Auctions

Brazilnews

Court-ordered auction of works from disgraced Brazilian banker's collection prompts new controversy

The Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of São Paulo claims it is owed $3.6m for conserving and storing around 1,600 works repossessed from bankrupt Banco Santos president Edemar Cid Ferreira

Cranach, Courbet and Corot: a closer look at what the Brooklyn Museum is selling off

The institution is deaccessioning its only Cranach and 11 other works to finance care of its collection

Shipwrecked, disinherited, imprisoned, accused of being a Gunpowder Plotter: Tudor adventurer’s portrait hits the block

Portrait thought to be of Thomas Arundell is to be auctioned at Woolley & Wallis this week

Sotheby’s teams up with the Keith Haring Foundation to auction Haring’s personal collection for charity

All works—by artists such as Basquiat, Warhol and Rammellzee—will make their auction debut in the sale, which is expected to make $1m for the LGBTQ nonprofit the Center

Christie’s to hold marquee sales in New York in early October—but will Sotheby's follow suit?

With no Frieze Art Fair, contemporary art London sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips will now take place at the end of October, when Fiac is due to open in Paris

UAEnews

World's biggest canvas painting—the size of two football fields—to be auctioned in Dubai for charity

The record-breaking work by the Dubai-based British artist Sacha Jafri will be sold to promote "global digital equality"

Christies winds up belated summer auction season with £21.2m Classic Art sale led by £4m Rubens

16th century Italian marble attributed to Antonio Lombardo steals the show, but auction house's digital face is showing its age against stiff competition

Restituted Renaissance battle scene highlight of Sotheby’s pick-and-mix £150m evening sale

Six works were withdrawn by nervy vendors just before the start but Rembrandt to Richter sale still totalled nearly £150m, topped by a £22.3m Joan Miró

Banksynews

Banksy triptych—estimated at £1.2m—to be sold at Sotheby's in aid of Palestinian hospital

Artists has donated the works, which were previously on display in his Walled Off hotel in Bethlehem

Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum seeks to recover ancient Egyptian jars before auction

The vessels, containing 2,600-year-old mummified internal organs, are due to be sold in Munich tomorrow

Colville’s Dog and Bridge has its day at Heffel’s live sale in Toronto

But fewer than ten buyers physically attended the auction, with most bidding done over the phone and in the “digital salesroom”

Art marketanalysis

Sanyu, Zao Wou-Ki and Liu Ye: the Asian masters fetching millions at the Hong Kong auctions

Despite pandemic delays and the new National Security Law, the spring sales in the city last week fetched solid results

How a £3m Soulages almost sank off the coast of Tasmania

The MV Merino had gone aground on its way to Hobart for an exhibition of Modern French art in 1953

Sotheby's to sell Bridget Riley painting from Heathrow executive lounge as British Airways 'fights for survival'

Auction house appointed to sell £1.4m of art from the beleaguered airline's collection this month

Christie's $420.9m global relay sale was ambitious—but did they really need four auctioneers?

The four-hour event was intended to illustrate the auction house's global and democratic nature, but it also showed that less is often more

Sotheby's to auction £4m restituted Bellotto painting that Jewish retail magnate was forced to sell to Hitler

The view of Dresden's Zwinger moat had been returned to the heirs of Max Emden and will now be offered for sale in London on 28 July

Art marketanalysis

Could Covid-19 kill off the market for the art world’s star names?

Some big artists may be toppled from their pre-pandemic pedestals and new ones promoted to the art-as-investment pantheon

Quran quietly sells for record £7m despite questions over its provenance

Manuscript sold at Christie's first live sale in London since the coronavirus lockdown, but academics say its ownership history should be more transparent

From a £16m Rembrandt to a £3,000 dolphin, London Art Week for every (ok, some) budgets

Highlights from the online version of the “pre-contemporary art” event for galleries and auction houses which launches today and runs until 10 July

Waning market for African artefacts? Controversial Benin bronze fails to sell at Christie's

Academics challenge the provenance of the Edo plaque as well as two Igbo alusi figures that sold under estimate for €212,500

Brave new world: Francis Bacon triptych sells for $84.5m in Sotheby's first major live-streamed evening sale

Marathon online hi-tech auction was the first of its kind attempted by Sotheby's and totalled $363.2m, boosting confidence that a top-end market still exists

Art marketanalysis

A brave new virtual world or joyless mundane experience? Glamour of collecting gets lost in online translation

Digital transactions cannot replicate the social cachet of buying art at exclusive events—and prices will inevitably slide as a result

Friends with benefits: art dealers cosy up to auction houses for online sales

As part of a growing trend, Sotheby's is launching The Dealer's Eye, two sales of works consigned by nearly 40 Old Master galleries in London and New York

Historic Tunisian items withdrawn from Paris auction after heritage body claims works left country illegally

More than 100 objects once belonging to the Tunisian politician Habib Djellouli, including an ancient Quran, are at the centre of the controversy

Only joint letter from Van Gogh and Gauguin—recording their brothel visits—comes up for sale

Vincent describes his artist friend as having the “instincts of a wild beast”

a blog by Martin Bailey

Code-cracking lot: Second World War Enigma machine on offer at Vienna’s Dorotheum

The Germans believed Enigma was uncrackable; cryptographers at Bletchley Park broke the code, contributing to the Allies’ victory

Sotheby’s offers major works by 20th century female artists in $50m Ginny Williams Collection sale

Coinciding with the auction house's New York sale room re-opening in June, the sale marks the first time female artists will comprise over two-thirds of the value of an evening auction

Strong sales as France restarts live auctions

Artcurial, the first auction house to reopen, doubled its sale estimate as lockdown seems to have "sharpened" buyers' appetite

Podcastspodcast

Is the future of the art market online?

Plus, Rebecca Salter on Léon Spilliaert. Produced in association with Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

Just the one: Christie's scraps major June New York sales in favour of a 'global relay' auction in July

Hybrid sale of 20th century art and design will take place over four live-streamed sessions in Hong Kong, Paris, London and New York