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By Zoë Lescaze 2/05 2:02pm

estates

Arnold Newman, Pablo Picasso, 1954, printed c. 1970.(Copyright Getty Images/Arnold Newman, Courtesy Harold Greenberg Gallery, New York)

Howard Greenberg Gallery Now Reps Abbott, Newman Estates

What a year for Howard Greenberg Gallery! In addition to its upcoming debut at Art Basel in June, the Midtown gallery will now exclusively represent the estates of photographers Berenice Abbott and Arnold Newman.

The two estates have been entwined over the years, if not represented by a single gallery. Commerce Graphics handled Abbott’s estate, while KG Fine Arts—a partnership between Commerce Graphics and Howard Greenberg Gallery—previously managed that of Newman. Ronald Kurtz, founder of Commerce Graphics, is retiring and closing the Uptown business this month.

Abbott, who is best known for her photographs of New York’s architecture and people beginning in the 1930s, has kindred spirits in Howard Greenberg’s roster, such as Bruce Davidson, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Paul Strand. Dilapidated shanty houses wedged into alleys, ragged children and itinerant peddlers fill her photographs in addition to monumental bridges, elevated train tracks and skyscrapers. Read More

By Andrew Russeth 2/23/12 10:28am

estates

"Canyon" (1959) by Robert Rauschenberg. (Courtesy Metropolitan Museum)

Sonnabend Estate Sues IRS Over $65 M. Rauschenberg Estimate

Here’s a messy one. Art lawyer Ralph E. Lerner, who represents the estate of the late art dealer Ileana Sonnabend, is suing the Internal Revenue Service over a $65 million estimate that the tax collector placed on Robert Rauschenberg’s seminal Canyon (1959),which is owned by the estate, Forbes reports. Mr. Lerner and the estate argue that the work should be valued at $0 since the inclusion of a stuffed bald eagle in the work means that, under U.S. law, it is illegal to sell it. Read More

2/10/12 11:39am

estates

Allan Stone. Courtesy the New York Times.

Executor of Art Dealer Allan Stone’s Estate Is Fired

A judge has fired the executor of the late dealer Allan Stone’s $300 million estate, according to Artnet. When the Upper East Side dealer passed away in 2006 he left his collection and three homes to the Clare Stone Marital Trust, named for his wife. Ms. Stone accused the trust’s executor, Lelia Wood-Smith, of stealing $8.5 million from the trust and stashing his famed art collection in an undisclosed location without permission. Read More

By Andrew Russeth 1/03/12 7:25pm

estates

Alexander Calder standing outside his home next to several of his stabile structures. (1968) (Photo courtesy of Gjon Mili//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Going Mobile: What Is Next for the Heirs of Sculptor Alexander Calder?

Alexander Calder, the Pennsylvania-born sculptor who died in 1976, is, it’s safe to say, one of New York’s, and the world’s, better known artists. One of his famous abstract mobiles turns meditatively near the high ceiling in Terminal 4 at JFK, a balm to weary travelers. A signature stabile sculpture is parked in front of Lincoln Center. And the piece of his that is likely most revered by children, his circus made from tiny puppets constructed out of humble materials like wire, cork and string, just went back on view at the Whitney Museum, complete with a film of the artist manipulating the dolls into action. Read More