Sotheby's

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Audubon's Bird Bible Is World's Most Expensive Book

His 'Birds of America' sells for $10.3 million

(Newser) - John James Audubon's Birds of America—a rare blend of art, natural history, and craftsmanship—fetched more than $10 million at auction today, making it the world's most expensive published book. With its 435 hand-colored illustrations of birds drawn to size, the volume is one of the best preserved editions...

Rare Pink Diamond Fetches Record $46M

London dealer snaps up most expensive stone ever sold at auction

(Newser) - An extremely rare pink diamond has cut its way through world records at a Sotheby's auction. The 24.78 carat stone, graded "fancy intense pink," was sold to London jeweler Laurence Graff for $46,158,674, almost double the highest price ever previously paid for a gemstone at...

Up for Auction: Rare Copy of Emancipation Proclamation

Signed by Abraham Lincoln, formerly owned by RFK

(Newser) - A hand-signed copy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation owned by Robert F. Kennedy is to be auctioned Dec. 10 at Sotheby's. It is believed to be one of about 24 surviving copies that were signed by President Lincoln himself. The 1863 document that declared all slaves "forever free" was bought...

Lehman Bros. Paintings Fetch $12.3M for Creditors

Sotheby's auctions art from collapsed banking giant

(Newser) - They're going to need a lot more paintings: Lehman Bros. raised $12.3 million tonight at Sotheby's by selling off artwork it picked up during its golden run on Wall Street, reports BBC . It's good news for Lehman's many creditors, but not great news considering the collapsed investment bank owes...

140 'Lost' Masterworks to Hit Sotheby's Auction

Paris art dealer's collection hidden since 1939

(Newser) - A stash of 20th-century artworks hidden for generations because of war and legal wrangling is finally seeing the light of day. The 140 artworks, including works by Picasso, Derain, and Renoir, had been placed in a Paris bank vault by influential art dealer Ambroise Vollard's assistant after Vollard's death in...

Giacometti Sculpture Sells for Record $104.3M

'Walking Man I' squeaks by Picasso's record price

(Newser) - Alberto Giacometti's "Walking Man I" sculpture has sold at Sotheby's for $104.3 million, breaking the record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The previous record-holder was Picasso's "Boy With a Pipe," which sold for $104.2 million 6 years ago, the Wall Street ...

Letters Reveal Byron's Feud With 'Turdsworth'

Unpublished correspondence up for sale

(Newser) - A collection of letters written by Lord Byron to a clergyman, some of them unpublished, sheds new light on the Romantic poet—who discloses his sexual escapades with servants and angry opinions of fellow writers. Several letters refer to a serving girl whom he took as his mistress; he dumped...

London Art Market Feels a Chill

Lack of once-plentiful foreign cash hurts auctioneers

(Newser) - London became the hottest art market in the world last year, eclipsing New York, but the recession is putting the squeeze on auction houses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Last year’s influx of foreign money has dried up, and sellers are keeping a firm hold on their  most desirable...

Blue Diamond Sells for Record $8.4M

Industry hopes sale will stimulate trade slump

(Newser) - As the diamond market tumbles, at least it seems a blue one is forever, reports GlobalPost. A 7.03-carat rock unearthed in South Africa last year sold for more than $8.4 million at a Geneva auction today—setting a world record in price per karat for a gem of...

Sotheby's Sale Busts, Picasso Goes Unsold

$61.3M result fails to reach low estimate

(Newser) - The art market failed to recover from its recent slump last night, as Sotheby's held a disappointing New York sale that saw works by Picasso and Giacometti go unsold. The small auction of 36 lots brought in just $61.3 million—well below the low estimate of $81.5 million....

Strapped Art Market Preps for Auctions

Expectations low as auction houses try variety of tactics

(Newser) - After a 7-year boom, art auction houses are struggling as collectors hit hard by the recession close their wallets. Sotheby’s predicts it will pull in $179 million to $256 million at spring sales, compared to $742 million a year ago. As the spring events approach, auctioneers are employing an...

Christie's Cuts Jobs as Art Sales Slump

250-year-old auction house downsizes to stay afloat

(Newser) - Following months of bad results in America and Europe, Christie's is reorganizing to cut costs, including "significant staff reductions," the auction house said yesterday. While at the start of 2008 the art world seemed immune to the economic downturn, the decade-long boom in art prices busted this fall....

Hirst Is Art World's Lehman
 Hirst Is Art World's Lehman 
OPINION
Dec 22, 2008 12:21 PM CST

Hirst Is Art World's Lehman

September mega-sale coincided with investment bank's collapse

(Newser) - With the collapse of Lehman Brothers having opened an “anxious new era” in financial circles and among consumers at large, the auction that brought artist Damien Hirst $166 million on Sept. 15—the very day Lehman went bust—clearly marks the division, Martin Gayford writes for Bloomberg. By year’...

Auction Houses Counting on Russians

Buyers prop up industry staggering from economic crunch

(Newser) - With dwindling sales and empty showrooms, art auction houses are increasingly relying on what they have dubbed RR: rich Russians. Houses are hoping the record price drawn by a Kasimir Malevich painting earlier this month is proof that the Russian market will escape the downturn that's affecting other sectors. Of...

Contemporary Art Goes Bust at Dismal Auction

Lot after lot goes unsold at New York auction

(Newser) - Collectors from Steve Martin to Valentino packed the Sotheby's saleroom in New York last night, but its contemporary art auction barely pulled in $125 million—far below the low estimate of $202 million. For those who could afford it, works were going at bargain-basement prices. "It was a half-price...

Art Market Stalls at Grim Fall Sale

Malevich sets record, but Sotheby's has a slow night in New York

(Newser) - In New York last night Sotheby's held a lackluster auction that portended a grim year ahead for the once buoyant art market. Of 70 lots at the sale of impressionist and modern art, fully 25 found no buyers. There was one bit of good news for the market: a...

Sotheby's Pulls $30M Picasso on Market Jitters

Top lot in Nov. auction withdrawn as seller panics

(Newser) - A painting from Picasso's Cubist period that was one of the highlights of the fall auction season has been pulled "for private reasons," Sotheby's New York office said yesterday. The withdrawal of Arlequin, a 1909 work which was estimated at more than $30 million, had been rumored for...

Painting Price Spells Gloom for Economy

Portrait of Bacon auctions for only $9.4M at Christie's

(Newser) - A Lucian Freud painting expected to sell for more than $12 million at Christie’s today went for only $9.4 million, a sign that even super-rich buyers of contemporary art are cutting back in the financial crisis, the Daily Telegraph reports. The art world anxiously awaited the sale of...

As Stocks Slide, Hirst Auction Breaks Records

Unprecedented one-man auction exceeds high estimate

(Newser) - Damien Hirst won the biggest gamble of his career at Sotheby's last night—as lot after lot of the artist's work beat high estimates, totaling $127.2 million in sales. While the markets tumbled in New York, bidders in the London saleroom bought up dozens of brand-new Hirsts, from taxidermied...

Masters Shore Up Shaky Art Market

Auctions break records, but living artists' work suffers

(Newser) - The art market has again defied the economic downturn, with Christie's and Sotheby's bringing in more than $1 billion combined during the past two weeks' London sales—a 19% rise from last year. But those numbers disguise the erratic nature of the market, writes the Wall Street Journal. While new...

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