By any measure, they deserve to be called the Fabulous Cone Sisters. The two adventurous, visionary art collectors from Baltimore, Md., assembled with an open purse and remarkable perspicacity one of the great troves of Modern art †and then donated it to the Baltimore Museum of Art. The Cone Collection is today the crowning treasure of one of America⁳ finest art museums. A traveling exhibition, ⁃ollecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore,†is on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, through September 30. Organized by Jewish Museum associate curator Karen Levitov, who authored the accompanying catalog, the exhibition comprises a selection of some 50 paintings, works on paper and sculpture by such Modern masters as Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Gauguin, Renoir and van Gogh. They are stars among the 3,000 objects collected over a half century by Dr Claribel and Miss Etta Cone and bequeathed to the Baltimore Museum in 1950.

⁏ur show did well, attendance was up from last year, and we received the usual reports from the dealers with some of them doing very well, while others had bad days,†John Bartlett of Old Farm Antiques and one of Antiques in the Valley⁳ show managers said.

Woodbury Auction offered more than 500 lots of fine and decorative art and American and Continental furniture from seven estates on June 17. The event was the firm⁳ third anniversary spring fine estates auction, and it was led by a couple of Alexander Calder jewelry pieces with local provenance and a group of Royere lighting.

On June 19 at Sotheby⁳ Impressionist and Modern art evening sale, a new benchmark was set when Joan Miró⁳ 1927 modern masterpiece ⁐einture (Étoile Bleue)†sold for $36,946,396, shattering the previous record for the artist at auction and representing the highest price for a work of art sold in London thus far this year.

Provincetown Art Association and Museum will present an exhibition of work by Robert Motherwell July 20-September 30. ⁒obert Motherwell: Beside the Sea,†curated by Lise Motherwell and Dan Ranalli, will present rare work created by the artist in his Provincetown studio during the summer of 1942.

Ronald Bourgeault accepted Old Sturbridge Village⁳ President⁳ Award at a reception in his honor at Boston⁳ Union Club on June 21. The Portsmouth, N.H., auctioneer was honored by his colleagues for his contributions to the public appreciation of New England life and history.

A resident recently reported the theft of hundreds of items from her home, mostly vintage jewelry, the bulk of which was contained in four Sentry locked safes that the thieves took outright. There were more than 400 items stored in the safes, including a fishing tackle box of more than 200 earrings that had either been gifted or purchased over 30 years.

A new world record for a Navajo textile was set June 19 when the ⁃hantland Blanket,†a first-phase chief⁳ wearing blanket, realized $1.8 million at John Moran Auctioneers antiques auction.

The sixth annual June Festival of Antiques hosted by Mullica Hill⁳ own Yellow Garage Antiques proved to be another success. Fine weather, large crowds and strong buying were the order of the day for the popular southern New Jersey event.

Each time Marvin Getman runs a show, he gives careful consideration to improving the event for the next time. This year at the Elm Bank Antiques Show, he added walls to seven booths, which delineated the edges and provided additional display space.