $15,000.

Prince Charles has made over $7 million selling prints of his watercolor paintings. Who knew?


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