In the first semester of 2008 auctions, Francis Bacon was one of the protagonists par excellence.  In London last June, “Study for Heas of George Dyer” executed by the artist from Dublin in 1967 was the highlight at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale. But “Triptych, 1976” was even more important, realizing in May an extremely important record in the world of art: the canvas, sold by Sotheby’s for 86,281,00 dollars, set the new record for a work of contemporary art, breaking the record of “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavander on Rose)” sold last year by Sotheby’s New York for 72,84 million dollars.
As a modern Caravaggio, the Irish Francis Bacon has become a true icon of the damned artist. Credit for this goes to a myth fuelled by himself and his life: the contrasts with his father, his journeys in the Thirties, his homosexuality, his tragic loves, his passion for gambling and pubs.

A sale of works by an artist who is said to have collaborated with Andy Warhol has been postponed for a week while the auctioneer gathers evidence that he actually existed.
Pietro Psaier has become a familiar name in auction catalogues over the past 12 years. The works, seemingly influenced by or purportedly made with Warhol, have appeared at sales in New York, the UK and in Madrid. Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams and Phillips de Pury & Co have all sold works by Psaier, as have country auctioneers Cheffins in Cambridge and John Nicholson of Fernhurst, Surrey, who has sold the most and who was preparing his latest auction of Psaier’s work for tomorrow.
Prices have ranged from £100 to £14,000 for a painting of Marilyn Monroe, and buyers have come from as far afield as Egypt and Kuwait. Many of the works, bought by dealers, have since been exhibited and sold in galleries and at art fairs in London, Cumbria and Harrogate.
But during the summer, a specialist website (warholstars.org) began to investigate claims made in Nicholson’s catalogues that Psaier worked with Warhol. It quoted officials at the Andy Warhol Foundation who said they had never heard of Psaier, and asked whether the whole Psaier story was an elaborate hoax.
Nicholson, a big man with more than 30 years’ experience in the auction business, had the air of a wounded bear when I met him last week to try to unravel the truth. “I’ve sold nearly 1,500 of Psaier’s works since 2004, and no one has complained. But suddenly, last month, I got a call from a journalist saying they were going to publish an article based on the information on the warholstars website with quotes from the Warhol Foundation, and could I prove that Psaier existed. (Telegraph)

The Duke of Sutherland has recently confirmed that he wants to sell 2 prestigious pieces of his collection, the Bridgewater, lent since 1945 to the National Gallery of Scotland. Two masterpieces by the famous Italian artist Tiziano Vecellio, which portray Diana, goddess of hunting, have been offered on sale to two outstanding buyers who have joined their forces to secure these two wonderful canvases: the National Gallery of Scotland itself, located in Edinburgh, and London’s National Gallery. “Diana e Atteone” and “Diana e Callisto” were probably conceived by the artist between 1556 and 1559 for the sovereign of Spain Phillip II, who apparently appreciated their elegant erotic impetus. The two pictures belonged to a series, dedicated to Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, which over the years was broken up and distributed to various museums in the world, which included also the canvases “Diana”, “Venere e Adone” (both in Madrid, Museo del Prado), “Perseo e Andromeda” (Wallace Collection, London) and “Il ratto di Europa” (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston).

One of the most famous works of art from twentieth-century history has greatly moved art lovers. Pablo Picasso’s painting the “Guernica” is sick and its conditions are serious although stable: this was the diagnosis given by experts at the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, who in these days have been carrying out a last check-up on Picasso’s work. An analysis that will allow to understand more thoroughly its damage, its genes, the hidden curiosities about its life.

Title: Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe
Location: NEW YORK - Metropolitan Museum
Description: This is the most comprehensive exhibition to date on the tradition of hardstone carving (pietre dure) that developed in Italy in the 16th century and subsequently spread through Europe.
Start Date: 2008-07-01
End Date: 2008-09-21

Title: ShContemporary - THE ASIAN ART FAIR RETURNS TO THE SHANGHAI EXHIBITION CENTER THIS SEPTEMBER
Location: SHANGHAI
Description: After a successful debut in 2007, ShContemporary returns to the spectacular Shanghai Exhibition Center from September 9th - 13th. This year the fair coincides with the opening of the Shanghai Biennale offering art lovers an unparalleled art extravaganza in Shanghai during September.
Start Date: 2008-09-09
End Date: 2008-09-13

The works by American artist Cy Twombly really seem to be loved and sought after by many collectors, curators and museum directors. And in July 2007 a reported fact proved how someone can love excessively his masterpieces. Everyone will remember the scandal raised by Rindy Sam, French artist of Cambogian origins who, while visiting the  Collection Lambert Museum of Avignon, kissed a white canvas by Twombly. A love gesture, an artistic act provoked by the power of art that cost Sam the charge for having “vandalized” a masterpiece worth 2 million dollars.

Spanish painter Francisco Goya is certainly the artist who anticipated the phases towards which the history of European art was directed. His painting was made of liberty, a kind of poetics that allowed him to express the motions of feelings. The Spanish artist was not influenced by neoclassical schemes, and gave preference to inner descriptions, subjective facts rather than to parameters given by the outside. Francisco Goya began from himself, he questioned himself, he sank into his unconscious to find the answers and the needs of the spirit. The author tried to shed light and awareness on himself through feelings, although he did not fail to criticize the social and political reality of his time.