diego rivera

The Montblanc Sale of the Century at Bonhams & Butterfields

Filed under: Writing Instruments, Auctions

On Feb. 15 in Los Angeles Bonhams & Butterfields will present an auction exclusively dedicated to writing instruments from Montblanc, makers of fine pens with the famed "snow cap" motif. The sale, timed to coincide with the annual Los Angeles International Pen Show, will contain more than 130 lots of exceptional models from several of the major Montblanc categories including rarely seen examples. Highlighting the auction is one of the most sought after Montblanc pens ever produced, the Magical Black Widow Skeleton limited edition fountain pen (above), estimated at $18,000 - $24,000. Encased by a web of white gold, the instrument features a filigree spider studded with black diamonds on the clip.

Also on offer are the Diego Rivera limited edition fountain pen, crafted from white gold with a partial black lacquer finish in Aztec design, a cap overlaid with a white gold windowpane with elaborate Mexican etchings and a black sapphire set in the clip, estimated at $12,000 - $18,000; the Thomas Jefferson fountain pen, decorated with solid gold rings, petrified wood inlays, and a clip bearing a mandarin garnet, engraved with a portrait of the former president and estimated at $21,000 - $24,000; and a diamond studded Greta Garbo model crafted from solid yellow gold with mother-of-pearl inlay, estimated at $14,000 - $16,000.

Tags: Bonhams Butterfields, BonhamsButterfields, Diego Rivera, DiegoRivera, fountain pen, FountainPen, Los Angeles, LosAngeles, Montblanc, pens, Thomas Jefferson, ThomasJefferson

$200,000 Offered For Stolen Artwork

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

If you've seen any of the nine missing paintings shown above you could earn yourself a $200,000 reward. These paintings were stolen during a home robbery in Encino, California at the end of August while the elderly owners were in a back room. The thief stole paintings including Marc Chagall's "Les Paysans," Diego Rivera's "Mexican Peasant," and Arshile Gorky's "Cubist Still Life," a total of at least a dozen artworks in less than one hour. The Los Angeles police have announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the paintings' return. But, as the L.A. Times reports, it is unknown where the money came from, only that it was not a government source.

Each painting is worth at least six figures with some worth over $1 million. If the thief doesn't know exactly what they have it may show up on the market soon at a pawn shop or other places but a more savvy thief might be willing to wait a while and then quietly slip it onto the market in another part of the country or overseas. The pieces have been registered in the Art Loss Register and in the FBI and Interpol stolen art files so anyone who does their homework should be able to know what they are getting. However, the networks to sell stolen art are elaborate and secretive and many pieces are not recovered. Often if a piece is not recovered quickly it can disappear for many years or even permanently.

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Tags: art, art theft, ArtTheft, diego rivera, DiegoRivera, encino, marc chagall, MarcChagall