Vincent Noce

Lawnews

Sotheby’s takes Mark Weiss to court over contested Frans Hals

The auction house has started proceedings in English High Court to recover its losses in the sale of a work that was deemed a forgery after technical testing

Lawnews

Prosecution seeks jail time and heavy fines for Paris museum thieves

The three men involved in the heist face seven to ten years for the disappearance of five masterpieces

Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, museum founder and collector who opposed the return of artefacts to their countries of origin

When he saw an object he liked, he would never let it go. Sometimes he waited years to acquire some of them

Lawnews

Trial testimony reveals how one man walked off with five masterpieces worth €108m from a Paris museum

But professional burglar advises making sure you “have the resources” to pull off a similar heist “or drop the idea because it’s just too much of a headache”

Sotheby's declares 'Parmigianino' a forgery

Auction house sues seller while Frenchman at centre of saga denies painting is a modern copy

Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller, ‘gentleman collector’ of ethnographic art, has died aged 86

Together with his wife Monique Mueller, the Swiss collector built one of the largest private holdings of Pre-Columbian, African and Oceanic objects in Europe

Lawnews

Appeals court upholds two-year suspended sentence for Picasso’s electrician

Stash of 271 stolen works will be returned to the artist's family

France proposes new global fund for endangered heritage sites

The $100m initiative, inspired by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, will be presented at a conference in Abu Dhabi this week

France joins international treaty to protect cultural heritage in war zones

The Second Protocol of the Hague Convention was met with strong resistance from Western military powers when it was adopted in 1999

President Hollande unable to inaugurate Louvre Abu Dhabi

Latest delay announced on eve of Abu Dhabi summit co-organised by France and the Emirate

Reportnews

‘Photography has become the seismograph for contemporary society’

Christoph Wiesner, the artistic director of Paris Photo, identifies new trends in collecting ahead of the fair’s 20th edition

Picasso’s electrician admits he lied in court

Pierre Le Guennec changes his story claiming artist's wife gave him 271 works in rubbish bag

Saint Jerome once owned by controversial collector Giulano Ruffini sent for technical tests

Sotheby's confirms painting shown at the Met attributed to Parmigianino now under suspicion

Serious doubts grow over Old Masters sold by Giulano Ruffini

US collector refunded by Sotheby’s after tests reveal modern materials in “Frans Hals” painting &nbsp;<br> <br>

Beleaguered Yves Bouvier defends himself and freeport system

Swiss businessman claims late Paris dealer sold him more than 70 works by Picasso at centre of French court case

The man at the centre of the Old Master fakes scandal

Sotheby's refunds buyer of Frans Hals once owned by Giulano Ruffini

Biennale des Antiquaires’ brave new look can’t hide turbulent backdrop

Fakes scandals and threat of terrorism just some of the problems faced by the Paris art fair’s organisers

New twist in fake antique furniture scandal overshadows opening of Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris

After Versailles, the Louvre is the latest institution caught up in forgery case involving Kraemer and Aaron galleries

Louvre Abu Dhabi to host summit on culture versus terrorism

French president François Hollande builds global coalition to protect cultural heritage

Leading Parisian antiques dealers arrested for forgery

Ministry of culture is investigating authenticity of furniture bought by Versailles since 2008

Louvre narrowly averts disaster as staff rally to save art from flood

Collection remains vulnerable to rising waters until a planned superstore outside Paris opens in 2019

Meet the man at the centre of the Cranach mystery

French collector Giulano Ruffini claims to have found and sold other paintings later attributed to Old Masters

Featuresfeature

La Bella Principessa: still an enigma

The forger Shaun Greenhalgh’s boast that he made this chalk drawing may be fantasy, but claims that it is the work of Leonardo continue to be seen as equally dubious

François Pinault to realise long-held ambition of opening Paris museum

Billionaire collector strikes deal with city’s mayor to convert historic stock exchange

Pinault Foundation celebrates ten years in Venice

Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana have attracted more than 2 million visitors over the past decade, and Parisians may soon see more of the billionaire’s collection too

Truth is stranger than fiction? New book adds bizarre twist in tale of Prince of Liechtenstein’s Cranach

French novel about fictional master forger is being studied by French police for clues

Pompidou to pop up in South Korea and China

After Malaga, Asia will be the next to get branded exhibition spaces

Smears, counterclaims and lawsuits—the tangled web surrounding Prince of Liechtenstein’s Cranach

Old Master works by Orazio Gentileschi, Frans Hals and Diego Velázquez drawn into dispute