Auctions

Female painters steal the limelight at Phillips contemporary evening sale in London

Market is not “as effervescent as it was”, but £36m total is the auction house’s highest in June for over a decade despite disappointing results for Modern works

Flipping the Bacon: Sotheby's £69m post-war and contemporary sale lacks fizz

A £16m Francis Bacon self-portrait and a record for a little-known German artist enliven an otherwise dry sale in London as totals fall 40% on last year

Fresh talent breathes life into slim £45m postwar and contemporary evening sale at Christie’s London

Records set for Tschabalala Self and Kara Walker as a new wave of works by contemporary artists come to auction—bucking the pale, male and stale status quo

Van Gogh’s gun, 'most famous weapon in art history', sells for €162,500

The discovery of the revolver suggests it was suicide, not murder

Pridenews

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 an ancient Roman mosaic to an Art Deco icon of the LGBTQ+ movement

Our pick of items from auctions and fairs around the world over the next fortnight

Sikh Empire collector hopes to open dedicated museum

The London-based collector Davinder Toor holds one of the most significant collections of Sikh works in the US and the UK

Auction prices: the elephant in the room at Art Basel

The first rule of art fairs is don't talk about auctions—but sometimes they can benefit artists and their dealers

Ethicsanalysis

The only way is ethics: the art world's 'networks of undue influence'

Ethics specialist Piergiorgio Pepe claims the power in the art industry is still held in the hands of a few

'Selling everything but the wallpaper'—auction reopens old wounds over Barnes legacy

Barnes Foundation’s sale of founder’s items follows nominal payment for lease of valuable land

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

Auctionsanalysis

Edward Hopper's over-priced ode to Shakespeare goes unsold as market for American art proves capricious

Christie's American art sales this week realise a new record for Hartley but Sotheby's struggles to get the pricing right on Hopper's Shakespeare scene

Podcastspodcast

Should museums sell works of art? Plus, activism at the Whitney Biennial

After the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's sale of its Rothko, we discuss the principles that guide deaccessioning in the US and speak to activists about the Whitney vice-chairman's problematic link to a weapons manufacturer

San Francisco museum's Rothko sells for $50m as Sotheby’s closes bumper week of New York auctions

Dana Schutz’s record broken twice in one night at Phillips then Sotheby's, while the bidder behind the $91m Koons Rabbit buys Lee Krasner painting for $10m

Rabbit hops to a record $91m at Christie's as Jeff Koons once again becomes the world's most expensive living artist

Post-war and contemporary sale in New York also produced a big sale for Robert Rauschenberg and new records for Louise Bourgeois and Jonas Wood

Monet's glowing haystacks set alight Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern art sale with a new £97m record

Market is alive and kicking at the top for prime Impressionist works, though Bouguereau's uncomfortably placed, 19th-century Bacchanalian scene failed to sell

Big but bland Impressionists lead Christie's sale, with new records for a peachy Cezanne and feline-filled Bonnard

Fresh material from big collections led the $399m New York auction, while mid-tier Monets primed the market for his $55m haystacks work at Sotheby's tonight

Virtually unseen Van Gogh painting comes up for sale in New York next week

Christie’s values the Japanese-influenced picture of the asylum garden at $25m

a blog by Martin Bailey

London's National Gallery defends inclusion of Salvator Mundi in Leonardo show after criticism in new book

The curator’s attribution to the Renaissance master helped Christie’s achieve a world record price for the painting

Sotheby’s settles claim against London dealer Mark Weiss in Frans Hals case

Settlement came day before trial was due to start, but its suit against financier will continue

'Fingers crossed for China’s art market'

The latest Art Basel and UBS report makes for uncomfortable reading

Blockchain-based art registry Artory acquires Auction Club database

The acquisition will make public 4,000 international auction house sale records

Auctionsfeature

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

Auctionsanalysis

Hockney double portrait sells for £37.7m, accounting for half of Christie’s contemporary sale in London

Overall results are down 42.7% on last year, but European buying remains strong despite Brexit

UK local authority's plan to dispose of 90% of works in its collection rings alarm bells

Art Fund raises concerns about consignment of 152 works to auction by Hertfordshire County Council