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"The Seraphs Watch" by Madox Brown, 1847

The public has not seen “The Seraph’s Watch” for more than a century and many thought that the painting was lost forever. But the 1847 artwork by pre-Raphaelite British painter Ford Madox Brown reappeared in Britain two years ago. It will be exhibited in northern England next month at the Manchester Art Gallery.

The oil painting depicts two angels serenely gazing at a crown of thorns. The artwork was last seen by the public in London in 1896. The painting was rediscovered by Julian Treuherz, a curator at Manchester Art Gallery, in a private collection.

Treuherz said “When I saw the painting I knew instantly what it was. It had been regarded as lost but we all knew what it looked like from the copy made by Madox Brown’s pupil, Dante Gabriel Rossetti.” The painting was in excellent condition and looked quite fresh. The artwork did not sustain any damage, added Treuherz, an expert in Victorian art.

"Work" by Ford Madox Brown, 1852-65

A copy of “The Seraph’s Watch” made by Madox Brown’s pupil, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, sold for 100,000 pounds at a 2006 auction. Rossetti took art lessons with Madox Brown, and his first task was to copy “The Seraph’s Watch.”

The exhibit in September will be the first major show of Madox Brown’s wall art in almost 50 years. The exhibit will display over 140 public and private wall art collections including Madox Brown’s “Work” and “The Last of England.”

"The Judgment" by Rembrandt van Rijn

A wall art sketched by Rembrandt was stolen from a hotel in Southern California on Saturday. Police described it as a well-planned heist of the $250,000 pen and ink drawing entitled “The Judgement”

The drawing was stolen from the upscale Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey, announced L.A. country sheriff Steve Whitmore on Sunday. The investigators think the theft occurred at around 10:20 p.m, during the 15 minutes that the curator was distracted.

The curator turned away to attend to something and turned back after 15 minutes to discover the 17th century drawing by Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn gone.

Police investigators are studying video surveillance recordings from the hotel and are asking people present at the time of the theft if they had noticed anything or anyone suspicious.

Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Marina del Rey, Southern California

“The Ritz-Carlton has some of the best hotel security in the nation,” Whitmore said. “We’re confident that our leads, and the surveillance video will help us solve this.”

The stolen wall art was part of an exhibit at the hotel sponsored by San Francisco’s Linearis Institute.The wall art measures only 11 x 6 inches.

Paintings, sculptures and other kinds of art that used to belong to Tony Curtis are going to be sold by Julien’s Auctions. Darren Julien, president of the L.A. based auction house says, original artworks by Curtis, Andy Warhol, Henry Miller and Pablo Picasso will be auctioned off at the property of the late actor on September 17, 2011.

Some items that will be auctioned off including the sailor jacket Curtis used in a kissing scene with Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot"

Curtis’ own canvas wall art and ceramics will be included in the auction. Pottery and prints by Picasso in Curtis’ collected are expected to raise over $3,000. Memorabilia from Curtis’ movies including the sailor jacket he wore in a kissing scene with Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like It Hot” will also be sold. Curtis was born in the Bronx in 1925, the son of Hungarian Jews who had emigrated to the United States after World War I. Curtis was an Oscar nominee for “The Defiant Ones.” An art lover and painter himself, Curtis died in 2010 at age 85.

The items will be on view at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., beginning Sept. 6.

Sotheby's picketing workers holding placards that say "Stop the War on Workers"

Art handlers and their fellow Teamsters formed a picket outside Sotheby’s on Tuesday after the auction house locked them out. Sotheby’s unionized employees and management are embroiled in disputes regarding a contract dispute.

The contract for 48 art handlers and members of Teamsters Local 814 expired in July. On Friday, Sotheby’s management informed them that they could not return to work at the Manhattan headquarters. Temporary workers have replaced their positions.

Sotheby’s is scheduled for a critical fall sale a month after the lock out which is expected to bring in millions of dollars. The auction house said that they have negotiated in good faith since May and offered the employees a contract with attractive terms. The new contract was rejected by the union.

Sotheby’s spokeswoman, Lauren Gioia said “We will continue to bargain in good faith in the hopes that a new agreement can be reached as soon as possible.” Gioia added, “The lockout of our property nadlers is an outcome that none of use welcome.”

Gioia said that the union’s repeated threats of a strike during negotiations when the fall season is approaching caused Sotheby’s to make alternative arrangements with temporary workers to secure the fall auction. Talks are set to resume next week.

Jason Ide, the union president, said that Sotheby’s had raised a significant amount of money from recent sales and had no reason to seek concessions to their demands. A union statement indicated that the auction house wanted to replace unionized workers with non-union employees.

Ide said that temporary workers have an inferior level of training and service and putting millions of dollars worth of wall art and artifacts in their hands was not a good idea. There are certain techniques involved in handling valuable artwork.

The picketing workers will be joined at the picket line by Teamster Joint Council 16, which represents 33 locals in New York consisting of about 120,000 workers. Picketing workers were seen over the weekend holding signs that read “Stop the War on Workers.”

Virgin of the Rocks

This winter’s Leonardo da Vinci exhibit will be shown only 3 months but took years to prepare. The National Gallery in London has announced a da Vinci exhibit on cooperation with the Department of Paintings of the Louvre.

The French have agreed to lend their version of da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks” for a historic exhibit of the great artist’s works. The English will return the favor by lending Da Vinci’s Drawing of “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist” to the French.

It may sound like a simple swap of wall art but these kinds of arrangements and exhibits take years of planning a lot of diplomacy.  The show featuring Leonardo da Vinci’s wall art will open at Trafalgar Square in November.