Ex-staff are now considering legal action, claiming they were not kept informed of changes to the scheme

The painting, sold last week at Sotheby's for $45.4m, was listed among workshop and studio pictures in Ronald Lightbown’s 1978 catalogue of Botticelli’s work, before being included as an autograph work in an exhibition at Frankfurt's Städel Museum in 2009. Here, in a pair of opinion pieces, two Renaissance experts give their contrasting views on its attribution

The painting, sold last week at Sotheby's for $45.4m, was listed among workshop and studio pictures in Ronald Lightbown’s 1978 catalogue of Botticelli’s work, before being included as an autograph work in an exhibition at Frankfurt's Städel Museum in 2009. Here, in a pair of opinion pieces, two Renaissance experts give their contrasting views on its attribution

Plus, Botticelli in New York and gender in Asian art in San Francisco

The star lot of the sale, a rediscovered and austere portrait of Christ, hammered just below its estimate

The auction house will help the Parisian institution research the history of items purchased between 1933 and 1945, which "may lead to restitutions"

The auction house, which had been publicly traded for decades before being bought by Patrick Drahi for $3.7bn in 2019, could return to public trading later this year

Baron Pennisi commissioned the neo-Gothic villa, which includes a private chapel with frescoes by Giuseppe Sciuti, at the end of the 19th century

The monumental L’empire des lumières, painted in 1961 for the artist's muse Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet, has never been sold before but will now be auctioned at Sotheby's in London in March

Infrared images of the painting, which is due to be sold at Sotheby's in New York later this month, show that an earlier composition lies underneath

Lawyers for the auction house are trying to dismiss the complaint, which they call 'devoid of factual allegations,' but they could be facing a classic Catch-22.

Expert from a French collecting dynasty saw first-hand the fast-changing art world of the 1960s and helped British Rail create its renowned collection

Our pick of the highlights from coming fairs and auctions

Drahi bought Sotheby’s less than three years ago, took it private and began implementing a series of cost-cutting measures

The firm’s sales were bolstered by a sharp increase in online bidders, who accounted for 92% of all bids this year

The south Florida town, awash with ultra-wealthy retirees, has seen a rise in art market power players since the start of the pandemic

The larger than life-size statue was brought back from Rome by the Duke of Hamilton in the 18th century and is named after his Scottish palace

The auction house also accepted cryptocurrency on two works by Banksy and sold a rare copy of the US Constitution for $41m

While the auction's star lots included the $34.9m Kahlo and four Monets, the most aggressive bidding was on works by Alexander Calder and Pierre Soulages

Bidders from Asia snapped up the sale’s two biggest lots, trophy works by Giacometti and Rothko

The auction house made Banksy's world record for the pre-shredded work Love is in the Bin

Will the wave of young Asians buying hot young artists also wash into the higher-priced, blue-chip artists on offer in New York, or has older art lost its charm?

Counterculture relic originally design by Hells Angel artist Allan "Gut" Terk sold for nearly $18,000

Hitting the block at Sotheby's next month, Diego y yo (Diego and I), painted in 1949, could become the most valuable Latin American work ever sold at auction

Led by Yuki Terase and Amy Cappellazzo, the company aims to have firm footing in both Western and Asian markets.

Asian collectors were behind much of the high bidding for hot emerging artists including Jadé Fadojutimi, Ewa Juszkiewicz and Flora Yukhnovich

A previous painting called Girl with Balloon was shredded live at a Sotheby's auction three years ago, the resulting work, Love is in the Bin, has now sold

As work heads back to auction at Sotheby's, the provenance of the street artist’s Girl with Balloon is being questioned

Millennial buyers boosted sales for Western artists, whose works accounted for $114m out of $185m

Auction house will sell the painting in January and is dubbing it "The defining masterpiece of Botticelli's late career". But what exactly does that mean?