Displaying items by tag: Auction

The almighty dollar is the lingua franca of the international art market. But the dollar was also a favorite subject of Andy Warhol and other notable contemporary artists. An upcoming sale from a private collection will seek to wed art and commerce on the glittery altar of the greenback.

A collection of 21 pieces of contemporary art, all depicting the U.S. dollar in some way, is expected to fetch as much as $93 million when it heads to a Sotheby's auction in London on July 1.

The auction of American Art at Sotheby’s New York totaled 38.3 million, approaching its high estimate of $39.7 million and with a strong sell-through rate of 85.4% by lot. Nearly 60% of all sold lots in the sale exceeded their pre-sale high estimates.

Elizabeth Goldberg, Head of Sotheby’s American Art Department, commented: “Our sale today confirmed the vigor and interest in the American Art field that we have been experiencing in recent years. We strive to offer the highest-quality examples we can find, across a broad range of property and price points.

Christie’s Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art realized $202,608,000 (£128,721,728/ €178,022,150) with sell-through rates of 93% by lot and 99% by value. Bidders from 34 countries competed in the room and on the phone for works by Impressionist and Modern masters, including Piet Mondrian, Chaïm Soutine, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger. Bidding on Modern works was particularly active, a testament to the energy brought to the market by crossover collectors and the success of Christie’s curated week of sales spanning both Impressionist & Modern and Post-War and Contemporary categories.

Ketterer Kunst has announced a comprehensive Old Masters and 19th Century auction. The sale includes highlights from Italian Baroque and Flemish masters.

Bidders will undoubtedly get most excited about Il Guercino's seminal painting "David With Goliath's Head" (1650). Painted in the hallmark contrasting light and dark style of the baroque era, the artwork depicts David glancing towards the heavens, as if to ask for forgiveness for the brutal killing of Goliath.

Sotheby’s sold a yellow-and-blue Mark Rothko abstract from 1954 for $46.5 million on Tuesday. The following night, archrival Christie’s International hollered back by selling a rust-colored, rectangular version that Rothko painted four years later for $82 million.

Dealers said Christie’s Rothko, “No. 10,” was prized in part because its blurry brown and black hues famously matched the somber mood of the artist at that time in his career. It sold to a telephone bidder.

Sotheby’s Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva raised a total of CHF 149.85 million (US$ 160.91 million) well in excess of its pre-sale estimate of CHF 87 million with 94 percent of the lots sold.

The result was partly attributable to the setting of a new world record for a ruby, with the "Sunrise Ruby," a 25.59-carat Burmese stone set with diamonds by Cartier, which sold for CHF 28.3 million ($30.3 million), more than double of its CHF 11.7-17.5 million estimate. The price also established a new record both for any ruby per carat and for any stone by Cartier.

Some paintings act like object lessons in tracking the global migration of wealth, bouncing from one owner to the next in timely turns. Such was the case Tuesday when Sotheby’s sold a $46.5 million Mark Rothko abstract that previously belonged to U.S. banker Paul Mellon and later to French luxury executive François Pinault.

Rothko’s latest taker? An anonymous Asian collector who outbid two rivals to win the work.

On June 3, Piasa will offer for sale an important collection of works by Gustave Serrurier-Bovy (1858-1910) that will showcase the influence that his creations have had on 20th-century design.

Serrurier was one of Belgium's leading Art Nouveau designers, working as an architect, designer, and industrialist. His interest in industrial aesthetics make him an important precursor of the Modern Design movement. His most important historical pieces — some of which are for sale at the upcoming auction — are part of the MET collection in New York, in the Musée d’Orsay Art Deco section in Paris, and in the Brussel and Liège Museum in Belgium.

To a medley of whoops, hollers and gasps on Monday night, Pablo Picasso’s 1955 painting “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” sold for $179.4 million including fees at Christie’s “Looking Forward to the Past” sale of artworks spanning the 20th century. The price was the highest on record for a work of art sold at auction, the company said, and was well over its estimate of $140 million.

Once the bidding reached $120 million, the Picasso was pursued by five clients on telephones, often in agonizingly slow, $1 million increments, before finally being sold to a buyer represented by Brett Gorvy, Christie’s international head of contemporary art.

In an effort to maintain the financial future of Russborough, a historic Georgian house in Ireland, a selection of Old Master paintings from The Alfred Beit Foundation will be on offer at the Christie’s London Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale on July 9.

Nearly 300 years old, the heritage home requires constant restoration and upkeep entrusted to the Beit family, notable patrons of the arts. The proceeds of the sale will go to an endowment fund managed by the Beit’s that will ensure the future of Russborough.