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twiwrite · 4 years

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CHAPTER ONE; 711 DAYS.

This is a house of collections. Artwork, books, instruments, albums, sheetmusic, clothing, exotic plants -- the Cullens have collected a museums’ worth.

Words: 3.7K Warnings: you may develop a cavity after consuming this sugary shit.

CONTINUE READING ON; FANFICTION | A03

FULL PIECE BELOW THE CUT;

FORKS, WASHINGTON SEPTEMBER, 1950.

This is a house of collections. Artwork, books, instruments, albums, sheet music, clothing, exotic plants -- the Cullens have collected a museums’ worth.

In the past few days, I’ve made myself particularly familiar with the clothes. Oh, the clothes! They’ve got closet after closet of coats and shoes and dresses I could only ever dream of wearing -- more than a family of five could ever possibly need.

I’ve concluded that the closet right off the master bedroom is the most fantastic of them all. It’s about the size of the little house Jasper and I shared -- but with higher ceilings, and a nicer paint job.

Every shelf of the master closet is full, every hanger turned in the same direction. There’s every colour, and fabric, and style of clothing imaginable, and each piece is arranged with care and forethought; by season, then by routine. Hats up top. Outfits right below. Shoes on the bottom. Special occasion items are tucked in the back, and their ample jewellery collection is displayed on its own little table. It’s a room fit for royalty, and I’m desperately jealous.

I’d give anything to have a closet like this.

The first time I saw it, I couldn’t contain my excitement. It poured out of me so loud and so pure, that I was compared to a child on Christmas. In the time since, I’ve longed to spend a full day — maybe longer — lost within that fabric forest.

I’ve managed a quick peek every now and then, but each and every time, my plans to explore further are foiled by a Cullen, curious to find their newest housemate.

I see them coming, and I’m back to something less suspicious before anyone catches me in the midst of my foolish little games.

Today is different. I’ve got ample time to explore, totally unencumbered. No one is here except Jasper and I. The Cullens have left for a hunt, and we’ve been trusted to care for their big house of belongings in the meantime. And while I miss my new family -- which I truly do -- it’s nice to just be, without Edward in my head, or Rosalie nervously eyeing my every step. I’ve got room to breathe, if I wanted to.

Jasper and I had planned on using our day to venture towards town without the added pressure of prying tawny eyes, but late last night I saw that his mind had changed -- that he was no longer ready for such an important experiment -- and so today has become a day of adventure right here, in the safety of the big house. I don’t mind. We can try again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. We certainly have the time.

For Jasper, a day in means a day lost in Carlisle’s study, with his nose pressed to the page of a book. He’s happy in there. I can feel it radiating through the whole house, like a sweet cross-breeze, and so I leave him undisturbed. Besides -- when Jasper gets a book in his hands, or any good opportunity to learn, nothing will distract him, not even me. Not unless its got a racing pulse.

Luckily, there’s none of that here.

So, really, it’s just me and the belongings.

I take the opportunity to dig deep into Esme and Carlisle’s regal closet. I peek into garment bags and hat boxes, rifle through scarves and gloves and trays full of accessories, and take the time to scrutinize every single piece of clothing.

A few are so new you can still smell the store on them, others are old as me. Some of Carlisle’s suits might be older than that, still. Jasper’s age, at least, and so well-kept that any untrained eye would think they were fresh from the haberdashery.

The older pieces smell of their owners day to day -- for Esme, it’s a plethora of floral scents. Rosehip. Lavender. Peony. All of which she grows in abundance, in the garden tucked up against the house. Carlisle was harder to make out at first, but after spending a few hours lost in his belongings, I managed to place it. Castile soap and antiseptic. Iodine, I think. It’s strange, at first, almost too clean, but then I notice something underneath all that — something cold, and sort of sweet.

I bury my nose into one of his tweed jackets and inhale deeply. The powerful tangle of scents caught on Carlisle’s jacket waft over me and settle in, but I make the point to take another draw — even deeper this time — to try and distinguish each individual odour. First I make out the rich scent of vanillin that oozes from his study, and then it hits me — mint, from the plant sitting on the kitchen windowsill.

Below all that — rosehip, lavender, and peony, all embedded deep in the fabric of his jacket. I smile, and the tweed tickles my mouth. That’s Esme, lingering on. It makes sense — the two are never more than a foot apart. She’s left her mark on him in more ways than one.

Once I’m satisfied, I tuck Carlisle’s jacket back into place and move on to do the same with a particularly lovely sage green dress.

This one is brand new. It still smells of sweaty human hands and nondescript, chemical perfumes.

I keep on digging, and searching, and enjoying, and eventually I land at the table where Esme keeps her collection of trinkets and jewels. I look at them, all shiny and perfect, and I think how lucky she is to have such beautiful things.

I commit myself to just looking — that is, until I notice the glimmer of a pearl tucked beneath the edge of a satin headscarf.

I’ve always loved pearls.

Before I know it, the most pleasing peal-adorned hairpin is resting in my hands.

My heart doesn’t beat, but it does squeeze at the sight.

It feels familiar, like it’s already been mine. Maybe I’ve seen it before, in a vision, or a store, or at some point in the indistinguishable fog that was my human life. It’s small and simple and delicate, and I just know that it’s an antique, too -- maybe a family heirloom!

Oh, I love it. I really, truly love it.

It’d look so swell pinning back Esme’s caramel coloured waves, or tucked into one of Rosalie’s elaborately braided creations.

Me, on the other hand? With hair so spiky, and unyielding, and awful, I’ve always tried to draw attention away from it, not towards. I’ve never bothered with such precious things. Disappointed for the billionth time over the permanence of my choppy locks, I glance into the little mirror situated beside the jewellery tray and take a good, hard look at my boyish appearance.

Maybe if I twist that piece of hair just so, and stick the pin right there -- My vision goes out of focus, and I come to spinning in a room. I’m tucked against Jasper’s chest, feeling warm and good and happy. I can see the floor, and my feet, and the hem of a blue skirt.

Jasper touches something atop my head. “I like this,” he mutters, “it’s pretty. Reminds me of your skin, whenever I can get you out in the sun.”

I blink and I’m back in Esme’s closet.

He likes it.

I look to the mirror again, to check once more if I might find the right spot for such a pin, and in my reflection, just behind me, I spot something very familiar.

Something blue. Well!

That’s all the confirmation I need.

The grin that splits my face in two is an unstoppable force.

Visions like this are my favourite.

When I’m in-tune enough to catch a glimpse into my own future — one that confirms a question or leads me left or right — I know to listen. To pay close attention. If I catch all the details and follow all the clues, I’m more often than not led to a picture perfect moment. One that I would have otherwise missed, if left to nothing but luck.

It’s these self-fulfilling-prophecies that brought me to Jasper. They brought me here.

I tuck the pin into the pocket I’ve sewn into my dress -- I’ll have it back before Esme notices! -- and turn on my heel to march towards the most beautiful thing I’ve found yet.

A dress, pale-blue, and made of tulle, with a tea-length skirt and a ruched bodice. It’s magnificent!

The most tantalizing part? I already know that this particular dress would fit me just right. I’ve seen it!

Still, I hesitate to touch it. It’s not mine.

The same vision flashes before my eyes, like the future calling directly out to me, saying, I already told you, you must! So I must. Who am I to argue an inevitability? This particular future is set in stone. So --

I lurch forward and curl my fingers into the ample skirt, gasping out in utter delight when I do. This here is no common frock. This is a work of art. My simple, curtain-fabric dress seems almost disgraceful now. I want out of it, and into this. Esme won’t mind. I’m sure of it. She’s been so insistent that I use whatever I need, after all. And what Esme doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I make quick work of the change.

The inside of the blue dress is lined with silk. It slides deliciously over my marble skin, like butter melting in a warm pan. I take extra care with the line of buttons running up its back, snapping each one closed as delicately as my fingers will allow. I flatten out the skirt, careful not to pull, and float towards the full body mirror leaned in the far corner.

The dress’ shoulders hang off mine just right. Its bodice hugs my waist like it was tailored just for me. The skirt -- well, the tulle hits just past my knees, and tickles them every time I move. I look beautiful. I look happy and bright that I swear there’s colour in my cheeks.

I look like one of them. A human.

Not just any old human. One of the fantastic ones. Straight from sunny, golden Hollywood. Rita Hayworth. Ginger Rogers. Grace Kelly!

I admire myself for another second, but refuse to rest before my outfit is complete.

Somewhere in the mess of ugly dress I’d discarded on the floor, I find the pearl pin. I bring it with me back over to the mirror, and start fiddling away with my hair. I struggle for awhile, but just when I’m about to give up, my hair submits, and I find the perfect spot to showcase the singular shining pearl against my dark hair.

It even manages to hold down a particularly formidable cowlick in the process.

There.

Perfect.

I want to be content standing here in the closet, where Esme’s dress is out of harm’s way, but my heart aches to find that simple and tooth-achingly-sweet moment I saw minutes ago. I want to find Jasper.

So, armed with the courage only a perfect dress could give you, I venture out into the house.

I wander around in Esme’s blue dress, my head held high. I swoosh down the stairs and dance my way through every hall, with no need for music or party-goers with this magnificent, twirly thing to entertain me. I could go on all night, twisting, and turning, and gliding around.

My one-woman parade ends in the living room, right in front of my second favourite spot. Here are ceiling-high shelves, tirelessly cradling a collection of vinyl records that spans through genres and decades. There are singles, and extended plays, and soundtracks, all lovingly forced into each and every measly inch of storage space. And even that’s not enough to contain this particular collection — down at my feet are more piles, stacking up towards the hem of my dress.

Any second, the weight of it all is going to rip through the floor. I’ve never known a vampire to accumulate so many things. Then again -- I’ve never really known any vampire, except for Jasper. Maybe a penchant for collecting is normal among our kind, if given the chance. It makes sense. An endless life equates to endless things.

I drag my fingers along the spines of albums arranged at my height. I walk, collecting fresh dust on my fingertips, until I’m stopped by the hard corner of the cabinet positioned alongside their glorious collection.

Sitting on top is a brand spanking new record player.

I’ve had little radios of my own, and spent many hours tucked up beside jukebox in Finch’s diner, but I’ve never stayed in one place long enough to justify owning such an extravagance.

Such a thing shouldn’t just sit, collecting dust.

It takes a little investigation — and a little peering into the immediate future — but I eventually figure out how to bring the player to life. I settle on a record by an artist I’ve heard before, almost everywhere I go.

I set the needle down on the record, more gentle than I was with the buttons on my dress, and wait for the thing to crackle to life. Music follows soon after.

The hearty bass of a big band orchestra shakes dust of the speakers, and they go on flexing in time, like a beating heart.

I turn the music louder, hoping the steady beat might distract Jasper from his books.

While I wait, I close my eyes, and I let the joyous sound shake me, too. It brings me to life, starting in my fingers, until I’m moving head to toe.

I let go of everything else for a moment — I leave the future where it is, and my worries at the door, and I focus on how happy I am right now.

Eyes still closed, I wander out into the middle of the living room and spin myself around, hands outstretched to feel the edge of my skirt fly when I do. I spin again, and again, until something stops me.

I’m delightedly surprised -- something I’m not very often -- to find Jasper there, with a big stupid grin on his face. He catches my hand, effectively stopping me in place.

“How long have you been watching me?” I ask through a fit of giddy laughter. “Didn’t you see me coming?” He teases, staring me down with that feigned-serious look he wears so well.

I hum in response, not interested in explaining how deeply I’ve been enjoying the present. Jasper doesn’t quite get it yet, how big of a burden monitoring the future can be.

He chuckles and lifts his hand to spin me around. I follow his lead, just on time with the beat of the music, and turn until I’m facing him again. Then Jasper pulls me close, right up against his chest, and settles his free hand on my back, just between my shoulders. Each fingertip spreads a calm kind of happy through my being, growing larger and more dominant until all I can feel is what he is.

I understand more of how our powers work now, and how much proximity has to do with it. From afar, Jasper’s emotions might be palpable to me, if he works hard to project them and I work hard to tune him in. Up close, however, it’s all too easy to drown in him. It’s not my doing, and not his. It just is. It was overwhelming at first, feeling enough for two people, but now I’m not sure how I ever existed without this kind of fullness.

We stay quiet and sway for awhile, until Jasper decides to speak. I can feel the finality of his decision coming towards me in the form of a vision, but I push it off, eager to stay right here with him instead. “We should do this more often,” he says, before taking a step back to twirl me again. I tip myself back into his embrace, and nod fervently at his suggestion. “Any excuse, right?” I ask, turning my gaze towards our tightly clasped hands.

Jasper chuckles, and tightens his arm around my waist. “I don’t think we need an excuse,” he says confidently, like it’s obvious.

I shrug, and smile sweetly up at him. “Well — an opportunity, then.”

He nods, and laughs again.

From where I stand, I can see the floor, and my bare feet, and the baby blue hem of Esme’s dress. A familiar type of chill rolls up my spine. Here it comes.

Jasper’s hand lifts off my back and reaches up. He touches the pearl tucked into my hair, just as lovingly as I saw he would, and so I lift my eyes to him like I’m meant to do.

“I like this,” he mutters, “it’s pretty. Reminds me of your skin, whenever I can get you out in the sun.” I grin.

What’s next hasn’t been plotted out, but my mouth seems to find the words anyways. “I hate to break it to you, but there’s not much sun around here.”

He furrows his brows, like he’s seriously considering this new information. “Probably a good thing,” Jasper notes. He touches the little bobble one more time, and then brings his hand back to my waist. After a moment of deep thought, Jasper speaks again. “We’ll just have to make our own sunshine.”

Goodness, he’s great.

Overflowing with his joy and my own, I stretch up as high as I can, on the very tips of my toes, and press a hard kiss to his smiling mouth. Even then, he bends himself in half to reach me.

We melt into each other, a puddle of his emotions and mine. Jasper’s hand leaves my waist to cradle the side of my face and his touch spreads searing want against my cheek. I welcome everything he has to give me, and curl my fingers into the fabric of his shirt to say, yes, please, more.

I’ve always mourned my humanity, but God, I’m so grateful not to breathe. It means Jasper and I could go on like this indefinitely. Forever.

It’s exactly what I want, and Jasper knows that, but he slides back into the role of proper gentleman before his powers get the best of us and there’s no turning back.

He clears his throat.

I laugh.

My head lands on Jasper’s chest and I close my eyes. The music slows to a stop after a while, and the needle against the inner end of the record, where the grooves in the vinyl cease.

Neither of us bother to do anything about it. We stand there in silence, just holding each other, swaying back and forth to the click, click, click coming from the far end of the room. That’s music enough for us.

I feel Jasper shift. His head turns up and his shoulders lower.

Then, another voice shakes me out of Jasper’s arms. “Chronologically, by year. And then by preference, I guess.” Surprised twice in one day! I look past Jasper’s arm to see Edward leaning against the doorframe, smiling at us both with a good and proper grin.

Jasper lets me go and turns around, and I stand and watch as he attempts to match the man’s expression.

“-- since you were wondering,” Edward finishes. He stretches out his smile and stands up straight, then acknowledges me with a solid nod.

Jasper sighs out a nervous laugh. “I was,” he says, forcing his body into a straight line. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he says of Edward’s gift.

“Sorry,” Edward says, unapologetically.

“It’s a wonderful collection,” I offer, snaking an arm low around Jasper’s waist. He relaxes, just a little, so I keep throwing calm his way.

Next into the room is Carlisle, followed closely by Rosalie and Emmett. Esme is tucked between them.

Esme!

The dress!

Before I can hide my crime behind Jasper’s body, I’m caught. “Alice!” She says, her red-painted lips pulling into a smile.

“Oh, Esme -- I’m sorry, I know you said I could borrow a dress or two, but this! --”

“You look absolutely lovely.”

Three surprises — now that’s absolutely unheard of. What a strange kind of day.

“Oh,” I say, hands flying up to fiddle with the bodice. I smile through my embarrassment and mumble a quiet thank you. “It’s yours,” Esme quickly assures. “It fits you like a glove.”

No words leave my mouth, but a wonky little gasp of air does.

Carlisle’s smile pulls wider across his face. He closes the distance between himself and his wife, and takes one hand out of his cardigan’s pocket to rest on Esme’s shoulder proudly. “I agree,” he simply states, “like it was made for you.”

“Oh, I could never!” I argue.

Rosalie looks up from Emmett, who’s sat himself down to pull off his muddy shoes, and she huffs a laugh at me. “You’re already wearing it,” she notes, with a surprising amount of sincerity amongst her usual bite.

Esme eyes Rosalie. “You absolutely can,” she insists, ignoring the blonde’s remark. “Please. What’s mine is yours. You’re part of the family now.”

I look down at the dress -- my dress -- and burst into a fit of giddy laughter. How can I say no to that? I look at the Cullens one by one -- Esme and Carlisle still embracing, Rosalie and Emmett poised just behind them, and Edward smiling that all-knowing-smile to their left -- and then land my gaze on sweet, dedicated Jasper.

This is my family.

For thirty years, I’ve been searching. I’ve been looking, and looking -- scanning through the future and digging to understand the past -- hoping to find some spot in space and time that suits me right.

For so long I searched alone, with nothing, and no one, and no idea where to go.

That changed when I saw a man, scarred and uncertain and spun of gold. It changed again, when I saw a family put together by choice, and by love.

I started on a path that would lead me across the country and back again, with nothing more than hope and a picture in my mind.

I’ve gained so much since then — pieces of myself, determination stronger than fear, a deep, life-affirming understanding of what it means to love, and be loved, unconditionally, with every inch of your deadened heart — but nothing will ever compare to the satisfaction that I feel right now.

I can stop. I can stop wanting, and waiting, and searching. I’m here. I’m finally here, exactly where I’m meant to be.

I’m home, and that is the best thing of all. THE END.

#jalice fic #twilight fic #jalice #alice x jasper #jalice one-shot #SURPRISE!#HERE'S A THING THAT I SHOULDN'T BE DOING BUT I AM!#I have so many ideas running around my head #little moments in the twilight universe that happen between these two nuggets #and I want to get them out #so welcome to all the time #AKA the collection of one shots you never asked for #not totally one shots but like #moments #i call them one shots bc it's going to be completely non linear #you'll get peaks into the past #into the span of jalice life in the midst of the ed/bella twi-through-bd shit #and looks into the ~future~#this is going to be updated SO IRREGULARLY #and im telling you now #but every now and then you'll find a lil something special that's been on my mind #a little hallmark moment if you will #not always this sweet but #OKAY HERE #all the time in the world #TAG:#att #chapter one

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mrsbhandari · 4 years

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Artsy as Fuck - Wrench

Author’s note: HIIIII i decided to post pretty much all of my writing on here, just to make it more accessible!! I hope you like it!!

Word count: 1259

Warnings: none?

Summary: An unexpected customer leads to unexpected tension at the garage

Masterlist

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Thank God that his father was there because if he hadn’t been, Colt would’ve died of dehydration before he actually said anything beyond a typically boring greeting. She stared back at his awkward expression, seeming to weigh the consequences of elaborating on how they know each other versus just staying silent and letting someone else speak first. Teppei Kaneko, ever the nosy father, refused to let her choose for herself.

“Oh, you two know each other? How so?” Teppei raised his eyebrows at his son, assuming that this girl was yet another scorned lover. It was no surprise to him that Colt did attract so many people, but he had to admit that having one partner show up after their singular night of passion was rare. Teppei never believed Colt to be the type to bring anyone home for the holidays. Roze’s mouth opened and closed, but Colt quickly came to her rescue to avoid her having to explain that she just stared at his naked body to draw it.

“That thing I did this morning...it was for an art class. She drew me,” Colt explained, refusing to go into any deeper detail. Teppei seemed to connect the dots of what kind of “drawing” really happened from the uncomfortable tension that settled over the room like a plastic tarp. He smiled to himself and thought about how this entertainment was definitely worth being late to his meeting.

“Ah...I see. Well, Miss Wheeler has problems with the undercarriage of her car...pretty routine. Can I trust you to handle it?”

“Yeah, Pop.” Colt sent a curt nod to his father as the older man stood and left the shop in his perfectly kept antique Aylesbury. Roze remained silent while she followed Colt into the garage, and he only spoke to explain what he was doing to her car and how much it would cost. She sat in a chair in the garage and Colt let a small surprised grunt.

“You don’t have anyone to pick you up? This will take a few hours,” he asked, grabbing his tools while he looked at her. She glanced up from the sketchbook in her lap and regarded him suspiciously.

“I don’t have anything to do today and I need sketching practice, so I figured I could just stay here. That alright?” she said, tone defensive and accusatory. Colt’s eyebrows furrowed and he could feel his temperature rising. Who does she think she is? He questioned himself. I’m just being polite. He grit his teeth.

“Just asking.”

“Well, you don’t need to.”

“Damn, fine!” He rolled under the car to seethe to himself in peace, trying to focus on the work needing to be done on her car. He quickly noticed the problem (something messed up the muffler) and set to work fixing it, fuming while doing so. His internal monologue supplied him with ideas about her that his rage solidified.

Does she not think it’s kind of awkward for me, too? She doesn’t even know me yet she’s judging, he thought, grabbing a socket wrench and gripping it tight enough to turn his knuckles white. All of a sudden, he heard her voice, soft and lilting across the garage. Without rolling back out, Colt stilled his movements and craned his ear to listen.

“Yeah, he’s here!... There’s something wrong with my muffler, I don’t know...No, I didn’t listen...Yeah, it’s white!... I don’t know, I think he could...Crazy, I know!” He figured she must be on a call, but what she was saying made his blood boil. She didn’t even listen when I was explaining her stupid car? “I did feel bad though.” Feel bad? For me? Why? Colt’s eyebrows knit and his eyes narrowed under the car. She was still laughing into the phone so he resolved to just tune her out and fix her car so she could leave him alone. Resuming his efforts on her vehicle, his focus was fueled by his own anger at this girl’s judgment and mockery.

Finally, her problem was fixed and he rolled out to see Roze still in her seat, bent over her sketchbook. “You’re all done,” he spat, venom dripping from his words. She glanced up and shot him a face, questioning but guarded.

“Thanks, Mr. Attitude. You get a wrench stuck up your ass in the last few hours or what?”

“Just pay me an go, Pain-in-my-ass-o,” he said, slightly prideful in his clever pun on Picasso. She looked unimpressed.

“You been sitting on that one for a while, huh?” He rolled his eyes. “Fine.” She took out a wad of bills and counted out her total before putting the rest back in her bag. Colt rolled his eyes again and when he looked back at her, she was holding an envelope out to him. “Thanks.”

Colt took the envelope, ignoring the strange tingly feeling in his fingers when their tips brushed. After glancing at her sketchbook, he remembered her drawing of him in class. “I liked your drawing, by the way.” He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but she still stopped before getting into her car to respond.

“Thank you?” She seemed confused but blushed nonetheless. As much as Colt didn’t like Roze, he had to admit that she was cute when she was flustered. The thought surprised him as she backed out of the garage.

She was gone and he was left alone in the garage to sit with what just happened. As Colt walked up to his room, a flow of thoughts ran through his head to the rhythm of his lone footsteps on the concrete of the hallway. He arrived in his bedroom and shut the door in case any of the other workers came into the garage, relishing the quiet zone of privacy he had created for himself.

The walls were a dark grey complemented by the black curtains covering his window. His bed was pushed into a corner and was framed by the two posters on the wall by it: one of a motorcycle and another of a band he liked. A desk was positioned against the opposite wall and was bare besides the silver computer on it. Sighing, he collapsed onto the bed and looked at the envelope Roze had given him. After opening and shaking it, the contents fluttered down onto the fabric of his comforter. A thick piece of paper folded into the bills of money caught his eye and he briefly forgot about the stacks of green to investigate.

The paper was folded twice, but Roze did it in such a way that the drawing on it wasn’t compromised. A simple pencil sketch depicted the garage and her car with his motorcycle parked a little ways away. Her car was lifted and she had drawn Colt’s body from the waist down sticking out from underneath the vehicle. The background of the garage consisted of the numerous posters Toby insisted on putting up to make the garage less “scary” for customers. Colt’s eyes returned to his drawn figure sticking out from the car and studied the perfect rendering of the folds of his jeans as he worked, the pose forever captured in the graphite. Money officially forgotten, he retrieved some thumbtacks from his desk and used them to add the drawing to his small collection of posters.

He looked at it for a long time before jumping as his phone started to ring. Glancing at the artwork one more time, he answered his phone with a gruff greeting.

#colt choices #colt x mc #colt kaneko #playchoices #choices #choices rod #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #fiction #artsy as fuck

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kathrynethegreat · 5 years

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@random-emerald-thoughts as promised, here are the details on season 4 of The Rape of Europa Hannibal AU television series.

If anyone is seeing this for the first time and needs to know what the heck this is, links are here:

OVERVIEW

SEASON 1 SUMMARY | SEASON 1 DETAILS

SEASON 2 SUMMARY | SEASON 2 DETAILS

SEASON 3 SUMMARY | SEASON 3 DETAILS

SEASON 4 SUMMARY | SEASON 4 DETAILS

Below the cut is the following information:

Additional Information about each episode and the real crimes that inspired some of the stories

Artwork featured in each episode

Flashbacks featured in each episode

General Season Arcs / Information / Themes

General Clannibal info

SEASON THEMES / NOTES

One of the underlying themes of the season is the brother/sister relationship. The terrible brother/sister relationship between Mason and Margot, and the much better, but still traumatic relationship between Lecter and Mischa. Lecter is horrified that anyone should treat their sister so badly when he misses his own sister so much.

In the past season (season 3), we have learned that Mason Verger wants to kill Hannibal Lecter. We don’t really know why. We haven’t really seen his background. Slowly we will see flashbacks of what happened.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 1: Sense and Sensibility

DATE: October 1993 FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Meeting Barney, seeing him with a copy of Sense and Sensibility.

Barney - Talking with Lecter, late at night, talking about Sense and Sensibility, specifically passion versus control. Elinor’s reserved feelings vs. Marianne’s more outgoing ones. Hannibal Lecter then brings the conversation over to what Barney thinks of Clarice Starling

Clarice - Flashbacks to the Finale of Season 3 with Hannibal rescuing Clarice and sleeping together

Hannibal - Hannibal watches Clarice sleep. He hears helicopters overhead and knows he must fleet. He stares again at Clarice, not wanting to leave her, but eventually goes.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Ancient of Days by William Blake at the British Museum (Seen in Mason Vergers’s room)

NOTE:

Mason Verger, paralyzed, deformed, mutilated by Lecter spends most of his life in bed in the dark. We see him thinking of the Doctor, looking at photos of the Doctor, obsessing over the Doctor. We aren’t sure why he’s obsessed or what he plans to do, but we get the sense that it’s probably not good...

Mason hires Barney. We’ve not seen much of him before. But flashbacks give us an idea that he is important. We see flashbacks of him talking about Clarice with Lecter. Mason asks Barney many questions about Lecter - a wide variety. Barney isn’t really sure how any of it is relevant to his nursing job. Mason then lets Barney know that he knows he was the source of quite a bit of the Lecter memorabilia that he had purchased over the years. He wants to know what other objects Barney might have...and information is just as useful as objects.

Margot, who was last seen in season two having slit her father’s throat, is still around. Her brother is the only one that knows the truth and is pretty much blackmailing her into doing what he wants, or he will turn her over to the authorities.

Clarice has essentially been given credit for tracking down and killing Il Monstro. Nobody is aware that it was Lecter who ultimately killed him.

This is all intercut with Clarice also thinking about the Doctor. Only for Clarice, she keeps thinking about her time in Italy with the Doctor - she flashes back to their making love, to waking up to find him gone.

Several months have passed since the events of Italy. Clarice has heard nothing from the Doctor. She has hoped for letters - something.

We see Lecter in France. He too is thinking about being with Clarice. He remembers watching her sleep and making the choice to leave her when he heard police approaching. At one point he sits down at his desk to write to her and finds he cannot.

Paul Krendler comes to visit Clarice at work. He harasses her about the Gardner case. She confronts him and asks if he doesn’t like her because she refused to go to bed with him. He says she’s crazy and storms out.

Johnny asks Clarice to marry him. She’s not thrilled with the idea but doesn’t show it. She asks if she can think about it and Johnny promises to give her time. He leaves a ring with her to wear if she so chooses.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 2: Double Exposure

DATE: November 1993 FLASHBACKS:

Paul Krendler - Paul, as a young boy, makes out in the back of a car with a girl who resembles Clarice. When he cannot perform, she questions his sexuality.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Hundreds of smaller works (sketches, small paintings) by Manet, Degas, etc.

NOTES:

This episode and the character of James Brockman are heavily inspired by the real-life John Mark Tillman - a Canadian art thief who over the years managed to still over 10,000 antiques and pieces of art from museums and galleries. He kept most of his thefts small in order to not attract attention, but over the years amassed a collection worth an enormous sum.

Clarice is at a Museum Gala Benefit with Johnny at the National Gallery. It is not work-related. She meets up with Miranda Pilcher and speaks to her a bit about the artwork. She spies Paul Krendler and tries to avoid him, lest he try to hit on her. She ducks into an empty gallery only to witness a very quick, sleight of hand theft. She does not arrest him, and he does not notice her.

Clarice later pours through photos of the attendees. Clarice managed to get the list of names from Miranda. She finds the man’s photo and identifies him as James Brookman.

She works to get a warrant and when her team raids his home, they are shocked to not only find the statue in question but thousands of other pieces. None of them are major thefts, but they account for thousands of smaller ones. Immediately Clarice’s team members are put onto the task of organizing the pieces, figuring out where they were stolen from, the process of restitution for each piece, etc. A massive task, considering they have ten thousand pieces to go through.

Brookman is looking at some pretty heavy jail time, but Clarice wonders if she can negotiate with him. She wonders how much he knows. She knows that since he has stolen so much, he most certainly knows a good deal about other thefts around the world.

Brookman, it turns out, knows a lot. He quickly identifies several wealthy business owners who are involved in money laundering via expensive artwork. He identifies several crime rings and also notes several important paintings hanging in museums are fake. Clarice’s team begin to investigate all of these leads, and all of them turn out to be true.

Clarice wants to know...does he know anything about the Garnder case? He says he does not, but that he can work to find out if his security is relaxed. Clarice agrees.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 3: The Muse

DATE: December 1993 FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Hannibal draws Clarice while she speaks to him at the Baltimore Asylum.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Various (fictional) portraits and nudes in the style of Picasso and Balthus

Christ with the head of Clarice on a Watch, by Hannibal Lecter

NOTES:

This episode is vaguely inspired by a (fake) story about Picasso, as told in the Orson Welles Documentary F for Fake, where Picasso painted 22 paintings of the same model and she ultimately demanded all of the paintings.

A very famous French artist has been brutally murdered in his studio. He has been shot in the chest. No one is quite sure why. His friends and family are interviewed...the man was your typical tempestuous artist, but no one could think of any reason why someone would want to murder him. The artist was wealthy, but on his death, most of his wealth was donated to a museum...so nobody benefitted monetarily from his death either. It’s quite a puzzle.

Meanwhile, Mason Verger has acquired a couple new pieces from Barney’s Lecter collection, including a drawing of Clarice Starling done while she and Lecter spoke together about the Buffalo Bill case.

Clarice, going through the artist's studio looking for information is surprised to find several paintings of the same model. When looking deeper she finds even more. Looking in his collection at home - still more. In storage, even more. Who is the woman? None of the artist's family of friends seem to know her.

Mason continues to speak with Barney, and on discussing the Clarice drawing, Barney mentions that he and Lecter talked late into the night about Clarice Starling. Mason finds this interesting and is frankly surprised. Barney and Mason speak for a long time, and Mason stares at the drawing again. Then he brings up his copy of Lecter’s letter to Clarice written just after his escape. He has a copy. Barney asks where it came from, and Mason mentions that he has sources in the F.B.I that have gotten him copies of most evidence. He looks at the letter, then at the drawing. He comes to the conclusion that Clarice holds something for Lecter - that perhaps Clarice is Lecter’s muse.

Clarice looks into the artist’s calendar to see if she can figure out who the girl might be. She sees several appointments for sittings, including appointments in the future. Clarice tracks down the girl and begins to ask her questions. The girl finally cracks and says that she killed the artist. He had become obsessed with her. Had stalked her. Had sexually harassed her, taken liberties with her, & etc.

The solving of the case is a big deal in the media, and Clarice is once again front-page news.

We see a photo of Clarice in the newspaper. We are given four shots of this. First, we see Paul Krendler at home, obsessing over Clarice’s photo. He hates her, but he wants her too. We see Mason Verger looking at Clarice’s photo in the newspaper, wondering how she might be of use to him...we see Clarice Starling, still in Paris (Eiffel Tower in the background) looking at a French newspaper, seeing her face on the front page, and crumpling it in disgust. She doesn’t much like notoriety. Lastly, we see Hannibal Lecter looking at a French newspaper in his Parisian apartment...they have been in the same town for several weeks, and we are aware that he has not gone to her.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 4: Mundus Novus

DATE: January 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Mason - Mason meets Hannibal Lecter for therapy for the first time. Mason reveals a lot about what he’s done - he is not remorseful. He is bragging. Lecter’s demeanor registers nothing.

Clarice - Clarice remembers kissing Lecter in the Season 2 episode Whoseo List to Hunt. The scene immediately changes to her remembering him telling her in Operation Atilla that he has forgotten what he is capable of.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Vermeer (Missing)

NOTES:

The title of the episode means “The New World” a reference to the novel. It references both Lecter’s journey to America and in this episode Clarice’s official end of her career with the Art Crime Team.

Clarice and her team received a tip that The Storm on the Sea of Galilee from the Gardner Heist is being held in a warehouse in Boston. They are told it is in the hands of a local Mafia boss. Clarice, Johnny and two of her team members go in, but the press has been tipped, and it appears the entire scheme is a setup. Johnny is killed and the press manages to catch it all.

Clarice mourns Johnny’s death. She takes care of his estate, his funeral, etc. After that she is able to turn back to the case. The painting was recovered...but it’s been discovered that it was a fake. The loss of a man for a fake painting - the press has a field day. This doesn’t look good for the F.B.I. Clarice is on the verge of losing her job. Mason Verger and Paul Krendler are both watching closely...Mason makes a call to Jack Crawford and tells him to hire Clarice.

Hannibal Lecter sees Clarice’s trials and tribulations on the front page of the paper. After months of trying to avoid her and forget her, he decides to make his way to the United States.

Paul Krendler goes to visit Mason. It is clear that they have been meeting regularly. We learn that Paul Krendler, with the help of the Boston Mafia, placed the fake into the warehouse. The plan worked beautifully. Clarice, in disgrace, would be hired by Jack on the advice of Mason. Clarice would work to catch Hannibal Lecter - she being the perfect bait. Mason would have Lecter’s body as the centerpiece of his little collection, and Mason Verger would fund Paul Krendler’s run for congress, as well as give him Clarice to use or destroy however he sees fit.

Jack Crawford hires Clarice onto Behavioral Science. It’s where she’s always wanted to be, but she certainly didn’t want to get there in an effort to be saved from being let go from the F.B.I. altogether. Clarice asks Crawford what case she will be put onto, and he tells her that he wants her on the Lecter case. Clarice is conflicted, still thinking of Lecter. She remembers kissing him in Whoseo List to Hunt, but then also recalls when he got angry at her in Operation Atilla and accused her of becoming complacent and forgetting what he was capable of. She considers these two sides of him and wonders if she really wants to capture him.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 5: Subtractive, Additive, Kinetic

DATE: February 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Clarice remembers standing in front of The Ecstacy of St.Theresa in Italy with Hannibal Lecter

ARTWORK FEATURED:

The Awakening Slave by Michelangelo

The Young Slave by Michelangelo

The Bearded Slave by Michelangelo

The Atlas (or Bound) by Michelangelo

The Ecstacy of St.Theresa by Bernini

NOTES:

The title of the episode references the three kinds of sculptures that exist.

Clarice interviews agents to replace her on the Art Crime Team. She asks Miranda Pilcher to help with this. Miranda and Clarice would not be considered friends, but they now both have great respect for one another after several years of working together. She is sad to see Clarice go.

Paul Krendler continues to harass Clarice about just about everything. Her replacement is taking too long - why is she choosing this person? Why not someone else? She had better be grateful that she gets to move to Behavioral Science instead of just being fired. She owes a lot to Jack Crawford, etc.

Clarice moves into the basement of Behavioral Science. She has a few disorganized boxes of Lecter evidence an begins to work to organize them. She wonders if she can really put him away.

Clarice receives a letter from Lecter at home. She feels relief, having heard from him after so long. He begins by apologizing for the loss of Johnny and asks how she is dealing with it. He then apologizes for the loss of her job but congratulates her on her new position. He wonders in the letter - does she want him captured? He assures Clarice that she is strong enough to get through all of the challenges that she is currently facing. He talks to her a bit about sculpture - additive and subtractive. He talks about how additive sculpture adds elements to an already existing base, but that a subtractive one removes elements to reveal something at its core. He tells Clarice she’s gone about things wrong - tried to add things to her life thinking they will make her a better person, when really she should carve away at things instead, and that just because she will have chipped away at the whole, it doesn’t mean that the beautiful sculpture revealed within the stone wasn’t within the block the whole time He tells her about Michelangelo’s Prisoners unfinished pieces of art, and encourages her to visit them as they are on loan at the National Gallery. He asks her if she remembers The Ecstacy of St.Thereas sculpture that they saw together in Italy? He reminds her he saw the same look on her own face once and wonders if she ever remembers their time together.

Clarice visits the National Gallery and looks at the sculptures as the Doctor requested. She half expects to encounter the Doctor there, but she does not. She does meet Miranda again, and Miranda wonders why she is there to see these particular pieces. Clarice cannot admit she’s received a letter from Lecter, but she does mention, as she had years before about The Flaying of Marsyas, that “He” told me to come see them. Since this is the second time Clarice is mentioning “Him,” Miranda begins to wonder if Clarice felt more for the Doctor than she let on.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 6: Every Vermeer in the World

DATE: March 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Margot - Mason attacks Margot when they are children

Margot - Margot visits with Doctor Lecter as a child. He tells her what happened to her is not her fault.

Barney - Barney remembers an evening when Lecter introduced him to Vermeer’s paintings.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Vermeer, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

NOTES:

Barney and Marot have met before, but begin talking at the Muskrat Farm gym. They begin talking about Lecter and how they each knew him. They talk about Mason, about work, about life. Barney tells Margot how Lecter introduced him to things - how it is his dream to see every Vermeer in the World.

We see a scene of Lecter talking to Barney about Vermeer late one night in the asylum. Barney has a school book open and they are discussing Girl Reading a Letter by Vermeer. Barney asks how he knows the letter is a love letter, and Lecter tells him that a painting of a Cupid used to hang on the wall in the painting, but had since been painted over (this is true, and the painting is currently undergoing restoration to bring the Cupid back)

Clarice believes that she can be led to Lecter via the sales of Lecter Memorabilia. She learns as much as she can about it. About his autographs, pre and post-incarceration, his notes, his papers, his drawings. She is hoping that some kind of pattern will emerge.

Ardelia is worried about Clarice. She’s worked hard, lost Johnny, lost her job, started a new job, and now must track down the madman who started her career several years previous. She asks Clarice is perhaps she should take a leave of absence. She knows something is going on with Clarice, but she cannot quite pinpoint what.

Clarice also begins to investigate Lecter’s past. She begins to research wine, food, and even speaks to one of Lecter’s old companions, Rachel Du Barry. She looks at old photos of Rachel in Vogue. She sees several photos of Rachel on Lecter’s arm at various events and finds herself jealous, despite the fact that Rachel is now much older and has had three husbands. Rachel mentions how charming Lecter was, that he made a girl’s “Fur Crackle.” She tells Clarice she hopes she has some “Known Acquaintances”

Margot goes to Mason about their father’s will. She is still disowned for being a lesbian. She asks to be reinstated. Mason says no and threatens to tell everyone that she killed their father if she persists. She then says if she cannot be in the will, then perhaps her child can. She asks Mason for some of his sperm. He says he will give her some if she agrees to help him capture Lecter. Margot is conflicted. She remembers her time with Lecter - she likes him well enough, but ultimately agrees.

Clarice goes home and re-reads her recent letter from Hannibal Lecter. We are reminded of the Vermeer from earlier in the episode.

We end with scenes of Clarice and Margot intercut - the both of them uneasy about capturing Lecter due to their different kinds of affection for him, but ultimately working through their feelings and moving forward with what they both feel they must do.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 7: The Two Picassos

DATE: April 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Margot - Margot has therapy with Doctor Lecter as a child. He tells her he is weirder than can imagine.

Will - Will has flashes of speaking with Lecter at the hospital, of seeing the wound man image above Lecter’s desk, of Lecter attacking him.

Mason - Mason invites Doctor Lecter to his home. He shows him his dogs that he has not fed. He shows him his toys, including his guillotine. Lecter shows no emotion. He asks Mason if he would like a popper. Mason takes it.

Mason - Lecter breaks Mason’s mirror, gives him a shard and suggests he peel off his face. He does so and feeds it to the dogs.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Crying Woman by Pablo Picasso

NOTES:

The title of the episode does not refer to any Picasso paintings (though one is featured on the estate at Muskrat Farm), but rather the faces of Will Graham and Mason Verger.

Clarice goes to visit Mason Verger regarding the Lecter case. He shows her a new X-Ray he has acquired and wants to know if it is authentic, as he is collecting Lecter Memorabelia for a private collection. Clarice says she cannot confirm it, but she will work to find out.

Mason is pleased to have Clarice in his employ since she has worked with Lecter before. But he decides he would also like Will Graham. He calls Jack Crawford and Crawford says he does not think Will will want to come out of retirement after the Dollarhyde case. Mason asks Crawford to try.

Mason calls Tomasso, Piero and Carlo and hires them kidnap Hannibal Lecter. He says that he has Will Graham and Clarice Starling as bait - surely one of them will either find Lecter themselves or manage to lure Lecter with their respective pasts.

Margot is horrified when she realizes that the men who were hired to kidnap her two years before are now the men that Mason has chosen to hire to kidnap Hannibal Lecter. It means she will have to speak with these men, work with these men, pay off these men. She wants nothing to do with them. Mason reminds Margot of their deal.

Jack Crawford heads to Florida to find and meet with Will Graham in an effort to convince him to come back to Behavioral Science to help capture Hannibal Lecter.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 8: Fearful Symmetry

DATE: May 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Barney - Hannibal telling Barney that Clarice is becoming one of the big cats

Will - Flashbacks to the crime scenes of the Leed’s and Jacobi’s houses.

Will - Meeting with Hannibal Lecter to discuss Dollarhyde

Will - Interview with Freddy Lounds, discussing Francis Dollarhyde

Will - A coded letter to The Tooth Fairy is found. Will and Crawford work to unravel it. They quickly find that Lecter has asked the Tooth Fairy to kill his family.

Will - Will watches Molly kill Francis Dollarhyde

ARTWORK FEATURED:

The Tyger by William Blake from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

The Lamb by William Blake from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, William Blake (Copy at the National Gallery)

NOTE:

The title of the episode comes from the William Blake poem “The Tyger.” The poem is one of two, being paired with “The Lamb.” in Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience” both of which represent Clarice.

This episode is a lot about loyalty and being willing to switch sides. Lecter works with Will, but betrays him. Barney looked after Lecter, but has no problems getting wealthy off of Lecter’s old belongings. Crawford has no problem getting Will to work for him again, despite having put him in danger twice before. Mason has no problem hiring the kidnappers who kidnapped his sister to kidnap Lecter, despite how uncomfortable it may make Margot. Meanwhile, Clarice is still stuck in the balance - what side will she choose?

Mason purchases Dr.Lecter’s medical records, background information and X-Rays from Barney for a great sum of money. He is extremely pleased with his purchase.

Mason hires Carlo, Tammoso and Piero to steal William Blake’s The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun. It has to do with the Lecter case, Mason wants it in his Lecter collection, and he also hopes that it will help spur Will Graham to action to find Hannibal Lecter.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 9: Vestibule of the Asylum

DATE: June 1994

FLASHBACKS:

Will - Visiting Hannibal Lecter and telling Lecter he was caught because he had the disadvantage of “Being insane.”

Will - Hannibal at court

Will - Hannibal asking will “Do you ever wonder why it was you who caught me? It’s because we’re alike, you and I.”

Clarice - Meeting Krendler telling her he is a “Pure Psychopath.”

Clarice - Clarice visits Lecter in his cell and is introduced to Sammy.

Clarice - Clarice watches Lecter sketch his own hands. First, he sketches his left hand with his right, then he sketches his right hand with his left. She notices the six fingers on his left hand.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Vestibule of the Asylum by Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum (Owned by the fictional M.J. Verger Museum)

Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, National Gallery (Owned by the fictional M.J. Verger Museum)

Gilgamesh with 6 Fingers Holding a Lion. Unknown artist. Sumerian in origin.

NOTES:

The title of this episode hails from the title of the painting Vestibule of the Asylum by Vincent Van Gogh that literally depicts the Vestibule of the Asylum in which Van Gogh was staying. In this episode, it is also meant to signify Will’s precarious mental state - that he is essentially teetering precariously in the doorway of madness.

Strangely enough, it is the M.J. Verger museum that is stolen from in this episode. A famous Van Gogh is stolen, and Clarice and her team must work to find the culprit responsible. While at the Verger Museum, Clarice notices a Sumerian statue of Gilgamesh with six fingers.

The culprit is ultimately caught and found to be a man in a poor mental state. Clarice and Will begin to discuss not only the culprit but Van Gogh himself.

Mason calls Clarice back again to show her his newest acquisition - an X-ray he believes to be that of Hannibal Lecter. In order to compare and confirm it, Clarice must find the X-Ray of Lecter’s taken in captivity when he attacked the nurse. Mason’s X-Ray shows a man who used to have six fingers but has had the extra digit removed...

Clarice and Will, looking for Doctor Lecter’s medical records visit the abandoned Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. They find the place derelict and frightening. The records are not located in Chilton’s office and so they both muster up their courage to go down into the basement where Lecter’s cell used to be.

Clarice and Will stand in front of Lecter’s cell - they both remember seeing Lecter on the other side. Clarice decides she wants to go in. Will watches, horrified, as she crosses the threshold and places her hands on Lecter’s old table.

Will struggles greatly with being at the asylum and is plagued by the worry that he himself is insane. He remembers calling Lecter insane but also remembers Lecter telling him that he was caught because they are very much alike.

Clarice and Will only find Migg’s medical records and are feeling very put out when they realize the smell of the place is getting worse...

They encounter Sammy living in one of the old cells. Will doesn’t know Sammy and is a bit frightened, but Clarice immediately knows how to respond, telling Sammy that she is not Jesus, as Sammy rants and raves. She holds out a Snickers bar for him and he seems pleased enough.

Clarice and Will begin to discuss the nature of insanity. They begin to talk about Lecter and wonder if he is truly insane, or if everyone is a product of experiences, or if maybe that is what insanity vs sanity is - how well we cope with what our lives have given us.

Will finds he cannot continue to search for Lecter without losing his sanity completely and returns to drink in Florida. Lecter writes him a letter. It is the opposite of the kind of letter Clarice receives, filled with encouragement at her bravery.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 10: The Map Thief

DATE: July 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Clarice tells Lecter she read his paper on surgical addiction

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Map of the North American Colonies, Yale University

Map of the World, Yale University

Lecter’s Paper on Surgical Addiction and Left/Right Facial Displays

Various papers and receipts from the Lecter estate

NOTES:

This episode is influenced by a lot of people. The amount of curators stealing paperwork, maps, letters, etc from Universities is mind-boggling. There is a large list of people in authority stealing these things. The two main people, this is based on however are Daniel Spiegelman who smuggled items out of Columbia University using a legal pad and dumb waiter (I swear to God, I can’t make it up), and E. Forbes Smiley who stole maps and documents from Yale library. His theft was discovered when he dropped a razor blade on the floor. A book was written about him called The Map Theif, from where this episode gets its title.

Clarice is working to get all of the Lecter evidence placed in one location. One of her co-workers puts a sign outside the door calling her office “Hannibal’s House.”

Columbia University has a whole collection of Lecter papers, and Clarice creates some problems when she tries to seize them. She manages to placate them when she finds that some of their papers and maps in their rare document collection have slowly been going missing over the years She agrees in exchange for the Lecter library that she will look into the other thefts for them.

Clarice looks over a listing of missing items and finds that they are valuable, but not incredibly so. They are low value enough to not be noticed. Someone has stolen low-value items in a high volume, ultimately making quite a lot of money in the process. She knows someone else who used to deal in low-value high volume items...James Brockman.

Clarice goes to visit James in jail to see if he might have any information or know anything about some of the various thefts over the years coming out of Columbia University. James tells her to look for long-time university employees.

Clarice tightens security in the rare document section of the library. She puts cameras outside of the door as well to watch comings and goings. When another document disappears, but nobody is seen coming and going, Clarice wonders how on earth this could be happening.

Clarice eventually finds that when several boxes on a shelf are moved, it reveals the door of an old dumb waiter in the wall. It goes down to the basement, where someone could easily exit. She places a camera in the basement, ultimately catching a University professor who has been stealing documents for years and selling them.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 11: Sfumato

DATE: August 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Clarice remembers asking for the Doctor’s papers from his cell from Barney after Lecter’s transfer to Memphis

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Clarice as a Griffon by Hannibal Lecter

NOTES:

The title references Sfumato, the technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms.

Clarice goes for a run in the forest and Lecter gets his first look at her again in over a year. Slowly he begins to follow her again but does not confront her. He breaks into her car and smells her steering wheel.

Lecter writes Clarice a letter, draws a drawing of her, and selects some soaps and lotions for her and send them in the mail. They never reach her. We see them being intercepted by Paul Krendler.

Clarice ultimately determines that many of the pieces of Lecter Memabelia are being sold by Barney under a false identity when her old Art Crime Team gets in touch. She realizes Mason has hired Barney for more than just information about Lecter, but for actual pieces in Lecter’s collection. She wonders if perhaps Mason is trying to catch Hannibal Lecter for himself and if perhaps he plans not to turn Lecter over to authorities.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 12: Entartete Kunst

DATE: September 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Clarice remembers Lecter asking her for access to the Lost Art Register, to telling her about his paintings and about the name Grentz

Clarice - Clarice remembers Hannibal Lecter, delicious and hallucinating at the end of season two when she learned the fate of Lecter’s sister.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Third Reich Artifacts (Busts, eagles, etc)

A Nude Venus by Robert Lecter

NOTES:

This episode is influenced by a 2017 story in which a huge trove of about 75 pieces of Nazi Artifacts was uncovered in a secret room in the home of a wealthy Buenos Aires man. The horde was found due to a suspicious piece of art at a local gallery, which ultimately led to a wider investigation.

The title of the episode means “Degenerate Art” in German. The Nazi’s banned much modern art or anything that they felt was insulting to Germany in some way. Robert Lecter is mentioned to have been imprisoned briefly due to his artwork.

A painting of Robert Lecter’s is sold to a Buenos Aires gallery by a local man. The gallery, looking further into the piece, is a little alarmed. The painting, they quickly find, is located on The Art Loss Register and is listed as having been stolen from Lecter Castle. Being associated with both Lecter and with art, Clarice is once again asked to join her old Art Crime Team.

She journeys to Buenos Aires and finds that she likes the city very much. She investigates the gallery and the painting and confirms that the painting is indeed a Robert Lecter painting from Lecter Castle - a painting Lecter had mentioned to her several years before.

The gallery owners are investigated and it is determined that they ultimately just made a stupid purchase, but that they have not done anything illegal intentionally. The gallery owners cooperate - they give back the painting, they give over the name of the person who sold the painting to the gallery without question.

A warrant to search the home of the original owner of the painting is given, and Clarice and her team go in. They are shocked to find a secret room filled with all kinds of Nazi Memorabilia and stolen Nazi art. They are shocked. They wonder if the man is guilty of war crimes - most certainly he is, based on the items he owns. It is believed he likely came to Argentina, as it is a well known safe haven for Nazis and Nazi sympathizers after the war.

They dig into the man’s identity - he is not anyone they know, but they realize that his name is likely false. After a good deal of digging, Clarice comes across a piece of paper with the name Grentz. She recognizes it immediately as one that Hannibal Lecter had given her. She knows this man is Grentz - the last man Hannibal Lecter wants to avenge for the death of his sister.

The name doesn’t stick. The government doesn’t cooperate. A mess of paperwork - maybe there will be a trial in a few years...but for now, the man is allowed to continue living in his home. His Nazi memorabilia is seized, but he can live his life without being harassed otherwise. This bothers Clarice immensely. She KNOWS it’s Grentz. She KNOWS he’s guilty, but her hands are tied. She leaves Argentina with Lecter’s painting but feeling defeated.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 13: The Deposition of Christ

DATE: November 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Balthus- Sitting with Hannibal Lecter as they observe a painting. They discuss Clarice Starling.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

The episode name comes from the station of the cross related to bringing Christ’s body off of the cross. Clarice, of course, is Christ. A deposition, of course, is also a formal kind of meeting.

In Real life a Polish painter born in Paris. His work is controversial but sought after. He married a Japanese woman, and is likely the inspiration for Robert Lecter and Murasaki in "Hannibal Rising." In "Hannibal" he is Hannibal Lecter's artist cousin. Likely on his mother's side, or a from a sister on his father's side. We do not know much about Lecter's other family members, so Bathus is the most likely person that Lecter would have willed some of his "known" possessions to when he went to prison for life.

Clarice discovers that Balthus is related to Hannibal Lecter due to Bathus’ large collection of pieces by Robert Lecter. Clarice has the piece she recovered in Buenos Aires from Lecter Castle, and she finds that since Balthus is his only known family member, that since Lecter cannot “legally” claim the painting, that it would instead go to Balthus. She secretly hopes that if word gets out that his cousin has his artwork, Hannibal Lecter will come looking for it.

Mason, Krendler and Barney meet with Dr.Doemking, who tells them that Clarice Starling needs to be in distress for Hannibal Lecter to come to her.

Balthus and Clarice speak fairly honestly about Lecter, but Clarice ultimately shows she means business. Balthus says he will cooperate, but as soon as Clarice is gone he sits down to write to Lecter. It is clear from his letter that they have been in contact with one another and what’s more- that Lecter has told him about Clarice, and had even told Bathlus to eventually expect her.

Clarice is served papers but has no idea why. She wonders if it has something to do with Balthus. She gets to the deposition and finds that Paul Krendler has a letter, drawing, and gifts from Hannibal Lecter that he has intercepted. Since she has not yet been able to find Lecter, he hopes firing her will put her in enough distress for Lecter to come to her aide.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 14: The Fall of the House of Verger

When Clarice witnesses a kidnapping that the F.B.I. refuses to acknowledge, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Mason’s well-laid plans finally come to fruition. Jack Crawford suffers a heart attack. Hannibal Lecter asks Margot Verger for help. Margot makes a shocking discovery about her brother’s estate.

DATE: December 1994 FLASHBACKS:

Margot - During therapy with Doctor Lecter as a child, Hannibal Lecter suggests that killing Mason would be therapeutic for her recovery. But he cautions her to wait until she is old enough to get away with it.

ARTWORK FEATURED:

Excerpts from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgard Allen Poe

NOTE:

The title of this episode is a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher in which the twins of Roderick and Madeline Usher are subtly implied to have been in an incestuous relationship. Madness and death ensue, and a fissure running through the house cracks open and the house is swallowed into the earth. Obviously not pulling any punches with referencing the Verger siblings here.

Hannibal Lecter goes shopping for a wine keyed to Clarice’s birthday year.

Clarice, on administrative leave, is headed to the grocery store. Hannibal Lecter is following close behind. Behind him follow Mason’s men. Clarice goes into the grocery store, and Lecter goes over to her car to leave her a birthday gift, at which point he is seized by Mason’s men and taken back to the Verger Estate. She calls the F.B.I, but they refuse to acknowledge that what she saw actually happened. She must be mistaken...

Hannibal tells Mason that he has some details wrong. His face was not fed to the dogs - Mason ate his own face and exclaimed that it “Tastes like chicken!”

Lecter is tied up waiting to be tortured by the kidnappers. After speaking with Mason, he speaks with Margot and asks if she will just cut one of his bonds. She says no. She tells him about being disowned, about wanting a baby, about her promise to Mason. He reminds her that she knows she would one day have to kill Mason. He says that if she lets him go, he will take the fall for Mason’s death. She says she cannot.

Clarice determines that she will go after Hannibal Lecter. She breaks into the house to find Hannibal tied up, awaiting torture. She releases his bonds but is shot by Tomasso, though not before she gets two shots off, killing the other two men.

Margot gives Tomasso his money and makes him promise never to reveal anything about the kidnapping of Lecter. Margot then goes back to Mason, furious that his plans have gone wrong, and kills him, planning to blame Lecter for his death.

Lecter escapes, taking an injured Clarice with him.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 15: The Restoration of Clarice Starling

DATE: December 1994

FLASHBACKS:

Clarice - Short bursts of Clarice coming upon the screaming lambs

Hannibal - Short bursts of Hannibal's sister being taken from him

ARTWORK FEATURED:

The Concert by Vermeer, The Isabella Stewart Garnder Museum

The Storm of the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

A Lady and a Gentleman in Black, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Landscape with an Obelisk by Flink, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Chez Tortoni by Manet, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Self Portrait by Rembrandt, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Cortege aux Environs de Florence by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Program for an Artistic Soirée 1 by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Program for an Artistic Soirée 2 by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Three Mounted Jockeys by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Rape of Europa by Titian, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

NOTES:

The title of this episode references “restoration” - as in a piece of art, but also the restoration of Clarice Starling, who has been mourning her father for so long that she has lost touch with who she really is.

The hunt is on for Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. She is missing and presumed dead, though Lecter is assumed to be alive and the hunt is on for him.

Ardelia, angry at Starling’s classification takes matters into her own hands. She visits Barney, who does not have much information to offer her.

Unknown to all, Clarice lies unconscious in Hannibal Lecter’s rented home on the Chesapeake shore. She has been shot, but she will live. Hannibal Lecter sits in a chair and watches her sleep. He knows that the distasteful qualities of her father must be associated with someone.

When Clarice wakes, they begin to talk in earnest. They talk about her father, about Johnny, about Krendler, and Lecter comes to the assumption that perhaps Krendler is who shares her father’s bad attributes. Johnny, having the good, but having died, has put Clarice into a further crisis. Eventually, he tells Clarice that she is angry at her father. She is upset by the notion that she would be angry at her father and pouts for some time.

Another area of discussion are the crimes Clarice has now committed. She knows that having come to rescue Lecter she has broken many laws and will not be welcomed back into the F.B.I.

Lecter and Margot speak on the phone. She tells him they've not found his DNA in Mason's hand yet, and asks him to call and leave a message on the machine, which he does - he owes her this for letting them live. She says she needs yet another favor. She says she's found some interesting things in her father's vault - they might be helpful to Clarice. He agrees.

Margot says she has a couple other problems - Barney. Lecter assures Margot that Barney isn't a problem, but suggests he can be motivated by money. She thanks him. She says the only other person alive who knows everything is Paul Krendler.

Hannibal Lecter says this is very convenient, as he also needs Krendler dead - if she will bring everything agreed upon, he will take care of everything.

Margot shows up at the house with some paintings. We do not see what they are, as we see them from the back. Clarice comes out of her room, very weary and ill, and Hannibal tells her Margot has brought these paintings for her - that with these surely the FBI will grant her immunity. She looks at them for a long time and thanks Lecter and Margot.

Margot says there is only so much she can do once the FBI is led to the house on the Chesapeake. Hannibal says he understands. He hopes Clarice will be well enough for him to leave in three days. Hannibal asks Margot to invite him to the Christening of Margot's child. Margot gives him a piece of paper. He says thank you and he will take care of things. He asks Margot if she would like to stay for dinner and she declines.

Margot visits Barney and bribes him with enough money to see every Vermeer in the world - once. She then calls Paul Krendler and tells him in a couple of days she and Congressman Vellmore would like to meet. Would Paul jog up to Rock Creek Park to meet the helicopter?

A couple of days later, Clarice dresses up for her birthday dinner and Hannibal plays for her. He tells her in the living room that Krendler will be joining them. She immediately understands. He says he understands if she isn't hungry. He holds out his hand and she accepts it, and together they walk into the dining room where Paul Krendler waits, his head sliced open. Two shadows loom heavily over Krendler Clarice is fully complicit in his murder.

Krendler harasses Starling over dinner. Lecter stands to shoot a crossbow through Krendler to get him to be quiet, but Clarice takes it from him - not to stop him, but to do the honors herself.

In the living room they sit and talk quietly. Clarice looks at the paintings again, knowing she will be welcomed back with them. Hannibal says the Lambs won't bother her anymore now that Krendler is dead. Clarice turns to him and asks him about the things that still haunt him at night? Hannibal says the thinks perhaps he will never be free of them.

Clarice again (like in season 3) tells him she is not a saint - but that she has something for him. She hands him the dog tag for Grentz, along with an address. She tells him she managed to find him living in Argentina under a false name.

Clarice says he had to give up his sister, but that he does not need to give her up. He accepts her offer.

Several days later, Ardelia has been leading the hunt for Clarice. Eventually, the clues lead them to the house on the Chesapeake. Ardelia is the first one inside. She finds the house abandoned. But in the livingroom she is confronted with paintings - paintings were stolen from the Gardner museum years ago. We see a flashback to Margot - on the death of her brother going to his bank vault and finding the paintings inside - Molson Verger had been the original architect of the Gardner Heist.

Ardelia looks at the paintings and knows Clarice is gone for good - the case she started years ago is solved.

A package arrives for Margot - inside is a forged copy of one of Molston Verger's wills, reinstating Margot as his heir. We see a flashback of Hannibal Lecter forging it.

Three years later Barney goes to the "Treasures of the Gardner Museum", on loan in Buenos Aires Argentina. The exhibit includes several pieces from the heist, including Vermeer’s The Concert, which is the main reason Barney is there. The exhibit also includes other pieces from the Gardner Museum that were not stolen. Barney sees two people in the gallery he recognizes. He thinks it might be Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. He pauses, turns and leaves without ever seeing the Vermeer. Clarice Starling looks over her shoulder. “What is it?” Hannibal Lecter asks, “Nothing.” she says, “I just thought I saw someone.” She turns back and they both continue to look at another piece from the Garner Museum - Titian’s The Rape of Europa.

#hannibal #hannibal lecter #will graham #clarice starling #hannibal au #the rape of europa #clannibal #fan fiction #fan fic

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moneypedia · 3 years

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9 Best Alternative Investments 2021 (Make $1,000+ Per Month)

The stock market is likely the most common way to invest your money – but it certainly isn’t the only way to invest.

A recent trend is seeing many investors look for the best alternative investments to grow their net worth.

In fact, about 65% of American adults invest their money in alternative investments.

Investing in the stock market certainly is attractive, but recent market volatility may have scared some investors and moved them over to alternative investment platforms.

One of the main reasons why American investors are moving to alternative investments is to diversify, where more than 4 in 10 Americans (44%) prefer alternative investment products for diversification purposes.

Remember the saying: Never put all of your eggs in 1 basket.

The same goes for your investments.

Best Cryptocurrency Trading Platform: Coinbase

Best Real Estate Investment Platform: GROUNDFLOOR

Best Fine Arts Investment Platform: Masterworks

What is an Alternative Investment?

Alternative investments have become a popular option lately for investors to grow their money and diversify their portfolio.

Alternative Investments Defined:Alternative investments are investments you make in anything other than the traditional investments of stocks, bonds, and cash.

As you can see, the term “alternative investments,” is not specific and describes a very broad range of investments, such as:

Stamps

Jewelry

Artwork

Farmland

Real estate

Private equity

Precious metals

Cryptocurrency

Other collectibles

Typically speaking, only high net worth investors used to resort to alternative investing.

For example, well-known institutions like Yale University have invested up to 77% of their endowment fund in alternative investments.

Thanks to technology and the booming financial industry, alternative investments are now a feasible investment option for regular investors (like you and me).

What are the Best Alternative Investments?

Cryptocurrency

Real Estate Crowdfunding

Fine Arts

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Precious Metals

Private Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

Mortgage Refinance

Yourself

Business/Side Hustle

Remember to do your research before you financially commit to one investment over another.

So, are you ready?

Let’s dive right in.

Cryptocurrency

Investing in cryptocurrency could be a highly profitable alternative investment idea.

In fact, Bitcoin (one of the most popular cryptocurrencies) had an investment return of 302.8% in 2020.

You can trade, buy, sell, earn high-interest rates, and even take out loans on your cryptocurrency with the following 2 platforms:

Coinbase

BlockFi

Coinbase is likely the more popular of the 2 crypto trading platforms (the company also just had an IPO – initial public offering – which means they are now publicly traded on the stock market).

BlockFi is likely the lesser-known cryptocurrency trading platform – but likely the one with more options.

With BlockFi, you can have access to services including:

Trading your cryptocurrency

Taking out loans on your cryptocurrency

Savings account for cryptocurrency with up to 8.6% APY

Signing up to a Bitcoin credit card, where you earn 1.5% back in Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency is volatile and certainly risky – as with most alternative investments, but if you’re not going to stay up at night worrying about money, then crypto might be worth the investment.

Real estate crowdfunding is one of the more popular alternative investments.

Real Estate Crowdfunding Defined:Real estate crowdfunding connects investors (you) with real estate builders who are looking to loan your money.

Essentially, you are the “bank” with real estate crowdfunding, where you loan out money to others in exchange for interest payments and then hopefully a return of your original investment.

Does it always work out?

No.

But, real estate crowdfunding does have some pros (and cons), which I have listed below:

Real Estate Crowdfunding ProsReal Estate Crowdfunding Cons

Portfolio diversification

High loan default rate

Potential for high profits

Illiquid investments

Potential for passive income

Long term investments

If you want to take a shot at real estate crowdfunding, then you may want to check out GROUNDFLOOR.

With as little as $10, you can start investing in real estate projects with GROUNDFLOOR.

If you’re an investor through GROUNDFLOOR, your money will likely be used for projects like:

Flipping

Renovation

New construction

Although real estate crowdfunding deals are risky and highly illiquid, you could see average returns of up to 10.5% on your investment, which isn’t too bad.

Plus, if you invest $10 and lose that money, at least it’s “just” $10 and you are a bit more experienced in real estate crowdfunding.

Best case scenario, you make money on your $10 with GROUNDFLOOR.

Fine Arts

If you are looking for a fairly ��out-there” alternative investment, you may want to turn to fine arts, antiques, and other rare collectibles.

In fact, a recent survey revealed 86% of wealth managers recommend investing in art.

If you’re lucky and you have a good eye for art, then you may be able to make some serious profit with your fine arts alternative investments.

Here’s how my grandfather made an unexpected $20,000 profit from investing in art:

Back when he was in his 20’s he went to a yard sale, looking to decorate his newly purchased home with artwork.

He found a beautiful, hand-painted, small picture frame of a vase and a flower, which he decided to purchase for $5.

After 60 years, one of my grandfather’s friends, a keen art collector, noticed the picture, which was hanging in his dining room.

The friend told my grandfather to have the painting appraised and the appraisal found that the painting was worth just over $20,000!

This is a story of pure luck – but it certainly paid off.

If you’re passionate about:

Art

History

Investing

Making money

…Then you may want to invest with Masterworks.

Masterworks is an alternative investing platform, which makes investing in artwork easy and available to almost everyone.

Just like an investing app, Masterworks allows investors to buy fractional shares of fine art – even if the art costs $100,000+!

If there’s a profit to be made, you’ll get a piece of the winnings!

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Peer-to-peer lending (aka P2P) is another pretty nifty way to diversify your portfolio – all while potentially earning passive income!

Peer-to-Peer Lending Defined:Peer-to-peer lending (aka P2P) is an alternative investing strategy where P2P platforms connect borrowers directly with lenders and cut out the middle man (aka the bank or other financial institutions).

If you’re a P2P investor, then you’re not investing in assets.

You’re actually investing in debt.

Pro Tip:Remember that the people who are borrowing your money may not have the best credit, so you run the risk of never having your money repaid.

Then again, as with most alternative investments, there is the risk of losing everything.

That’s just the name of the game.

However, P2P investing is becoming pretty popular, with roughly 26% of Americans using P2P lending services.

I’ve listed some pros and cons of the P2P alternative investments below:

P2P Pros P2P Cons

High potential for profit

High loan default rate

Could be completed online

Illiquid investments

Potential source for passive income

Long-term timeframe

If you want to take the leap and invest with peer-to-peer lending platforms, then I’d suggest checking out PeerStreet.

PeerStreet is arguably one of the most popular P2P investing platforms, where you can invest in real estate loans in:

Residential properties

Single-family properties

Pro Tip:If you want to become a peer-to-peer lending investor and want to legally shelter some taxes, you could open a self-directed Traditional IRA or a Self-Directed Roth IRA.

In fact, PeerStreet offers its own Self-Directed IRA to take advantage of tax-advantaged P2P investing – which I think is pretty awesome.

Precious Metals

Precious metals are great alternative investments to diversify your portfolio – especially during tough economic times.

Precious metals could include:

Gold

Silver

Copper

Platinum

Palladium

The downside to precious metals as an alternative investment is that these investments are illiquid – if you buy them in physical form.

Pro Tip:Most people buy gold during times of inflation. Gold is considered a hedge (aka protection against a loss) against inflation. Typically, as the value of the dollar declines, the value of gold increases.

The downside is that buying gold (or other precious metals) could still be risky.

Thanks to technology, however, you can start investing in precious metals using online ETFs (aka Exchange Traded Funds) with ticker symbols like the following:

Precious Metal ETF Ticker Symbol

SPDR Gold Trust

GLD

iShares Silver Trust

SLV

Aberdeen Standard physical Platinum Shares ETF

PPLT

Granite Shares Gold Shares

BAR

Invesco DB Precious Metals Fund

DBP

…And the list goes on.

Keep in mind that most of the precious metal ETFs have pretty high expense ratios (which means you pay more money to invest in these funds).

What if you’re really into precious metal alternative investments?

There’s another neat trick where you can invest in precious metals – with tax advantages…

…And that’s called a Self-Directed IRA (aka SDIRA).

Self-Directed IRA Defined:A Self-Directed IRA (aka SDIRA) is a special tax-advantaged IRA (which can be a SDIRA Traditional IRA or a SDIRA Roth IRA) where you have a lot more freedom to invest in things that a normal Traditional IRA or Roth IRA would not allow you to invest in.

Rocket Dollar is a platform where you can open an SDIRA.

With Self-Directed IRAs, you can invest in alternative investments including:

Real estate

Precious metals

Cryptocurrencies

Passive interest in business partnerships

…and much more.

Below are some pros and cons of Self-Directed IRAs:

Pros Cons

Tax-free growth

Lack of control over your investments

Creditor protection

Lots of paperwork

Potential for a high return on your investment

Higher fees

If you know what you’re doing, an SDIRA could be good for your portfolio.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, then I’d suggest to either learn more about SDIRAs or consider another alternative investment where you’re more familiar.

One of the best Self-Directed IRA platforms out there is called Rocket Dollar.

Rocket Dollar is a platform that helps you set up Self-Directed IRAs and invest in a myriad of different alternative investments.

Below are the investment accounts you can use with Rocket Dollar.

As you can see, you’re not just restricted to opening a Self-Directed Traditional IRA or a Self-Directed Roth IRA.

With Rocket Dollar, if you’re a business owner, you can also set up a:

Self-Direct SEP IRA

Self-Directed Solo 401(k)

Below are some benefits when it comes to opening a precious metals Self-Directed IRA with Rocket Dollar:

As you can see, there are many benefits when it comes to opening a Self-Directed IRA – as long as you do your research and are comfortable investing in alternative investments like precious metals.

Are you ready to open your SDIRA with Rocket Dollar?

I’ve created a step-by-step guide, below:

Opening a Self-Directed IRA is not too difficult.

However, I should warn you that if your goal with your new SDIRA is to exclusively hold precious metals, then there may be some IRS requirements you may have to follow.

With an SDIRA, you could own the following precious metals (assuming their levels of purity comply with IRS standards):

Gold

Silver

Platinum

Palladium

As always, make sure you do your research before you start investing in alternative investments.

Private Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

Investing in private REITs is one of the popular alternative investments.

Real Estate Investment Trusts Defined:Real estate investment trusts (aka REITs, which is pronounced ree-ts) are companies owning and operating income-producing real estate property, often across different real estate industries (such as hospitals, apartment complexes, office buildings, etc.).

With REITs, you invest your money and you don’t have to do any of the dirty work (like collecting rent).

Here is what you could be collecting with REITs:

Passive income

Profits from a REIT sale

Just like other alternative investments, REITs can diversify your portfolio and help you earn steady passive income.

You can invest in private REITs over public REITs, and you could see higher potential returns.

Here’s why you may want to consider investing in private REITs as your alternative investment choice:

Private REIT Pros Private REIT Cons

High dividends

Low liquidity

Minimal to no daily market price volatility

Typically higher fees

Typically high returns

Lack of transparency

One of the more popular private REIT options is known as Fundrise.

With Fundrise, you can become a private real estate investor for a minimum investment of $500 (which is a great deal, considering most private real estate deals begin at $5,000 to $100,000+).

Below are some stats for Fundrise:

Average Returns

8.76% to 12.42%

Average Fees

Investment Minimum

$500

Investor Requirements

None

Just remember that the investments with Fundrise can be illiquid (meaning it could take a while for you to get your money back – if at all) and long-term.

Mortgage Refinance

Although your home is not exactly a risky alternative investment, real estate does fall under the definition of alternative investments.

Especially in 2021, the real estate market is booming and it will likely continue to appreciate in the upcoming years.

Some ways you can invest in your home:

New roof

New windows

Improved garden

New air conditioning unit

Another way you can potentially save money on your home is by refinancing your mortgage.

Refinancing Definition: Refinancing is when you take your current loan (typically at higher interest rates) and apply for a new loan (typically at lower interest rates).

Refinancing often helps you save money because you are lowering your interest rates on your mortgage.

If you want to refinance your mortgage, you should consider looking at LendingTree, which is one of America’s oldest financial platforms.

https://themillennialmoneywoman.com/lendingtree

Below are some tips that I have used to justify refinancing my own home back in 2020 when mortgages were so low:

Your interest rate lowers by more than 0.50%

You don’t plan to move within 5 years of refinancing

You pay minimal fees (typically you should pay 2% of your current mortgage)

For my situation, refinancing made sense – and I saved about $120 per month ($1,440 per year) by doing so.

What am I doing with the $1,440 I “saved?”

I’m investing every cent of that money!

How to Get Rich from Nothing is packed full of financial strategies that will help you build wealth and live the life you want.

Business/Side Hustle

One of the best, “alternative investments” that you can make is by building your own business or side hustle.

Building your own business is probably one of the most:

Stressful

Lucrative

Rewarding

…Things you can do with your life.

Take it from me, who has been building her personal finance blog over the last 12+ months, it’s not easy. At all.

However, if you want to make money fast, then building your own business is likely the best shot you have to become a millionaire.

In fact, 66% of millionaires are business owners.

The great news is that you don’t need to spend $1,000’s to become a business owner.

In fact, there are plenty of ways you can own a business, make a lot of money, and still spend very little on your business.

Below are some of my favorite examples of businesses you can build with massive growth potential:

Potential Income Type of Business

$0 - $50k+

Social Media Marketing

$0 - $100k+

Affiliate Marketing

$0 - $100k+

Consulting

$0 - $50k+

Selling Digital Products

$0 - $100k+

Web Design

There are so many cool businesses you can start on the side – or for a full-time project – and have a good shot at making a lot of money.

As always, however, there is a caveat:

It’s going to take time

It’s going to take energy

It’s going to take a lot of effort

Being a full-time blogger, I can tell you that I worked over 120+ hour weeks for probably 10 months straight and was paid $0.

It’s very tough and often, being a full-time entrepreneur can be demotivating because you’re putting in 110% of your effort and you’re not being paid.

Alternative Investments Pros and Cons

As with all good things, there are pros and cons that you should consider before investing your hard-earned money.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of alternative investments:

Pros Cons

Diversification

More difficult to value than publicly traded assets

Decreased overall volatility

Often illiquid

Potential for higher returns

Often a higher risk

Potential for passive income

Often more volatile

Think of alternative investments as a way to further diversify your portfolio.

Ultimately, the 3 main benefits I find of alternative investments include the following:

Diversification

Growth Potential

Hedge Against Inflation

However, alternative investments should never be your only investment.

FAQs

What else can I invest in besides stocks?

The stock market is not the only place you can invest your money.

In fact, there are many different alternative investments to the stock market that you can choose from to invest and grow your money for the future.

List of alternative investments include:

Fine arts

Real estate

Precious metals

Cryptocurrency

Real Estate Crowdfunding

Before investing your money, make sure you do your own research and due diligence.

What are the four main types of investment alternatives?

The four main types of investment alternatives may include:

Artwork

Real estate

Collectibles

Cryptocurrency

On the other hand, the most common types of investments include:

Bonds

Stocks

Mutual funds

Exchange traded funds (ETFs)

Keep in mind that it’s probably never a good idea to invest 100% of your net worth in alternative investments.

You’ll likely want to keep a portion of your money invested in more traditional investments (like stocks and/or bonds) in addition to investing in alternative investments.

Are alternative investments worth it?

If you have your money in traditional investments like the stock market, then alternative investments could be a good way to diversify your portfolio in an effort to mitigate risk.

Alternative investments offer you (and your money) some advantages, including:

Potential growth

Decreased volatility

Portfolio diversification

Potential passive income

Of course, there are risks associated with alternative investments, and it would be crucial for you to do your research before financially committing.

Are alternative investments high risk?

Typically speaking, alternative investments are riskier than traditional investments.

Some reasons may include because alternative investments are:

More complex

Have higher fees

Are more difficult to understand

Have potential for higher returns (meaning more risk)

If an investment product has the potential for a high return, then you almost always have the potential for high risk.

Of course, with alternative investments like:

Derivatives

Hedge funds

Private equity

Venture capital

Structured products

…You’ll very likely have high risk, high fees, and high volatility.

Typically speaking, these types of alternative investments are used by high net worth individuals (with $1 million or more in net worth), because they can afford to take a loss if only a portion of their net worth is invested in these alternative investments.

Closing Thoughts

Alternative investments can be a fantastic way to diversify your money when you already are invested in the stock market.

Keep in mind there are many other options out there, and I would suggest doing your own research as well, to become more familiar with the alternative investments market.

The key to becoming a successful investor is this:

Invest consistently

Invest for the long-term

Invest without your emotions

Before you financially commit to alternative investments, make sure you understand the risks associated with some of these products, as well.

As a reminder, some of these risks include:

Volatility

Illiquidity

Risk of loss

Personally speaking, I would never invest 100% of my money in alternative investments.

At one point, however, I’ve invested about 5% to 10% of my net worth in alternative investments specifically for the benefit of diversification.

#investment

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orbemnews · 3 years

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For Britain’s Art Dealers, Post-Brexit Trade Isn’t So Free LONDON — “You could just jump in a van, drive to Europe and cross all the borders to buy decorative antiques. You’d drive straight back through French customs. It was seamless,” said Andrew Hirst, a British dealer specializing in old textiles, who in 2018 moved with his family to Ireland, after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Hirst’s business is still based in London, and he said he was concerned that the combination of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic would put an end to his specialist trade. Britain left the European Union in January 2020, but it followed E.U. rules until a new trade agreement negotiated with the bloc came into effect on Jan. 1. But British businesses across a range of sectors, including art and antiques, are now discovering trade is not quite as free as they had hoped. Value-added tax, or VAT — a tax on goods and services that is usually paid by consumers — is now payable when importing artworks into Britain from the European Union, and vice versa. Dealers at every level of the trade are also encountering unforeseen administrative and transportation costs that are damaging their profitability. “I won’t be going to Europe to buy antiques like that again,” Hirst said. Britain was the world’s No. 2 market for art and antiques in 2019 after the United States, with $12.7 billion of sales — 20 percent of the total global market, according to the 2020 Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report. But owing to “turmoil with the rollout of Brexit,” the report added, Britain’s market declined 9 percent in 2019, while sales in France, Europe’s next biggest market, grew 7 percent. Since Jan. 1, collectors based in the European Union, where member countries set their own tax rates, now face VAT bills varying between 5.5 percent (France) and 25 percent (Denmark) on art or collectibles imported from Britain. (Britain charges 5 percent for items coming from the bloc.) “Brexit has made the U.K. a faraway country,” said Andre Gordts, a Belgian collector who is one of an unknown number of international buyers who quietly moved their collections after the Brexit referendum to avoid VAT payments. “It just makes things extremely difficult, enhancing the trade of bureaucrats and punishing hard-working artists and honest tradesmen in their galleries,” Gordts said. In 2016, he sold his London apartment and moved permanently to Brussels. “The only way out for British based galleries, I think, is to open a branch in the E.U.” Ursula Casamonti, the London-based director of Tornabuoni Art, a leading Italian gallery specializing in modern and contemporary art, with branches in Britain, France and Switzerland, said the dealership would now have to pay thousands of euros in administrative charges when moving artworks around to mount exhibitions. “The administrative, tax, shipment and timing costs for doing business in the U.K. have now increased,” she said. “While we still love the city, we now have a more negative idea about London as an international center for modern and contemporary art.” Victor Khureya, the operations director of Gander & White, one of Britain’s biggest specialist art shippers, said there had been a “quite significant” rise in the cost of transportation since Brexit. “There is a lot of administration, a lot of documentation and there are a lot of teething problems,” Khureya said. “It results in delays, which are costly,” he added, noting that a recent shipment had been delayed for 24 hours by a French customs officer who misunderstood the relevant forms. Khureya said that a shipment that before Brexit had cost about 250 pounds, or about $340, was now almost £1,000. If a work of art is worth many thousands of pounds, these shipping costs represent a relatively marginal increase. But Brexit has also resulted in punitive cost increases in the transportation of lower-value items. In January, Thomas Heneage, a long-established dealer in London specializing in art books, sold an item for £75, or about $100, to a customer in France, he said in a recent interview. The courier added charges adding up to more than $60, including a “fuel subsidy,” “Brexit adjustment” and “duties and taxes” that were almost four times what they usually charged, he said. The customer canceled the order, Heneage said. Disruption at the top end of the auction market, however, appears to be minimal, said Sebastian Fahey, the managing director of European operations for Sotheby’s. “For the vast majority of buyers and sellers at Sotheby’s, there is no change, post-Brexit,” Fahey said, adding that private individuals in the European Union represented only a “small minority” of the buyers at his company’s London auctions. He said that the new VAT charges for importing items into the bloc from Britain “will be no different to the situation they faced previously when they bought in non-E.U. locations, such as New York, or Geneva.” Some dealers and collectors in European Union countries with high taxes on the art trade, like Germany, see Brexit as an opportunity. “In terms of trade between Germany and the U.K., it actually has quite some advantages,” said Johann König, a leading Berlin contemporary art dealer who also has a gallery in London. König pointed out that art bought in Germany could be imported to Britain relatively cheaply and that pieces bought in Britain would be subject to import VAT of 7 percent, whereas Germany charged 19 percent on domestic transactions. “I believe that in the long-term, once a period of adaptation, and Covid, has passed, London will retain its importance within the European and global landscape as a major cultural hub,” König said. “We are continuing our activities in the U.K. and probably are going to even build it out more.” Hirst, the British textile dealer now living in Ireland, said he also saw opportunities in post-Brexit Britain — as long as he can stay in business. Until December, when government imposed a more stringent lockdown in England, he had been flying from Cork, Ireland, to London each week to trade every Friday and Saturday from an open-air stall at the popular antiques market on Portobello Road. Hirst said he expected thousands of small businesses to go bust, creating openings for those who survive. “There will be a lot of bankrupt stock,” Hirst said. “I may have to sell contemporary fabrics, rather than the beautiful old stuff I used to buy in Europe. “It’s adapt or die.” Source link Orbem News #Art #Britains #dealers #free #isnt #PostBrexit #Trade

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sartle-blog · 6 years

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5 Artworks to Buy Instead of Christie’s $450M Da Vinci

Acclaimed art collector Shawn “Jay Z” Carter once wisely said, “I bought some artwork for one million. Two years later, that shit worth two million. Few years later, that shit worth eight million. I can’t wait to give this shit to my children.”

Looks like someone took his advice. Hours before writing this, Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi sold at a Christie’s auction for a record-breaking $450.3 million. Touted as “the Last da Vinci” by the international auction house, the painting sold to the highest bidder on the night of November 15, 2017. The other fifteen or so surviving works by the famed Renaissance artist and thinker are housed in museums, and unattainable to private collectors. The masterpiece above was edited by art critic Jerry Saltz, but the actual painting of Jesus holding a crystal orb in his left hand, and raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing, can be seen below:

However, the painting comes with some baggage. Art experts still disagree on whether the artwork can actually be attributed to da Vinci. Besides the authenticity issue, the current condition of the painting has led some to disagreements on its value. Experts claim that the painting has been overly cleaned and heavily restored. When he saw the art piece in person, Jerry Saltz even heard a fellow onlooker speculate that “90 percent of it was painted in the last 50 years.”

For those who missed out on Salvator Mundi by a mere million or so, here’s a list of five possibly more-worthy artworks that will be available for auction at Christie’s in the near future. Get your paddles ready, ladies!

Keep in mind that the estimated auction price tends to be lower than the realized price in order to encourage competitive bidding. This list also doubles as a holiday gift guide for the rich and cultured, as well as my wishlist for anyone vying to win my affection.

1. Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Collaboration, 1983-1986. Estimated USD 400,000 to 600,000

It’s the work of two renowned artists in one painting! Plus, one of Basquiat’s Untitled paintings sold for $110.5 million just earlier this year. This piece is ideal for investors hoping to see an increase in value similar to Jay Z’s art collection. The collaboration between these two former best friends was truly ahead of its time. Warhol started most of the paintings with something concrete and recognizable, a large dollar-sign in this case, which Basquiat would paint over, and the cycle continued. Unfortunately, the exhibition was poorly received by member of the press, who wrote scathing reviews claiming that Warhol was taking advantage of Basquiat’s talent. These headlines may have sowed seeds of mistrust in Basquiat, because his friendship with Warhol dissolved shortly after. When Warhol unexpectedly passed away, the two had not yet repaired their relationship, which devastated Basquiat. This painting marks one of the heights of the friendship, and would be a much better gift than a friendship bracelet.

2. Roberto Montenegro, Self-Portrait, 1955. Estimated USD 80,000 to 120,000

If Salvator Mundi caught your eye, because of the painted presence of a crystal orb, Robert Montenegro proudly displays his artistic talents in this self-portrait. Sure, someone from the Renaissance (maybe da Vinci?) painted the blurriness that occurs when looking through a glass ball, but Montenegro’s work, try to follow along, is a painting of himself painting his curved reflection on a metal ball, which is the painting itself.

3. Yves Klein, Venus Bleue, (S 41), 1962/1982. Estimated USD 80,000 to 120,000

Doused in the color “International Klein Blue,” which Yves Klein invented himself but never patented, the Venus de Milo never looked better. If you can’t decide between collecting ancient or contemporary art, and wanted to compromise by meeting somewhere in the middle with the Renaissance Salvator Mundi, don’t. You can have the best of both worlds with this 1962 or 1982 sculpture that references ancient antiquity.

4. Jenny Holzer, Arno, 1996. Estimated USD 40,000 to 60,000

In light of #MeToo, celebrate the female artist who warned you that “MEN DON’T PROTECT YOU ANYMORE” and “ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE” by purchasing Jenny Holzer’s Arno. Since the artist’s proof will be up for auction, you’ll know that the artist, rather than exclusively studio assistants, definitely touched this piece, confirmation that is not guaranteed with the Salvator Mundi.

5. Attributed to Henri Manuel, Claude Monet with his palette in front of his work ‘Les nymphéas,’ 1920s. Estimated USD 1,544 to 2,316

Like the Salvator Mundi, we’re also not completely sure about who the artist is for this piece. The photograph is attributed to Henri Manuel, but honestly, the photographer isn’t the focal point of this piece. Sure the photograph is framed nicely, but I personally think the best part is the subject matter—Impressionist painter Claude Monet with brush and palette in hand, standing in front of his famed water lilies before they took up permanent residence at Musée de l’Orangerie.

With $450 million dollars, you can afford not one, but all of the artworks included above, and still have enough money for a comfy retirement. There’s another possibility I’d like to put out there though—maybe support living artists (like Alex Nunez who made the masterpiece below), rather than large auction houses and dead artists who will never see the profit.

(It’s my freckled sister, Lindsay Lohan fyi) SOURCE

By: Harley

#leonardo da vinci #salvator mundi #expensive artwork #art news #art history #art #art auction #art sales #italian renaissance

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tsgbaltimoreandannapolismaryland · 5 years

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Let’s Talk Art with Johnson Sokol Interior Design

JOHNSON SOKOL’s show-stopping interior designs are an art lover’s dream.

“We like to tell our clients that we’d rather build a room around art versus building art into a room,” says Lisa Sokol. “It’s the central focus of our interior design. We prefer to first buy the art and then design the space.”

“A room without art is naked,” adds Sarah Johnson. “We have that conversation right off the bat with new clients. What do you have, what do you like?”

We couldn’t wait to sit down with these lifelong besties/design partners to gab about the art world: who are they following on Instagram? What are their favorite galleries? How do they discover artists? It was a total art geekathon, and it was fantastic.

The Scout Guide (TSG): Where does your enthusiasm for art come from? Are you artists yourselves?

Lisa: I’m not an artist! My grandfather was an artist. A lot of the art in my home is by him.

Sarah: I’m not an artist either. I will say, Lisa comes from a family of fairly large collectors and had that early exposure to art. My exposure was to more traditional artists like equine portrait painters. For Lisa, the exposure was more prolific, and she was exposed to everything from Calder to Picasso to Henry Moore. That background has driven and informed us in a lot of our decision making for our clients.

Lisa: When I was a junior in college, I interned for Sotheby’s and ended up opening my own antique shop and gallery in Old Town Alexandria. We specialized in 18th and 19th century American furniture and paintings. It was a great learning experience. I grew up around my dad’s family collections of Picasso and Calder and Joan Miro.

(Photo by Whitney Wasson)

TSG: Wow, that’s an impressive roster to have personal access to. What a great platform for art history and appreciation.

Lisa: My family tells this story that my dad’s godfather, Nate Cummings of the Met wing, convinced my grandfather to buy this modern painting by this up and coming artist, Jackson Pollock. He told my grandpa to just put it under their bed if his wife didn’t like it. Well, she didn’t like it and insisted he get rid of it. Just a few years ago that very painting that my grandfather got rid of sold for $80+ million!

TSG: I’m speechless. Wow. Changing gears, who are your favorite artists these days? I saw one of you rocking an Ashley Longshore bag on Instagram.

Lisa: People really cling to what Ashley is saying. I stalk artists and dealers because dealers often expose you to artists you’ve never heard of. I like Anna Wunderlich. She’s an art middleman. She posts lots of interesting things and is always looking at new and up and coming artists.

Sarah: We’re both really interested in photography. We like Eric Cahan from New York. And Marilyn Minter. She’s pretty provocative, and her images are very envelope-pushing. Through her art, photography and painting, she makes heavy statements, and she’s label-friendly. She often will take a Manolo Blahnik or Christian Louboutin shoe and embellish the back.

(Photo by Whitney Wasson)

TSG: Have you been to any museums or galleries recently that left you inspired?

Lisa: I was in Paris last summer and went through every gallery known to mankind. So fun to go to the Picasso museum and see Picasso in many different time periods and how prolific he was. The Guggenheim in New York is fun - architecture is amazing. The Morgan Library is such an amazing space. It’s a gem.

Sarah: Even here, I recently took my kids to the Baltimore Museum of Art, and you forget how much really interesting art they have. They had a John Waters exhibit, but just to know that Baltimore has that history and there is the Cone Collection which is really fascinating. Even if you don’t have the budget to go to Paris or New York, there’s so much to see here and in DC. Then we love Winterthur, the Brandywine valley...I’m very drawn to architecture.

(Photo by Whitney Wasson)

TSG: What’s your favorite medium? Paintings, sculpture, pottery, furniture, etc.

Lisa: Right now we’re loving all different forms of photography. It’s such an interesting way to change the dynamics of the room. We’ve designed rooms around photography. I do think mixing photography in with oil paintings and drawings is good.

(Photo by Whitney Wasson)

TSG: How do you let a client’s artwork drive their project design?

Lisa: We’ve had some clients who are incredibly knowledgeable about art, and they would weigh in on what they’d be purchasing. Other clients say, help us buy art, and just bring it to us. We have a client we’re working with right now who’s into equestrian paintings. We don’t focus on who’s trending. We try to make it more personal for clients. We try to show them as many options as possible. We take pictures of art. We do have some dealers who send a working deck via email with samples of some works of art. Often the client can get a sense and from that, we’ll take a client to New York to shop in person.

Sarah: Buying art can be daunting for clients. People feel as if they have to spend an inordinate amount of money on art to make it worth their while. While we do encourage people to look at them as investment pieces, you don’t have to start out big. We can bridge the gap for people and educate clients. If you have a connection with something, that’s what it’s about. It’s not about filling your house with investment pieces if you don’t connect to the artist and the medium. This is a big decision, and you have to connect with what you’re buying.

CONTACT: JOHNSON SOKOL INTERIOR DESIGN

8208 White Manor Dr., Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland

[email protected]

@johnsonsokol

#artlovers #johnsonsokol #interiordesign #getart #artforthehome #choosingart #movedbyart #artindesign

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caveartfair · 7 years

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Frieze London and Masters Find a Common Future for Contemporary Art

Installation view of Sprüth Magers’s Frieze London booth, 2017. Photo by Tom Carter for Artsy.

Since it was founded in 2003, Frieze London has prided itself on being an art fair dedicated to the leading edge of the contemporary art conversation, a position that grew from its roots as a magazine. In the past, that made for aisles filled with still-wet paint and a focus on the newest emerging artists for most of its 15 editions in Regent’s Park. Frieze took this uber-contemporary distinction a step further in 2012, when it launched the complementary Frieze Masters fair, dedicated to artworks and collectible objects created before 2000 (and some dating back millennia) in a separate set of tents. But while the two fairs, which together welcome some 300 galleries, still played well to the extremes of their official billing during opening day here on Wednesday, much of the work on display was at the crossroads of the two, a reflection of the critical dialogue and market trends that have increasingly blurred the distinction between “old” and “new.”

Take “Bronze Age c. 3500 BC – AD 2017,” Hauser & Wirth’s thematic booth at Frieze London, curated in collaboration with hipster feminist hero and University of Cambridge classics professor Mary Beard, whose fairly tongue-in-cheek descriptions of the works are worth a look. The mock museum brings together historic works by artists like Marcel Duchamp, Louise Bourgeois, and Henry Moore with contemporary artists from the gallery’s program (Phyllida Barlow, who currently represents the U.K. at the Venice Biennale, made her first-ever piece in bronze, Paintsticks, 2017, for the occasion). These are interspersed with antiquities Beard helped source from regional museums and around 50 purported artefacts that Wenman bought on eBay.

“Part of the irony is that it looks like a Frieze Masters booth,” said Hauser & Wirth senior director Neil Wenman. “I wanted to bring old things but the lens is contemporary. It’s about the way we look at objects,” and how a given mode of display can ascribe value to those objects.

The gallery hasn’t leveraged the gravitas of its ethnographic museum vitrines to sell Wenman’s eBay finds at a steep margin, but it is offering 80 artworks for sale (out of the roughly 180 objects on display). For those on a budget, they’ve also created souvenirs sold from a faux museum gift shop that will run you £1–£9; proceeds will go to the four museums that lent pieces for the show.

Installation view of Hauser & Wirth’s Frieze London booth, 2017. Photo by Tom Carter for Artsy.

As of Wednesday evening, the gallery had sold a Hans (Jean) Arp sculpture for $1.1 million, Subodh Gupta’s set of 13 bronze potatoes (Food for Others, 2013) for €150,000, one of two bronze panels in the booth by Rashid Johnson for $125,000, and Martin Creed’s bronze rose Work No. 1649 (2013) for $75,000.

The gallery also reported selling, among other works, a Richard Artschwager triptych for $2.8 million, a sculpture by Bourgeois for $2.6 million, and a seven-piece stainless steel Fausto Melotti sculpture for €220,000 from its booth at Frieze Masters, for which the gallery collaborated with Moretti Fine Art.

Following curator Nicolas Trembley’s recreation of seminal exhibitions from the 1990s at Frieze London last year, the fair’s special section this year drifted back even further in time from its stated post-2000 focus. Curated by Alison Gingeras, “Sex Work: Feminist Art & Radical Politics” features nine women artists —Dorothy Iannone, Marilyn Minter, Judith Bernstein, Betty Tompkins, Mary Beth Edelson, and Birgit Jürgenssen among them—who emerged in the 1960s and ’70s with practices at the far edge of feminist expression at the time, and whose works were often subject to censorship due to their sexually explicit nature (at Frieze, the section still bears a disclaimer that it may not be suitable for children).

Works within the section by Iannone and Edelson were acquired for the Tate’s collection on opening day from Paris’s Air de Paris and New York’s David Lewis, respectively. (The purchases were funded by a new acquisition fund supported by WME | IMG, the sports and entertainment conglomerate that acquired a stake in the Frieze fairs in April 2016.) The Tate’s first female director, Maria Balshaw, who took the helm from Nicholas Serota in July, called the section “tremendously exhilarating.”

“Sex Work” follows a strong year for female artists at Frieze last year and also inspired Sprüth Magers’s Frieze London booth. The gallery reopened its expanded London location last week, having increased its exhibition space from one floor to three. At Frieze, it is showing an intergenerational selection of women artists from the gallery’s program: Jenny Holzer, Astrid Klein, Barbara Kruger, Pamela Rosenkranz, and Kaari Upson.

“We wanted to dedicate the booth to this female perspective,” said gallery director Silvia Baltschun.

A 1989 LED from Holzer’s “Survival” series, which features her iconic phrase “Protect me from what I want” was quick to sell on opening day for $350,000. Upson’s drawing Psychic trash (2016–17) also sold for $70,000.

Holzer and Kruger have been a fixture of Spüth Magers booths at recent fairs, at least in part due to their works’ direct and indirect engagement with the Trump administration and other recent social upheavals. But Baltschun said the gallery made a special effort to bring early works from the ’70s and ’80s to Frieze to create a dialogue with Gingeras’s section. Klein, Holzer, and Kruger are part of the same dialogue as those included in “Sex Work” but found acclaim early on because their work was less sexually explicit compared to artists like Iannone, Minter, and Tompkins.

Installation view of Cheim & Reid and Thomas Dane Gallery’s booth at Frieze Masters, 2017. Photo by Tom Carter for Artsy.

At Frieze Masters, a joint booth by Cheim & Read and Thomas Dane Gallery highlighted a range of works from another artist, Lynda Benglis, who also made it into the canon despite some works that were explicit in nature. Perhaps most famous among those is the ad, on view at Frieze, that Benglis purchased in Artforum in 1974 featuring her posing nude and holding a dildo. With its works spanning 1968 to 1990, the presentation is reminiscent of a miniaturized version of the artist’s 2011 retrospective at the New Museum, and required borrowing around half of the works on view.

“It was important that we had all of the different aspects of Lynda’s work, which is so multifaceted. She really is the original material girl,” said Cheim & Read partner Adam Scheffer, listing off the media (video, bronze, welded metal, glitter, prints, and polyurethane foam) present at the fair.

He said no sales had been confirmed by midway through Wednesday afternoon but that foot traffic had been strong, in part thanks to artist Rachel Whiteread’s selection of some of Benglis’s works from the Tate Britain’s collection to be exhibited alongside Whiteread’s current show there. Gingeras’s section’s influence was less of a factor thus far, he said, and in fact he hadn’t known about it.

“Lynda is so much a generation before most of that,” he said. “Showing her within the history of 20th-century sculpture is really where she belongs. She stands alone outside of classification.”

Permeating both Frieze London and Frieze Masters was the influence of Tate Modern’s current show “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power,” the first major exhibition in the U.K. to highlight the role that black artists have had in shaping art in America. Eleven of the show's artists are included in Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s Frieze Masters booth, his second showing at the fair and first in its main section. Rosenfeld said that Frieze organizers had told him not to expect to get a larger booth this year but were swayed when he applied with such a large swath of artists from the Tate show, and all works from the same period.

“It’s had a tremendous impact,” he said. “Every work really is as good as the works in the Tate exhibition. We pulled out all the stops really to create an opportunity for collectors and museums to acquire some works that normally aren’t available.”

Installation view of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s booth at Frieze Masters, 2017. Photo by Tom Carter for Artsy.

Among the highlights are pioneering abstractionist Alma Thomas’s Snoopy Sees a Day Break on Earth (1970), a large William T. Williams, Mercer’s Stop (1971), on offer for $875,000, and a series of collages by Romare Bearden from the ’60s priced at $400,000 and $450,000. Rosenfeld said that the Tate exhibition was igniting a conversation but that the artists within it are still very new to the U.K. audience, so he was not surprised that sales were still developing.

“We have to pay special attention to the education process,” he said. “What’s gratifying is that there’s a visceral reaction to the works themselves without having any knowledge of who the artist is. It shouldn’t matter that they’re African-American; they’re just great works.”

Jack Shainman said that the Tate show was the tipping point that brought him to Frieze London for the first time this year after a number of years being on the fence. He echoed Rosenfeld in saying that the exhibition was bringing “a lot of attention to artists and to ideas that maybe weren’t at the forefront here,” among them Barkley L. Hendricks, who passed away at the age of 72 this past April and whose work Icon for My Man Superman (Superman Never Saved any Black People – Bobby Seale) (1969) fronts the marketing materials for “Soul of a Nation.”

“We never imagined that Barkley wouldn’t be here with us today. That was really shocking,” he said.

The Hendricks painting on Shainman’s booth (Anthem, 2015) hadn’t yet sold by Wednesday evening, but a number of other works, including Kerry James Marshall’s Untitled (Bathers) (2017) for $875,000 and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s The Measures (2017) for $80,000, had. Titus Kaphar’s large, unstretched painting on canvas Shifting the Gaze (2017) sold for $80,000 to an unnamed institution.

London’s Stephen Friedman Gallery devoted its entire Frieze London stand to 80-year-old African-American sculptor Melvin Edwards. Three works from his long-running “Lynch Fragments” series are on view at Tate Modern, and 12 works from the series, for which he welds together found steel objects ranging from chains to springs to bullets, are on offer at the fair.

Gallery associate Dora Fisher noted that Edwards had three major museum shows early in his career: He was one of the first African-American sculptors to have a solo show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and was in the second show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which subsequently led him to a solo show in 1970 at the Whitney.

Nonetheless, “he only got rediscovered in the last 20 years,” she said, something she attributed to audiences’ too-narrow expectations of black artists. “Maybe there was a pressure on African-American artists to not be part of the abstract movement,” she said.

Installation view of Blum & Poe’s booth at Frieze Masters, 2017. Photo by Tom Carter for Artsy.

The cross-pollination between past and present, Frieze London and Frieze Masters, continued with artists like Julian Schnabel and Alfredo Jaar. Schnabel, an artist more immediately aligned with Frieze London, has eight abstract landscapes from 1994 at Blum & Poe’s Frieze Masters booth. Jaar’s early works from the 1970s and ’80s are on view in a joint Masters presentation by Goodman and Galerie Lelong. Meanwhile, a not-insignificant amount of secondary market material is on offer at Frieze London, with Sigmar Polke’s Laterna Magica (1988–96) selling from Thaddaeus Ropac’s booth there on opening day for $2.5 million.

That is a natural reflection of where the market and critical conversation is currently, with attention distributed evenly among old, young, and established (if not mid-career) artists and dealers more freely mixing among them. But it also means that treating them as two separate fairs—whose tents happen to be 15 minutes apart, necessitating a 2 p.m. jog for dealers who show at both—makes a lot less sense now than it did in 2012.

—Alexander Forbes

from Artsy News

#Artsy News

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pcgamesdaily-blog1 · 7 years

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The Music Gallery_ Can Music Ever Be Valued As Fine Art_

Presentation: The Highest Art Auction in History As of late a Christie's specialty deal turned into the most noteworthy closeout ever. The deal included works by Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among others and altogether produced $495 million. The deal set up 16 new world closeout records, with nine works offering for more than $10m (?6.6m) and 23 for more than $5m (?3.2m). Christie's said the record breaking deals mirrored "another period in the craftsmanship advertise". The best parcel of Wednesday's deal was Pollock's trickle painting Number 19, 1948, which brought $58.4m (?38.3m) - about twice its pre-deal gauge. Lichtenstein's Woman with Flowered Hat sold for $56.1 million, while another Basquiat work, Dustheads (best of article), went for $48.8 million. Each of the three works set the most elevated costs at any point brought for the specialists at sell off. Christie's depicted the $495,021,500 add up to - which included commissions - as "stunning". Just four of the 70 parts on offer went unsold. Likewise, a 1968 oil painting by Gerhard Richter has set another record at the most movies online astounding closeout cost accomplished by a living craftsman. Richter's photograph painting Domplatz, Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan) sold for $37.1 million (?24.4 million). Sotheby's portrayed Domplatz, Mailand, which delineates a cityscape painted in a style that proposes an obscured photo, as a "magnum opus of twentieth Century workmanship" and the "encapsulation" of the craftsman's 1960s photograph painting standard. Wear Bryant, organizer of Napa Valley's Bryant Family Vineyard and the artwork's new proprietor, said the work "just thumps me over". Brett Gorvy, head of post-war and contemporary craftsmanship, said "The amazing offering and record costs set mirror another time in the workmanship advertise," he said. Steven Murphy, CEO of Christie's International, said new authorities were helping drive the blast. Myths of the Music-Fine Art Price Differential When I ran over this article I was paralyzed at the costs these fine arts could acquire. A few of them would barely bring out a positive enthusiastic reaction in me, while others may just somewhat, yet for every one of them I truly don't see how their costs are reflected in the work, and the other way around. Clearly, these pieces were not planned for individuals like me, a craftsman, while well off benefactors surely observe their inborn creative esteem unmistakably. So why doesn't music draw in these sorts of costs? Is it even workable for a bit of recorded music, not music memorabilia or a music antique, (for example, an uncommon record, LP, contraband, T-shirt, collection fine art, and so forth.), to be worth $1 at least million? Are on the whole performers and music writers bound to battle in the music business and paw their way up into a vocation in music? In the event that one painting can be esteemed at $1 million, why can't a melody or bit of music likewise be esteemed comparably? Clearly, the $.99 per download cost is the most noteworthy value a melody can summon at advertise esteem, regardless of what its quality or content, and the performer or arranger must acknowledge this incentive in that capacity. The budgetary condition looks something like this: 1 painting = $37 million 1 tune = $.99 Infrequently individuals say that a melody can change the world, yet nobody ever says that in regards to works of art. So hypothetically, if individuals need change $.99 is the value we should pay for it. Presently here are a couple of articulations that should enable us to clear up what the money related or esteem disparity amongst painting and music depends on. (1) There are less painters than there are musicians. (2) Musicians are less skilled than painters? (3) It is less demanding to make music than it is to paint. (4) general society esteems depictions more than music. (5) Paintings are more delightful than music. (6) Paintings are difficult to duplicate not at all like music. (7) Painters work harder than performers and composers. (8) Blah, blah, blah. Barely anybody concurs with these announcements but then all, or possibly some of them, would need to be valid all together at the cost of artistic creations to so incredibly surpass the cost of music. In addition, I question that craftsmanship authorities and awesome painters need to manage as much lawful formality as do performers while discharging their work into people in general area, so why aren't the prizes approach, if not more noteworthy for artists who need to work nearly as much ensuring their work as in delivering it. Artists and arrangers, be that as it may, really should accomplish more than verify their work and acquire exact evaluations concerning what their work is worth, however they get paid less. The hardware costs alone for performers is considerably higher than it is for painters. Possibly it's distinction, and not cash, performers a great many? That would clarify why most performers make due with the low pay they get from record bargains and computerized downloads. Maybe, that is additionally why a hefty portion of them are visiting all the more regularly to build their popularity and not their fortunes. In any case, hold up a moment, that is the place artists really profit from live exhibitions and the offering of stock, yet not the music. I figure this is the reason numerous artists see themselves not as writers, but instead as entertainers and performers. So what would musicians be able to do, who don't consider themselves to be performers, however rather as arrangers who make music as an artistic work? Since they too want to win a living to help themselves in their picked calling, along these lines there must be a particular approach whereby they show their work to music darlings or workmanship gatherers looking for resources and caretakers for novel pieces to put in their private displays. Envision that, a recorded bit of music that few have ever heard which is shown and played just on a predetermined music player in a private craftsmanship exhibition or gathering. In pondering how an artist can take after the case set by painters in the expressive arts, I've disconnected 4 rule that should make the terrific monetary prizes they've achieved workable for the artist. So how about we investigate a portion of the attributes that administer the market for compelling artwork and perceive how artists can apply these ideas to their inventive, creation, and advertising forms. The Ideal Vehicle for Music as Fine Art Here are 4 standards and pragmatic recommendations for performers who need to lift their music into the domain of compelling artwork by following the case of the painters of the over a wide span of time. 1) Strive to make remarkable music or music collections. The writer must plan tries different things with sound or compositional procedures. Some music has a place in the domain of people in general, while other music exclusively has a place in the domain of artistic work. It's truly not that hard to differentiate. The distinction is clear when one looks at the earth of the dance club and the music one finds there with the hoisted condition of the artful dance or musical drama and its music. The distinction is not really one as far as sorts of music, yet rather in the author's sonic unique finger impression. At the end of the day, not every person thinks Jackson Pollock was an awesome painter, however everybody recognizes that it took him years of advancement to achieve a point where his style could be conceived. It's the style of the craftsman or arranger that will shout to the consideration of affluent benefactors, the regard of companions, and the selective reverence of the music appreciator. In music, the style of the writer, paying little heed to kind, I call 'a mark sound.' It's the mark sound that music and workmanship gatherers will need to possess and for that they may pay or offer up the cost of proprietorship to a higher cost. 2) Create a music gallery. This could be designed according to the craftsmanship exhibition where one or a few craftsman put their work in plain view. The distinction with the music exhibition is that you would have a corridor loaded with listening rooms or stations. These showings would not be live exhibitions, but rather will be in actuality sound establishments. You could likewise isolate one corridor into a few compartments for various writers. The music indicating would be a select occasion gave to genuine music and workmanship gatherers who effectively search out sonic encounters and purchase what they like. The reason for the music display would be the same as the workmanship exhibition - to give people in general a specimen of the craftsman's ability, to give faultfinders something to expound on, to have different arrangers remark on the work of an associate, and to make buzz in the craftsmanship world. Keep in mind forget that it shouldn't be the occasion that drives the buzz, however the music that makes the occasion. 3) Turn your music into an unmistakable asset. The undeniable distinction between a depiction and music is that one is a substantial craftsmanship and the other is definitely not. As such, one of the characterizing qualities of a work of art is that the medium and the workmanship are one. Not at all like music, where the music must be exchanged onto another question, for example, a tape, vinyl, CD, or mP3 player before it can be seen, though with a sketch (or figure) a protest has been changed into workmanship. So how might it be or is it even feasible for a tape, CD, or download to be changed into craftsmanship? The tape and CD are more likened to a photo of an artistic creation, instead of a genuine articulations where the medium and the workmanship are one. So one stage an artist can take to hoist their music into compelling artwork is by making your music and its medium one. The most ideal way that I can consider to do this is by looking to the past. Incidentally, the vinyl LP nearly accomplished this quality with collection craftsmanship, its estimating, and bundling. How about we rapidly examine a portion of the characteristics of the vinyl LP and significant promoting edges that I think opens up intriguing methodologies for artists to transform their music into compelling artwork at cost proper levels sympathize with winning an occupation. Today there are a few compan

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caveartfair · 7 years

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Louvre Sees $10 Million Loss in Profits Following Attacks—and the 9 Other Biggest News Stories This Week

Catch up on the latest art news with our rundown of the 10 stories you need to know this week.

01 Due to a 15% drop in attendance last year, the Louvre has reported a $10 million loss in profits.

(via artnet News, The Art Newspaper)

In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Paris and across France, the Louvre saw a significant dip in visitor numbers and profits in 2016, compared to 2015 figures. Louvre director and president Jean-Luc Martinez estimated that 2016 brought in 7.3 million visitors, 15% less than in 2015, at a loss of at least $10.2 million. He added that revenues from bookshops and restaurants had also declined. The number of French visitors to the city did not see the same decline in 2016 and the number of school group visits leveled shortly after the 2015 Paris attacks. The museum also faced threats of flooding and a fire in June, resulting in four days of closures in order to ensure the wellbeing of its collections. Despite reduced audience sizes, renovations to the entrance hall appeared to boost visitor satisfaction in 2016. Some 70% reported that they were “very satisfied” with their experience at the Louvre, compared to 53% in 2015. Though it draws a much smaller crowd each year, the Centre Pompidou, in contrast, saw a 9% increase in international tourists, reporting 3.3 million visitors in 2016.

02 Influential British art critic and novelist John Berger, whose hit television series “Ways of Seeing” upended existing notions of understanding art, died Monday at the age of 90.

(via the New York Times)

Berger’s 1972 BBC series was followed by a book of the same name, which sold more than a million copies and became a standard text in art school classrooms worldwide. He fought against what he considered to be centuries of elitist formal criticism, focusing instead on how political and social environments shaped artwork—from explorations of the male gaze in Western art to claims that oil paintings were capitalist symbols of material wealth. During a decade-long stint as an art critic at the New Statesman, he bashed Jackson Pollock and the Abstract Expressionists in favor of realism, and frequently championed little-known artists. This controversial, sometimes antagonistic approach would define his career, engendering both devoted fans and harsh critics. Although his influence in the art world was significant, Berger also wrote a number of critically acclaimed novels and screenplays; his book G., published in 1972, won the Booker Prize.

03 The Polish government purchased a private art collection that included da Vinci’s Lady With an Ermine (1489–90) for $105 million—a price well below its market value.

(via the New York Times, Bloomberg)

Polish deputy prime minister and minister of culture Piotr Glinski signed the agreement last Thursday, ensuring that the renowned Czartoryski family collection will remain in the country indefinitely. The more than 300,000-piece collection is over two centuries old and ranges from historic documents that belonged to Polish royalty to 593 prized artworks by masters such as Rembrandt, Renoir, and Dürer. The da Vinci work alone is insured for €300 million when it travels, and the full collection is estimated to be worth some $2 billion. Cognizant that the purchase was “way below the market price,” Glinski described the transaction as more akin to a “donation.” The president of the Czartoryski Foundation said that by accepting the offer, he was “basically following in the footsteps of my ancestors, who always wanted to serve the Polish nation.” Despite the change in ownership, the objects will remain at the cultural institutions where they currently reside; most are at the National Museum in Krakow. The decision continues ongoing efforts by the right-wing Polish government, which took power in late 2015, to instill nationalism and pride in cultural heritage.

04 Tourism in Egypt has seen a steep decline following the 2011 revolution, making it increasingly difficult to fund preservation efforts for the country’s many iconic heritage sites.

(via artnet News)

Egypt is home to some of the world’s most stunning remnants of past civilizations, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, the last of the Seven Wonders of the World. Maintaining the country’s numerous monuments and antiquities requires approximately 38,000 employees; the cost to pay them all has become particularly daunting in the face of decreasing visitor numbers. Tourism dropped from 15 million people in 2010 to 6.3 million in 2015, resulting in a $182-million decrease in revenue from entrance tickets to historical sites. One Egyptologist and professor in Cairo described the situation as “catastrophic.” To mitigate the deficit, antiquities minister Khaled el-Enany has increased visitor hours for the Egyptian Museum and pushed to open additional sites to public access.

05 New legislation may reinstate museum loans between the U.S. and Russia, following a six-year hiatus.

(via The Art Newspaper)

The act, approved by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 16th, will give new protections to works of art loaned to the U.S. by foreign institutions. Russia ceased to loan art to the U.S. in 2011, after a federal judge ordered Russia to return a collection of books stolen by Bolsheviks to an Orthodox Jewish community in New York. Russia refused, and the dispute caused gridlock between the two powers as museums in both countries stopped exchanging loans. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, believes this new law allows the American government to provide a guarantee that all loaned works will be returned to the exhibition’s home country. However, the resumption of loans will depend on how the Russian government responds to the legislation. Piotrovsky’s comments come amid increased tension between the Russian government and the Obama administration following Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election—but also amid an anticipated thaw of U.S.-Russia relations under a Trump administration. The law was supported by the American Association of Art Museum Directors, though opponents (including Marc Masurovsky, co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project) claim that it will make it “virtually impossible” for oppressed communities whose belongings have been seized to seek return through the U.S. courts.

06 Police arrested eight artists in the midst of protesting heavy air pollution in Chengdu, China.

(via BBC News, Reuters)

In mid-December, as Sichuan Province faced severe levels of smog, a group of artists organized via WeChat to stage a silent protest by donning face masks and walking across the city. When they stopped to take a break, a group of more than 20 police officers confronted them; eight artists and one passerby were arrested after arguments broke out. One of the artists who was not arrested said, “Chengdu’s air pollution is really severe, I’ve been feeling unwell. [I thought] we want to take some action, we should stand up,” adding that the protestors had not broken any regulations. Due to the country’s reliance on coal heating, parts of China are often stifled by smog during the winter. The week following the arrests, art students in the city of Xi’an covered 800 lion statues with face masks in an unrelated demonstration; in late December, the Beijing artist Liu Bolin wore a vest covered with 24 smartphones to livestream the severe pollution in his city during a time that residents were advised to stay indoors.

07 France has placed an export ban on a €15 million Leonardo da Vinci drawing, granting the government 30 months to buy the work.

(via The Art Newspaper)

The work—a pen-and-ink study of Saint Sebastian tied to a tree, with optical studies sketched on the back—was discovered by Paris auction house Tajan and announced last month. Tajan has now requested an export certificate, according to Le Journal des Arts, which gives the French government 30 months to buy the work at its fair international market value. Should the government fail to purchase the work during that time, the temporary export ban will be lifted and the drawing can be sold elsewhere. In a statement, the ministry of culture noted that this “rare item… is precious testimony to the genius of Leonardo da Vinci; it is essential that it is kept [in France].” Experts note that this is the first undisputed da Vinci drawing discovered in over a decade. The last, a chalk-and-ink study of Hercules and whirlpools, surfaced in 2000 at Sotheby’s.

08 Online art marketplace Artspace has reportedly laid off nearly three-quarters of its staff.

(via ARTnews)

As ARTnews’s Nate Freeman reports, just five of the 19 staffers currently listed on the Artspace website will remain on board. Artspace’s editorial arm appears hardest hit by the layoffs, with editor-in-chief Andrew Goldstein confirmed among those leaving the company. (This comes one month after Artspace unveiled a new print magazine at NADA Miami Beach.) The staffers that will remain at the company are reportedly in the company’s sales and marketing departments. The startup has raised a combined $12.2 million in three rounds; Canaan Partners led its series B in February 2013, before the company was acquired in 2014 by Leon Black-owned publisher Phaidon. CEO Emmanuele Vinciguerra told ARTnews that the move is intended to further integrate Artspace’s offering into that of Phaidon, but will see Artspace retain a dedicated team. Layoffs at Artspace follow cuts at BLOUINARTINFO CORP (formerly Louise Blouin Media), where earlier this week Modern Painters editor-in-chief Scott Indrisek was let go amid renewed reports that the company is failing to pay contractors. Goldstein served as the executive editor of Blouin’s digital arm ARTINFO before leaving to join Artspace in 2012.

09 A UK council in dire financial straits may auction off a £19.5 million Francis Bacon painting to raise funds.

(via the Guardian)

Budget cuts forced the Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire to close two local museums in 2016, with a third set to shutter this year. Although the painting, Bacon’s Figure Study II (1945-46), is estimated to be worth £19.5 million, experts noted that it might fetch three times that amount at auction—a sum that could reportedly fund the borough’s cultural institutions for years to come. The work currently resides in the vaults of the Huddersfield Art Gallery, and council leaders say it is rarely exhibited due to prohibitive insurance costs. A sale could potentially be halted by the Contemporary Art Society, which donated the painting to the Bagshaw Museum in Batley over 60 years ago. A spokesperson from the Society noted that the painting was a “conditional gift,” accompanied by a contract that allegedly prevents it from being sold. Regardless, sales from public collections typically spark ire within the art world; critics claim that they break donors’ trust and disincentivize future gifts. In the past, these sales have been met with serious consequences: In 2014, the Northampton borough council sold a 4,500-year-old Egyptian statue for £15.8 million. Arts Council England responded by revoking the museum’s accreditation through 2019, making it ineligible for certain government arts funding.

10 The Amon Carter Museum of American Art received a $20 million endowment from the Walton Family Foundation, the largest gift in the institution’s history.

(via the Dallas Morning News)

Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, served on the board of trustees at Amon Carter from 2004 to 2015. Currently, she sits on the board of the Walton Family Foundation and chairs the board of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. The endowment was presented in honor of late arts patron Ruth Carter Stevenson, with whom Alice Walton developed “a very deep and abiding relationship…almost a kind of mentor-mentee circumstance,” according to Amon Carter executive director Andrew J. Walker. “This was an opportunity for Alice to really acknowledge Ruth and the museum and all that this great staff has done in order to elevate this institution to its world-class status.” The gift, which will be distributed over the course of five years, will go towards exhibitions and educational programming at the Fort Worth museum.

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