Tug-of-War Erupts Over Planned Return of Jewish Archives to Iraq

by Sylvia Westall and Jonathan Saul via “Reuters“

“Jewish books and documents found by U.S. soldiers in the flooded headquarters of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and sent to the United States for restoration have touched off a dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Jews who fled the country.

After a $3 million restoration, the collection has been put on display at the Washington-based National Archives. But bowing to demands from Iraq’s  . . . “

 

 

“Francis Bacon Portrait of Lucian Freud to Set Record at Christie’s Auction”

via Global News

“LONDON – A painting that brings together two of Britain’s greatest artists could become one of the most expensive modern artworks ever sold when it is auctioned in New York next month.  Christie’s auction house says Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” could sell for as much as $100 million. . . . “ Read the rest of this article here.

Cultured Muse’s Input

Apparently the last painting of Bacon’s that sold went for $86 million, but this is expected to bring in far more.  This particular work is actually a portrait of the same man (Lucian Freud–A German/British painter living in early 1900s) in three different poses.  Bacon and Freud were both friends and rivals in the art world, and Bacon painted several works depicting Freud (1, 2) In fact, in Bacon’s “Self Portrait,” he actually painted