Paris to Be Sotheby’s European Centre for Decorative Art and Photographs Sales

PARIS.- Sotheby’s announced that Paris will become the company’s European centre for sales of 20th Century Decorative Art & Design and Photographs. Biannual sales in each category will be held at the Galerie Charpentier in May and November. From 2011, 20th Century Decorative Art & Design sales will be held exclusively in Paris. Cécile Verdier, European director of the 20th Century Decorative Art & Design department, will head sales and manage a European team of specialists. Hajek-Halke, Die Prinzessin der [...]

Sotheby’s to Auction 106 Monumental Early Works by Contemporary Chinese Artists

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong announces the sale of an important private collection of contemporary Chinese Art on 3 April: The Ullens Collection – The Nascence of Avant Garde China, offering 106 masterpieces from the legendary Collection, which are expected to bring a total of HK$100 million to HK$130 million / US$12.7 million to 16.7 million. One of the most important and comprehensive assemblages of contemporary Chinese art created to date, this encyclopaedic Collection signifies not only the birth and [...]

Paul Gauguin’s “Nature Morte a ‘L’Esperance,” Fails to Sell at Christie’s Auction in London

LONDON (REUTERS).- A painting by Paul Gauguin, billed as the top lot at Christie’s auction of modern and impressionist works in London, failed to find a buyer on Wednesday. The tribute to the artist’s friend Vincent Van Gogh, in the form of a still life with sunflowers called “Nature morte a ‘L’Esperance,” had been expected to fetch up to 10 million pounds ($16 million). A Christie’s employee poses with Paul Gauguin’s “Nature morte a ‘L’esperence’” at Christie’s auction house in London [...]

Picasso’s La Lecture Sells at Sotheby’s for £25.2 Million in Sale Totalling £68.8 Million

LONDON.- Tonight, Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Evening sale was led by Pablo Picasso’s iconic 1932 painting of Marie-Thérèse Walter, La Lecture, which sold to a round of applause for £25,241,250 /$40,711,612 / €29,744,296, more than double the low estimate (est. £12 – 18 million/$18.5-27.8 million). Following a heated bidding contest that lasted six minutes among at least seven bidders, both on the phone and in the saleroom, the work finally sold to an anonymous buyer bidding over the telephone. Achieving [...]

Stephenson’s Ushers in a New Year with an SRO $300,000 Auction of Estate Art and Antiques

SOUTHAMPTON, PA.- It was standing room only for both days of Stephenson’s Auctioneers’ first antiques and fine art sale of the year, held Jan. 1 and 2 at the company’s suburban Philadelphia gallery. Bidding was consistently strong throughout both sessions, which included decorative art and “smalls” on day one, and furniture and paintings on day two. The 714-lot auction cashed out with a robust total of just under $300,000. All prices quoted in this report include a 15% buyer’s premium. Two [...]

Gauguin Masterpiece Leads Christie’s Auction of Impressionist and Modern Art in London

LONDON.- The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Auction and the sale of The Art of the Surreal will take place on 9 February 2011 at 7pm with a pre-sale estimate of £73,880,000 to £109,060,000 (corresponding estimate in 2010: £56.5 million to £80.8 million). This is the second highest pre-sale estimate for the February Impressionist sales at Christie’s in London. The leading highlight of the sales is Nature morte à “L’Espérance”, an historically important still life painted by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) [...]

Magic Orientalist Pictures & Islamic Art Announced at Sotheby’s in Paris

PARIS.- Sotheby’s next sale of Orientalist art in Paris, on March 30, will include a selection of works by artists who lived in Morocco. Several landscapes and scenes from Moroccan daily life by Jacques Majorelle reflect his close links to the country where he settled in 1917. He drew inspiration from the city of Marrakesh and its environs, expressing all the chromatic variety of Moroccan culture in his Borjs Verts (estimate €90,000-120,000) and Souk à Marrakech (est. €40,000-60,000). Giuseppe Signorini’s [...]

Bonhams Launch Modern and Contemporary Israeli Art Sale in London in May

LONDON.- Bonhams will hold their inaugural sale of modern and contemporary Israeli Art and Judaica in their New Bond Street saleroom on May 24, the only auction of its kind in the UK. Giles Peppiatt, Head of Israeli Art at Bonhams, comments: “The market for modern and contemporary Israeli & Judaica Art has shown exceptional growth and strength in recent years. The sale will provide an impressive showcase of works of the highest quality. Interest from both private collectors and [...]

Thorburn Partridges Soar to £192,000 at Bonhams 19th Century Paintings Sale

LONDON.- An Archibald Thorburn painting of The Covey at Daybreak – Partridges made £192,000 (27.1.11) at Bonhamsauction of 19th Century Paintings – the third highest price ever paid for a Thorburn at auction. The painting was an exceptionally stunning and unusually large work for the Scottish artist, who had a life-long love of birds and was admired for his skill at producing accurate renderings of British wildlife. He gained a strong reputation among the great sportsmen of the day, including the [...]

Auctioned the collection of Pinto Coelho, the first great decorator of Spain

An extraordinary collection of more than 800 lots, from both the house in Madrid and the Palace of Trujillo’s legendary interior designer Duarte Pinto Coelho will be auctioned at Christie’s London on 20 and 21 July. Madrid- Portuguese by birth, particularly in Cascais, Pinto Coelho spent much of his youth in Paris, where he became friends with figures such as Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Wallis Simpson and Salvador Dali. After moving to Spain in the 50′s, chose Madrid as his [...]

The “Sacra Conversazione” of Tiziano, auctioned for U.S. $ 17 million

New York (US) – Selling Antique Painting held in the auction room of Sotheby’s in New York set new record prices for 16 artists, including Tiziano, whose work Sacred Conversation: the Madonna and Child with St. Luke and St. Catherine of Alexandria was sold by $ 16.9 million to a European private collector and broke the record for the artist established 20 years ago. Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian, A Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine [...]

Rembrandt Portrait, Which Sold at Christie’s in 2009, to Be Offered for $47 Million

LONDON (REUTERS).- A Rembrandt portrait, one of the last works from the Dutch master’s late career still in private hands, will be offered for sale at the TEFAF Maastricht art fair later this year for $47 million. “Portrait of a Man With Arms Akimbo” was under the auctioneer’s hammer as recently as 2009, when it fetched an artist record price of 20.2 million pounds, or $33 million, at Christie’s in London. The buyer at the time was reported to be [...]

Auction Record Set for Titian at Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Sale in New York

NEW YORK, NY.- Today at Sotheby’s sale of Important Old Master Paintings in New York, a new auction record was established for the Renaissance master Titian when his A Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria sold for $16,882,500 to a European Private Collector. That price exceeded the previous record of $13.6 million, which had held for 20 years. A Sacra Conversazione is one of only a handful of multi-figured compositions by Titian that remain [...]

Christie’s 2010 Global Art Sales Total $5.0 Billion, Highest Sales Total in History

LONDON.- Christie’s International, the world’s leading art business, today announced worldwide sales for 2010 of £3.3 billion/$5.0 billion, up 53% by £ on last year’s figure of £2.1 billion (Figures include buyer’s premium). The highest sales total in the 245 year history of the firm, the figure is also the highest annual sales total ever recorded in the industry. Sales totals include private sales of £369.3 million/$572.4 million, an increase of 39% by £ on 2009 figures. In a year [...]

Christie’s Two-Part Sale of Old Master & 19th Century Art Totals a Combined $36,671,625

NEW YORK (REUTERS).- An iconic 19th-Century painting depicting an Ottoman Empire reserve soldier and his hunting dogs sold for $1.65 million on Wednesday at Christie’s Old Master and 19th-Century paintings auction. “Master of the Hounds,” by Jean Leon Gerome, had generated significant buzz during exhibitions due to the reviving popularity of Orientalist art, Christie’s said. It had been estimated to sell for between $700,000 and $1 million. Several bidders competed for the diminutive work, which measures only 13 inches by [...]