Auctions

Judge orders owner of mysterious African art collection in Houston to hand over works worth nearly $1m to settle legal dispute

The unusual move halted a court-ordered auction of around 1,400 objects for the second time in four months

Christie’s first half auction sales decline 22% year-on-year, to $2.1bn

But consistent strength in its sell-through rate and Asia Pacific buyer base show the auction house's ‘resilience’ amid obstacles

Muted Old Master evening sales in London provide relative bargains but no fireworks

Slim auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's saw a rediscovered Quentin Metsys and a modestly priced Botticelli come to the block

Jordaens painting to be sold after settlement with heirs of Jewish bank shareholders

The work, to be auctioned at Sotheby’s today, was one of more than 2,500 held as collateral and sold, shortly before the Nazi invasion, by the Dutch bank Lisser & Rosenkranz

Titianfeature

'A little masterpiece': Titian's youthful canvas of 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', goes for auction at Christie's

The Venetian master's exquisite early depiction of the Holy Family, once recovered in a bag at a bus-stop seven years after being stolen from Longleat House, is estimated to fetch £15m-£25m in London sale

Auctionsanalysis

Sotheby’s Modern and contemporary sale in London nets a tepid £83.6m and prompts question—is the summer auction season over?

Bright spots in the heavily guaranteed auction included a £15m Basquiat and competition for the collection of Ralph I. Goldenberg

From one hand to another: painting reworked by Rubens to be sold at Sotheby’s

Conservation has revealed the extensive changes Rubens made to a work originally by Herri Met de Bles

Auctionspreview

Sotheby's launches first fine art Sealed auction without reserve

Yayoi Kusama's "Phantom Polka Dots of Fate, Ordained by Heaven, Were the Greatest Gift Ever for Me" to be sold by Sealed Auctions and on view in Sotheby’s New Bond Street Galleries. Success of Sealed Auctions has led to an expansion into fine art

By Max Moore. SVP, Head of Sealed Sales, Global Fine Art
Advertisement feature bySotheby's Sealed

German medieval altarpiece wings that remained in one family for 500 years to be auctioned at Sotheby’s

The portraits painted by Bartholomäus Zeitblom carry an estimate of £400,000-£600,000

Lely portraits owned by bankrupt collector James Stunt flop at auction

Works by the painter, owned by the controversial "playboy" socialite, were offered at Christie's New York this month

Collector Ron Perelman sold $963m worth of art to pay off debt

Recently unsealed court filings show 71 works by artists like Basquiat, Twombly and Giacometti were unloaded over a two-year period

Nine-year-old’s exhibition opens at Christie’s

The show by the aspiring artist is supported by the auction house and the charity Art of Wishes

Art marketanalysis

Generous guarantees and a giant Warhol net a healthy $346.5m for Christie's Modern evening sale in New York

The reassuring result was a marked increase from last year's equivalent auction—despite a cyberattack that has taken down the auction house's website

Sotheby's makes $198.1m in consistently strong Modern evening sale in New York

The results were led by Monet's 'Meules à Giverny' and Leonora Carrington's record-breaking 'Les Distractions de Dagobert'

Christie's makes $94.6m in New York contemporary sales despite cyberattack and star lot's withdrawal

Major results for Félix González-Torres and Jean-Michel Basquiat lifted the De la Cruz collection and 21st-century double-header

Sotheby's $227.9m double-header marks tentative start to New York spring auctions

Strong sell-through rate and multiple artist records offset soft demand for top lots

Auctionsanalysis

The Gray Market: Demand for young artists' work is bowed but unbroken in top auctions

Defying market dogma, marquee sales results show “reallocation” to youth

The Tefaf New York wish list: objects to suit every collector’s taste

Prehistoric pottery, a ceremonial dance mask and a blue-chip rocking chair are among this year’s gems

Klimt portrait surrounded by mystery sells for €30m in Vienna

The price paid by a buyer from Hong Kong was at the lower end of the estimate range, but still an auction record for Austria

Four Joan Mitchell paintings could collectively bring more than $50m during New York's spring auctions

The four works, spanning nearly 40 years of the Abstract Expressionist’s career, will hit the auction block at Sotheby’s in May

Major Leonora Carrington painting poised to smash Surrealist’s auction record

The artist’s dazzling, Boschian composition “Les Distractions de Dagobert” is expected to fetch as much as $18m at Sotheby’s in New York next month

Christie’s withdraws four ancient Greek vases amid concerns about their provenance and connection to disgraced antiquities dealers

The vases, which were estimated to sell for as much as $71,000, were pulled from a sale in New York this week

Dallas collectors Howard and Cindy Rachofsky to auction Lucio Fontana canvas for between $20m to $30m

Punctured work is being offered at Sotheby’s New York after 20 years—and could fetch a record for the Italian post-war artist

Painting from Warhol and Basquiat’s notorious collaboration could fetch $18m at Sotheby’s this May

The monumental canvas is expected to reset the record price at auction for any work from the series

From museum to market in two years: Francis Bacon lover portrait to be auctioned in New York for $30m to $50m

A highlight of Sotheby's May evening sales, Bacon's first full-scale painting of George Dyer was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2022

Art marketcomment

It’s time to end the predatory practices of 'sleeper hunters'

Sleeper hunter dealers must recognise they have an asymmetrical relationship to vulnerable people pressured by circumstance to sell off their treasured heirlooms

After two years of tremendous growth, France's art auction market is in decline

Overall auction results are strong—largely thanks to rise of second hand car purchases—but sales of fine art and antiques have fallen significantly from last year

Auctionsanalysis

Christie’s marathon evening sales in London make a within-estimate £163m

The 20th/21st century and Art of the Surreal auctions were up 18.5% by value on their March 2023 versions