Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680)

The quiet period of the February vacation in France did not discourage the L'Huillier Auction House from moving into the Hôtel Drouot to sell the contents of the Château de la Maroutière, in Anjou.

A still life that spent almost 150 years at Woodford Academy (NSW) was discovered to be by Gerrit Willemsz Heda, when the building and its contents were gifted to the National Trust of Australia. There are indications it may have been a collaboration with his more famous father, Willem Claesz Heda. (CNN)

A chateau in Mayenne, France, revealed its treasures at the March 4 sale under the hammer of L'Huillier. The announced star, Still Life With Ham by Willem Claesz Heda (1594/1595-1680), fetched a respectable €160,000, while the portrait of Countess Walsh de Serrant doubled its estimate at €125,440.

Unlike abstract expressionist painters, Willem de Kooning never completely banished figuration from his work. A nude or a landscape might be lurking beneath these superimposed colors and black lines.

The $100 million painting, entitled Woman-Ochre, is returning to the University of Arizona Art Museum, where it was stolen in 1985. The work, identified by the Manzanita Ridge Furniture and Antiques Gallery (New Mexico), had suffered extensive damage but was carefully restored at the Getty Museum.

Drost, who studied under Rembrandt in Amsterdam before heading to Italy, painted his largest known canvas Cimon and Pero in around 1655. It is the tenth work loaned to the Rijksmuseum by the Broere Charitable Foundation, which aims to make fine art accessible to the public. It is now displayed in the Gallery of Honour.

Filmmaker Allison Otto's, The Thief Collector, which premiered at SXSW, traces the story of the unassuming couple Jerry and Rita Alter from New Mexico who stole de Kooning's $150M Woman-Ochre, from the University of Arizona in 1985. When Rita died in 2017 the painting was discovered in their home, raising questions.

The star of performance art invites Willem Dafoe to join her on the stage of the Opéra Garnier from September 1 to 4 in "7 Deaths of Maria Callas". A show-opera on love and death mixing video and theater, accompanied by 7 singers interpreting the repertoire of the Greek soprano.

Zwirner’s plan to establish an artists’ retreat in Montauk, Long Island – a destination for famous artists such as Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock - has met resistance from locals. They argue that Zwirner’s proposal to build 17 cottages would obstruct their access to the lake.

Coinciding with the Musée de l’Orangerie’s exhibition exploring a dialogue between Willem de Kooning and Chaïm Soutine, the Parisian auction house Tajan has sold one of the former’s works, Untitled (Man and Woman), for €5.6M. Tajan’s evening sale of modern and contemporary art sold a total of 33 lots for €6.7M.