Rare Pot Worth £150,000 Used as Doorstop for 40 Years
A carved block of wood has sold at auction for £150,000 after being used as a doorstop for 40 years.The object, which turned out to be a rare Chinese wooden brush pot, is thought to date to the late...
View ArticleBright Idea: Rare Vase Accidentally Used as Lamp to be Sold
A rare Chinese vase is to be put up for auction at Sotheby’s London after having been used as a bedside lamp for four decades.It is a rare sgraffiato-ground famille-rose vase from the Qianlong period,...
View ArticleChristie's Breaks Another Record With an Assist From Asian Bidders
In a night rich in $20 million-plus offerings, Christie’s brought in a mind-boggling $744,944,000 in its Post-War and contemporary art evening sale at Rockefeller Center on Tuesday, the highest tally...
View ArticlePrivately Owned Mondrian Enters the Market After 55 Years
One of Piet Mondrian’s distinctive compositions is to lead Sotheby’s London’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale.Bought by the father of the current owner in 1959, this is the first time the...
View Article“End of an Era”: Saatchi to Sell Tracey Emin’s Iconic Bed
Arguably one of the most controversial works in contemporary art history, Tracey Emin’s My Bed (1998) caused outrage when it was first shown in the 1999 Turner Prize exhibition.Then, in 2000, the...
View ArticleAntiques Roadshow Van Dyck Discovery Set for Sale
A head study by Sir Anthony van Dyck that was discovered on the BBC’s The Antiques Roadshow last December is now ready to go under the hammer.Peak District priest Father Jamie MacLeod bought the...
View ArticleGrayson Perry’s Art School Work at Auction for First Time
A group of Grayson Perry artworks made while he was in art school is to go under the hammer for the first time later this month. They will be included in Dreweatts & Bloomsbury’s “Modern &...
View ArticleA Dark Friendship: Bacon Portrait Owned by Roald Dahl Set for Auction
Roald Dahl is well known for his dark children’s books featuring giants eating children, uncomfortably exuberant chocolate factory owners, and giant peaches – but now it transpires that he had a dark...
View ArticlePremier League Footballers Splash Out on Picasso
British footballers are now splurging their vast disposable incomes on Picasso artworks, reported Bloomberg Businessweek.Following in the footsteps of hip-hop megastar Jay Z, who rapped last year about...
View ArticleSLIDESHOW: History of Art in Ten Works at Sotheby’s
To launch the summer auction season Sotheby’s London is going to be staging “Summer at Sotheby’s, Magnificent Works” – a four-day exhibition of more than sixty artworks in their New Bond Street...
View ArticleChristie’s CEO Credits iPhones with Art Market Boom
Tablets and smartphones are revolutionising the art market, the CEO of Christie’s said this morning, July 1.Steven Murphy, who heads up the world’s largest auction house, said that the number of buyers...
View ArticleSotheby's Has a Strong Lead-Off Night in London
LONDON — Powered in large part by a rare to market Francis Bacon triptych, Sotheby’s lead-off contemporary evening sale charged to £93,147,500/$158,490,471. The tally, including the added on buyer’s...
View ArticleRecords Smashed as Emin’s Bed Sold to Jay Jopling for £2.2m
Tracey Emin’s installation My Bed was sold for £2.2m at Christie’s last night, more than quadrupling her previous sale record.The artist was present at King Street to see her controversial artwork...
View ArticleA Brawny Market Lifts Sales at Christie's
LONDON — Despite a chronic fatigue generated by a seemingly endless half year of art fairs and auctions, the Post-War/contemporary art market surprisingly shifted into overdrive at Christie’s...
View ArticleAt Phillips, a Modest Contemporary Sale Appeals to the Young
LONDON—Staggering to the finish line of a marathon art season, Phillips’s evening contemporary sale made a modest £9,920,750/$17,015,089 on Wednesday. The tiny sale, with just 27 lots on offer, landed...
View ArticleAustralian Artist Michael Staniak Tops Phillips’ Paddles ON! Auction
Melbourne-based artist Michael Staniak, who is one of the rapidly rising stars of the Australian art scene, has topped London-based auction house Phillips’ July 3 Paddles ON! sale with his work...
View ArticleDisgraced: Rolf Harris Paintings Flogged on eBay
Paintings by Rolf Harris are being flogged on eBay for as little as £250, following his imprisonment for child abuse last week.Last Monday the veteran BBC presenter and artist was found guilty of 12...
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