Readers of the Forbes Collector newsletter may remember that E. Forbes Smiley made our 2005 list of top scandals that rocked the collecting world. Why? Back in June, the former rare map dealer, a resident of Chilmark, Mass. (seen in his booking photo, above), pleaded guilty to a federal charge of major artwork theft, after […]

Woe to the Stevie’s. Who knew that an errant elbow would send a colossal art deal into the crapper?
Looked to me like a fight for bragging rights. Two of the biggest “Look at me! I can spend obscene amounts of money on art!” collectors—hotelier Steve Wynn and hedge funder Steven Cohen—appeared ready to best Ronald […]

Borgs be damned! When it came to the Star Trek memorabilia sale at Christies, resistance was futile. Fans set paddles to “bid.”
To mark the 40th anniversary of the cult TV show’s debut, Christie’s held the first official auction of Star Trek items last weekend, all from the CBS Paramount Television Studios vaults. The three-day […]

Museums and would-be art donors are taking it on the chin. In late August, President Bush signed a provision attached to the Pension Protection Act that puts new limitations on the giving of fractional gifts. (Gnarly details here.) Before the addition of this provision, donors were not required to part with the donated […]

He was rejected from art school. He declared some of this century’s most important artists “degenerate.” Oh, and….he was the architect of one of the most heinous campaigns of ethnic genocide in world history. So of course a collection of Adolph Hitler’s watercolors should sell for nearly a quarter-million dollars, right?
Last week in the […]