Auction houses
Sotheby's goes private as it is sold for $3.7bn
French-Israeli media billionaire Patrick Drahi's company BidFair USA buys firm from shareholders
Swann Auction Galleries joins in Stonewall celebrations with its first Pride sale
Salesroom hopes that capitalising on the trend for curated auctions will help to generate a renaissance in an underserved market
Object lessons: from Salvador Dalí greetings cards to a long-hidden Kandinsky painting
Our pick of highlights for sale over the next fortnight
More grief for Aristophil investors as French government seizes hundreds of documents
Around 18,000 people invested in the now bankrupted company's manuscripts collection, but state says many items of historical importance should never have been sold
Sotheby’s to hold the first major Aboriginal art sale in the US in November
The auction house cites increasing interest in Aboriginal art among US collectors and institutions
Lost art: the great Caravaggio whodunnit
Ahead of the painting's sale, the art historian Noah Charney asks whether the pricey work is a true lost treasure or one of scores made by Caravaggisti
Sotheby’s reports loss of $7.1m in first quarter of 2019
Lack of supply dogs London and Hong Kong and guarantees are down over 50% as former chief operating officer Adam Chinn apparently joins the Mugrabi dealing family
VR market realities tested at Frieze New York
This edition of the fair has a special section of virtual reality and augmented reality works
Going, going, gone online: Europe's auction houses go digital
Online-only auctions may focus on the lower end of the market, but they are key to expanding clientele. We survey ten auction houses to find out their strategy
Gerhard Richter’s jet fighter painting finally takes off at Phillips after bumpy legal battle
After previous buyer defaulted on paying for the work in 2016, painting sold in London for £15.5m in a significantly smaller auction compared with 2018
Sotheby's puts female artists first in contemporary sale, but men still end up on top
Jenny Saville's Juncture sells for £5.4m and records set for Rebecca Warren and Nigerian artist Toyin Ojih Odutola, but Jean-Michel Basquiat still leads prices
Sotheby's sales up 16% in 2018 thanks to $1bn private sales boost
Auction house reports $6.4bn in total sales last year, while chief executive Tad Smith says guarantees are not "at a particularly high level"
The good, the pricey and the Surreal: Monet flops while Signac glows at Christie's sale
Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art auction makes second highest total for Christie's London at £165.4m, but much of overpriced collection goes unsold
Faking Hitler: the story behind a sinister market
Despite the failure of five of the dictator-to-be’s watercolours to sell at auction last month, a market for his works—both real and forged—remains
'Lifers no more: can auction houses keep their talent up?'
A slew of recent high-profile departures begs the question—are top auction house executives burning out?
Shifts among the major auction houses could spell serious change
Loic Gouzer to leave Christie’s as the auction house restructures in the wake of Francis Outred's departure, while Phillips upgrades its New York headquarters
We must not let the art market hoodwink us in the AI debate
The AI work that was sold at Christie's is profound in its conservatism, but others reflect how the technology can impact on art in fascinating ways
Object Lessons: London Old Master week
Tis the season for Old Masters: here are three works to seek out, from a mythological marriage portrait to Annibale Carracci's sketch on an old account book
Why the Christie's and Sotheby's duopoly is impregnable
The auction houses sell more than 80% of works priced over $1m at auction—can an underdog ever wrestle market share away from them?
Sotheby’s Germany chief Philipp von Württemberg resigns
Heinrich von Spreti will serve as interim managing director until a replacement is found
Phillips and Bonhams see strong sales on smaller lots
The auction houses' bottom lines suffered from unsold lots, continuing a trend of top-lot discernment during New York’s fall sales
Hockney sets new auction record for a living artist, but were strings pulled behind the no-reserve sale?
The Yorkshireman's 1970s Californian scene, Portrait of an Artist, sold on the nose at $80m at Christie's in New York last night
Common mistakes of rookie auction guarantors
Guarantees can be lucrative, but in the face of savvy competition, novices can get burnt when backing works as a third-party
Ambitious estimates hamper Christie's $279.2m Impressionist and Modern art sale as Van Gogh goes unsold but Monet is on the money
New York auction topped by Monet's Le bassin aux nymphaés, sold to an Asian buyer at $31.8m
Holy grail of folk ceramics made by 19th-century snake handler breaks auction record
The “snake jug” shattered the previous record for Anna Pottery, a niche favourite of Americana collectors
Villa Grisebach to sell founder’s collection to raise funds for new Museum of Exile
Two-day auction will include works by Picasso, Matisse, Egon Schiele, collected by Bernd Schultz over six decades
Christie's to offer major works from the Klapper collection that could fetch more than $50m
The 20-lot sale spans the auction house's New York and London locations and includes works ranging from Old Master paintings to a Monet
Eric Albada Jelgersma's Old Master collection estimated to make over £26m at Christie's
Pair of portraits by Frans Hals expected to lead two-day sale of collection of Dutch entrepreneur, who was advised by the dealer Robert Noortman
Stolen painting shown on BBC Antiques Roadshow in 1988 now held in limbo at Christie’s
Auction house sold the painting by Emma Sandys for £62,500 earlier this year, but now 19th century work is caught up in a legal battle
Abraaj Group liquidators to sell 200 works from art collection at Bonhams
Middle Eastern and South Asian works owned by embattled Dubai-based private equity firm carry much lower estimates than prices paid a decade ago