19 July 2012
In the first half of 2012 leading auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s show conflicting views on the state of the market. Despite the record-breaking sale of Munch’s “The Scream” Sotheby’s is posting a 15.8% decrease in sales from the similar period last year. Christie’s, however, is boasting an 11.2% increase. For Christie’s, this first-half has […]
1 July 2012
As the Summer auction and fair season winds up and galleries mount their group shows, a mainstay of the art calendar Jack Castle takes a look at the staggering results from three of the major sales rooms. The very special place in art history and unique nature of works such as the Francis Bacon, Study […]
24 May 2012
Art from the estate of Gunter Sachs, the German billionaire former husband of Brigitte Bardot, has been sold for £35.6m at auction in London. The top lot was an Andy Warhol self-portraits, which sold for £5.4m and record breakers included a table by the British ‘Pop Artist’ Allen Jones which sold for nearly £1m ($1,533,943). […]
23 May 2012
If the world did not have problems enough speculating about future failures of single currencies and the threat of climate changes. The US and Europe are now competing with a very serious and rapidly growing Asian art market. China is the elephant in the room of many discussions concerning politics, economics, and the environment, yet […]
20 May 2012
A painting using the blood of Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty as a medium has sold for £35,000. The collaboration titled Ladylike was one of around 20 “blood” paintings on show representing Doherty’s work at the Cob Gallery in London. The portrait of Winehouse was estimated to sell for between £50,000 and £80,000 when auctioned […]
13 May 2012
Thursday’s Contemporary Art Auction at Phillips de Pury NYC totalled at $88.9 million, sitting squarely in the middle of its pre-sale estimates of $75.9 million to $110.7 million. Of the 44 works on offer, 35 found buyers, with the star lot of the night being a 1981 painting by Basquiat being sold by US collector […]
12 May 2012
How much would you pay for a Damien Hirst skull? Not as much as you might think, as it turns out – if you are happy to fork out for a loose doodle on the back if a poster, that is! The doodle, having been given to a friend in Mexico, has somehow found its […]
9 May 2012
Before last night the price of $86.3 million, paid for Francis Bacon’s ‘Triptych’, 1976, in 2008 was the most expensive post-war artwork ever sold at auction. But now Mark Rothko’s Orange, red, yellow has been sold for $86.9 million (£53.8m). Wow. The painting was executed in 1961, and was sold at Christie’s in New York. […]
2 May 2012
Edvard Munch, the celebrated Norwegian Post-Impressionist, painted four versions of his now iconic ‘The Scream.’ This evening one will be auctioned by Sotheby’s and is expected to become one of the most expensive pieces of art sold at auction. Since being painted in 1895, ‘The Scream’ has had an interesting history. Three of the four […]
2 May 2012
Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” is aiming to be the biggest seller in New York during May’s upcoming auctions. Private collectors as well as the big auction houses including Christie’s and Sotheby’s will be contributing a variety of pieces, some reaching well above $10 million. Other artist’s to feature in this momentous month are Picasso, Francis […]
29 April 2012
Bonham’s Offers Complete Bert Stren Set Of Monroe Prints – Bert Stern may not have been the first photographer to capture Marilyn Monroe, but he was definitely the last to secure a professional session with the screen icon. In July 1962, the young Bert Stern was given access to three sittings in order to capture […]
26 April 2012
Russian oilman and art collector Viktor Vekselberg is demanding a £1.7 million refund from auction house Christies. Vekselberg – worth over £7billion and the 64th richest person in the world – believes that he was sold a fake painting and is taking the case to the High Court. The painting in question is entitled as […]
16 April 2012
As Cezanne’s ‘Boy in a Red Waistcoat’ turns up in Serbia, we wonder about the fate of other stolen works of art The Art Loss Register – the international index of stolen works – has 350,000 stolen artworks on file. But where are they? Traded on the black market and hanging in private homes? […]
13 April 2012
iconic masterpiece on display for one week at auction house The last privately owned rendition of Edvard Munch’s The Scream has gone on view in London at Sotheby’s for one week. It will go under the hammer in New York, on 2 May 2012 and is expected to fetch $80m or more. This could be […]
24 March 2012
Update – Savills Auction which took place on 27 March has finished and the property has been sold for £565,000. Ever dream of owning something by the painter Vincent van Gogh? His paintings sell for millions and that would be the price for a minor one. These days the purchase of a major work by […]
20 March 2012
China is now the world’s biggest market for art and antiques, ending the USA’s decades of domination Hailed by the finders, as ‘perhaps one of the most fundamental and important changes in the last 50 years’, this historic moment – indicating the wider general movements in the global economy as a whole – has been […]
17 March 2012
Britain benefits from ‘Museum Where Everything Is For Sale’ fair TEFAF Maastricht, has opened to the public and by all accounts it is off to a good start. Often described as a “museum where everything is for sale”, the event welcomed 10,000 visitors at the preview yesterday.The fair was designed by Tom Postma, this year, […]
6 March 2012
17 Banksy Artworks Go Under The Hammer In London On 29th March Bonhams annual Urban Art Auction is set to bring in thousands of pounds, in ‘Artist Resale Rights’ for the British born international graffiti artist Banksy.The market for his work is buoyant and the sale includes no fewer than 17 works by the elusive […]
3 March 2012
As the world awaits Edvard Munch’s Original to be sold in New York in May Sotheby’s London, biannual sale of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints held on Thursday, 29 March 2012, is highlighting Andy Warhol’s rare version of “The Scream (After Munch). The print is illustrated on the cover of the sale showing just […]
16 February 2012
Francis Bacon’s 1963 Portrait of Henrietta Moraes sold for nearly £20 million, while newly discovered Freud drawing doubles pre-sale estimate at a Christie’s sale of post-war and contemporary art The painting was described in the catalogue as ‘the most seductive painting of a female figure ever realised by Francis Bacon’. Strangely, Christie’s had declined to […]
11 February 2012
Most expensive British bronze sells for £19.1 million At Christie’s Christies has broken the auction record for the most expensive work of British sculpture sold. The work of art, by Modernist Henry Moore depicts a reclining female figure resting on her elbow. The abstract bronze,titled Reclining Figure was created for the Festival of Britain in […]
10 February 2012
Three paintings from the Hollywood star Liz Taylor’s collection have sold for nearly £14million at auction. The three works, by some of the biggest names in art history – Van Gogh, Edgar Degas and Claude Pissarro – fetched an incredible £13,787,750 at a Christie’s sale – smashing the paltry pre-sale estimate of £6.2million. Unsurprising, the […]
6 February 2012
Christie’s and Sotheby’s report booming business thanks to patronage of the super rich, with Ten Richest Clients Responsible For 10% Of Art Auction Revenue It may appear bizarre that, in the midst of such turbulent economic times, business at auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s is booming. Christie’s, for instance, has announced sales of £3.6bn – […]
5 February 2012
Qatar Royal Family pay £158m for The Card Players The nation of Qatar which is better known for its oil than its European art collection has purchased a painting by the post Impressionist, Paul Cézanne for what is thought to be the highest price ever paid for a work of art. The Card Players was […]
2 February 2012
Managing Director Allison Earl Woessner Locks the door on Kensington online auctioneers Auction Atrium the online auction house in Kensington Church street founded by American entrepreneur, Allison Earl Woessner, appears to have gone bust. A notice appeared in the window today (2 February) stating the company had ‘Ceased Trading With Immediate Effect’. What this will […]
1 February 2012
Artist’s resale royalty charge as yet fails to dent auction house prospects In the face of the January enactment of the artist’s resale royalty charge, London’s auction houses have lined up a killer set of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales that could total an incredible £562 million. If achieved, this would be one of […]
27 January 2012
Picasso Matisse and Klee works Defrauded By Cook Fine Art In New York A Madison Avenue art dealer has been charged with defrauding a client of $4 million. It appears that Robert Scott Cook sold works by Picasso, Manet, Matisse, Renoir and others, keeping the money himself. Federal prosecutors said. Robert Scott Cook used his […]
25 January 2012
February Contemporary Art Sale will include works by Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Takashi Murakami, Alighiero Boetti, Alberto Burri, and Leon Kossoff With 2011 being Sotheby’s 3rd most successful year of all time for Contemporary Art, – totalling at an incredible $1.17 billion – the auction house is […]
25 January 2012
Portrait Realises £1.4 GBP at Christies Auction on 25 January A portrait from the 17th century which once graced the home of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor and authenticated as a genuine Frans Hals, goes under the hammer at Christie’s New York,today. “Portrait of a Man,” painted in the early 1630s is offered in their sale […]
24 January 2012
The Art Collection Fund seduces new investors with promise of 12% return from $80,000,000 investment in art Investors are to be invited to invest in a European investment group with plans to purchase $80 million worth of modern and contemporary art for a predicted annual return of 12 % over four years. ‘The [Art Collection] […]
14 January 2012
Jail for art dealer in fraudulent Hirst print scam Richard Silver, a part time New York art dealer, who purchased $40,000 worth of fake Damien Hirst prints in 2006 from an ebay seller, in Irvine, Calif, has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for falsifying records and appraisals for a series of fake Damien […]