Art Nouveau trove to go under hammer at Hotel des Ventes auctioneers in Switzerland

GENEVA.- A decade after thieves stole a haul of Art Nouveau glassworks in a lightning raid on an exhibition, legitimate collectors will have a chance to bid for the remaining trove of the Swiss-based Neumann family. Due to go under the hammer on April 27 in the medieval castle of Gingins, a hillside village overlooking Lake Geneva, the 500 lots include other glassworks, furniture and paintings. According to Geneva’s Hotel des Ventes auctioneers, who are handling next week’s sale, the estimated [...]

Masterpiece found at Ritz sold to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for $1.4 million

PARIS (AFP).- A 400-year-old masterpiece that only came to light during a renovation at Paris’s Ritz hotel has been sold for 1.44 million euros ($1.88 million) to New York’s Metropolitan Museum, auction house Christie’s said on Thursday. The painting by 17th century artist Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) had adorned one of the suites in which fashion designer Coco Chanel lived for more than 30 years. Its presence came as news to hotel management when it was discovered in July 2012 by Christie’s [...]

Orientalist masters at Sotheby’s spring auction of 19th Century European Art in New York

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s spring auction of 19th Century European Art in New York on 9 May 2013 will feature an exceptional collection of Orientalist paintings. The group is highlighted by four major works by the master of the genre, Jean-Léon Gérôme, including Le Tigre et le Gardien (est. $300/400,000), as well as The Colossus of Memnon (est. $400/600,000). While he painted the Colossus a number of times and from different viewpoints throughout his career, this early work was devised on his [...]

Pop Tarts: Live sale of works by major Pop artists on artnet Auctions April 22 through 29, 2013

NEW YORK, NY.- artnet Auctions is pleased to announce Pop Tarts: Portraits of Women, a sale of artworks from the 1960s to the present that demonstrate the way Pop artists have reinvented female portraiture, often with an irreverent twist. The sale features over 50 works by leading Pop artists, including Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Tom Wesselmann (American, 1931–2004), Russell Young (British, b.1959), Allen Jones (British, b.1937), Richard Prince (American, b.1949), Mel Ramos (American, b.1935), and Julian Opie (British, b.1958). One of [...]

The decade that revolutionized Contemporary Art in focus at Bonhams New York

NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams May 14 Contemporary Art auction at the Madison Avenue salesroom will feature 136 works of art including excellent examples of Pop Art and other important movements from the 1960s. According to Jeremy Goldsmith, Bonhams New York Director of Contemporary Art, “Contemporary art as we understand it now was shaped by the innovations of the 1960s. The exceptional pieces we are offering on May 14 really embody the period’s influence.” The auction’s cover lot, Mel Ramos’ (b.1935) iconic 1962 [...]

Sotheby’s New York launches Sale of Arts of the American West on 22 May 2013

NEW YORK, NY.- On 22 May 2013 in New York Sotheby’s will hold the inaugural sale of Arts of the American West, celebrating the history and visual culture of the American West. The sale will showcase the best examples of American Indian artistic traditions as well as Western paintings and works on paper spanning 2000 years of these cultural and aesthetic traditions. Among the exciting discoveries in the sale is the The Bowstring Warrior Society Ledger – the earliest recorded piece of Native [...]

Bonhams New York examines the legacy of World War II in Impressionist & Modern art

NEW YORK, NY.- The auction of Impressionist & Modern Art to be held at the Bonhams Madison Avenue salesroom on May 7 includes works by several artists whose legacies are linked with the turbulence of WWII. From Germany, Austria, Italy and beyond, these artists’ lives mirror the confusion, violence and ultimate redemption experienced across the continent. German artist Emile Nolde, considered one of the greatest watercolorists of the last 100 years, was initially held in high esteem within Germany. However, the regime condemned [...]

Prints of darkness: Images of the London Underground in the spotlight at Bonhams

LONDON.- The strongest results from the £1.4 million Bonhams Prints sale yesterday (16th April) were images of the London Underground. There were two Prints of subterranean London by Cyril Edward Power of the Grosvenor school – Whence and Whither? which made £97,250 and Tube Station, which sold for £61,250. The Power print of a descending escalator at rush hour in Tottenham Court Road station sold for £97,250. It was estimated to sell for £30,000 to £50,000. The work had not come up at [...]

New auction record set for a work by contemporary realist painter Jenness Cortez

AVERILL PARK, NY.- According to the Perlmutter Gallery in Averill Park, New York, a new auction record was set for contemporary realist Jenness Cortez when her painting entitled “A Vision of Two Cultures” sold for $120,000 at the March 16, 2013 Russell Museum auction in Great Falls, Montana. Total sales for the annual Russell Museum fundraising event grossed a total of $3.6 million. “This record-setting price for a Cortez painting is a testament to this artist’s incredible talent,” said Leonard Perlmutter, founder of [...]

Christie’s Dubai auction total $6.4 million; Moshiri’s Secret Garden sells for almost 1 million

DUBAI.- Collectors from around the world brought their passion and energy to drive the sale total at Christie’s 14th consecutive sale season of Middle Eastern art, well above the high estimate. 103 works of art representing 13 different countries made a total of $6,384,750 across two evening sales held on April 16 and 17, 2013. This was against a pre-sale high estimate for the sales of $5.5 million, and the auctions averaged 93% sold by lot, a clear indication of the success of [...]

Saturday Evening Post cover brings $194,500, leading $2.8+ million Heritage Illustration Art event

BEVERLY HILLS, CA.- J.C. Leyendecker’s spectacular Honeymoon, The Saturday Evening Post cover, July 17, 1926, realized $194,500 to lead Heritage Auctions’ $2.8+ million Illustration Art Signature® Auction on April 11-12, a sale which saw tremendous prices realized across the board, especially where Pin-Up and Golden Age classic artworks were concerned. The piece came to auction from a consignor in New England whose mother was gifted the painting by the artist himself upon her own wedding, where Leyendecker also walked her down [...]

Christie’s to present masterworks of Impressionist & Modern art at Evening Sale on May 8

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art evening sale on May 8 in New York will offer a superb selection of paintings, sculptures and works on paper, representing the key artistic achievements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modern masterpieces lead the sale with Le petit pâtissier from Chaïm Soutine’s seminal series of chefs in classic whites and André Derain’s portrait of Madame Matisse au kimono created during the pivotal summer of 1905 in Collioure. The auction features classic [...]

Christie’s sale reveals the discerning eye of renowned psychologist Dr. Mona Ackerman

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announced the upcoming sale of Property from the Collection of Mona Ackerman, which will be featured in a series of sales commencing with the Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art on May 8. Dr. Mona Ackerman was a renowned psychologist, whose column in The Huffington Post earned her a devoted readership, and her remarkable collection speaks to the intelligence and insight she brought to her lifelong study of the human condition. It is an eclectic and far-reaching [...]

Saffronart announces sale of Indian Miniature Paintings, Antiquities and Period Jewelry

MUMBAI.- As the demand for classical Indian art and jewelry continues to grow, Saffronart announces ‘Treasures from the Past’, a month of events focusing on Indian miniature paintings, antiquities and period jewelry. Throughout April, India’s leading auction house will showcase a significant selection of art and objects dating back several centuries, as part of exhibitions and an auction at its locations in Mumbai, New Delhi and London. Exhibition of Indian Period Jewelry New Delhi Saffronart hosts Indian Period Jewelry showcasing approximately 30 pieces [...]

Andy Warhol @ Christie’s: Studio 54 online-only sale celebrates Andy’s legacy at the nightclub

NEW YORK, NY.- Following the success of the first online only sale of Andy Warhol @ Christie’s which doubled its pre-sale estimate at $2.3m, Christie’s is pleased to announce details about the second online-only sale. For one week, from Friday, April 26 through Friday, May 3, collectors around the world will have the opportunity to log in and bid online for more than 215 paintings, drawings, photographs and prints by Pop Art’s superstar, Andy Warhol. This sale will feature works dedicated to Andy’s [...]