'Risqué' Attic Painting Sells for $4.1M

Prices for magazine cover originals may be heading north

(NEWSER) - Straddling the line between art, illustration, and extravagant Christmas gift, Norman Rockwell's "Extra Good Boys and Girls" raked in $2.17 million at a Christie's auction this week. The painting, originally a 1939 Saturday Evening Post cover, didn't hit the $2.5 million to $3.5 million estimate, but Christie's was still jolly, Reuters reports. More»

Art world breathes easier after first night of stellar sales

(NEWSER) - A nervous New York art world breathed a sigh of relief on the first night of the fall auctions yesterday when a Matisse painting fetched a whopping $33.6 million, far above its high estimate. Collectors and dealers are watching November's sales at Sotheby's and Christie's with anxiety, reports the New York Times, but Christie's modern and impressionist sale broke several records, hitting new highs for Matisse, Cézanne, Signac and Pissarro. More»

Auction madness continues as contemporary-art market sizzles

(NEWSER) - An Andy Warhol painting sold for $71.7 million last night at Christie's, more than quadrupling the previous record price for a work by the pop artist. The price for "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," part of Warhol's "Death and Disaster" series, more than doubled the presale estimate and overshadowed the $28 million sale of "Lemon Marilyn." More»

Pablo Picasso makes 2 appearances

(NEWSER) - Following the record-breaking sale of Edvard Munch's The Scream , the Guardian takes a look at the other biggest sales of art at auction. The top five:

1. Edvard Munch, The Scream, $119.9 million.
2. Pablo Picasso, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, $106.5 million.
3. Alberto Giacometti, L'homme qui Marche I, $105.2 million.
4. Pablo Picasso, Boy With a Pipe, $104.2 million.
5. Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, $87.9 million.

Rare work was study for artist's Card Players series

(NEWSER) - A Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog in 2011 listed a 19th-century watercolor Paul Cezanne made as a study for his Card Players series as "whereabouts unknown." No more: The work, which Reuters describes as "rare" and "pristine," was discovered by Christie's as it worked with the estate of Dr. Heniz Eichenwald, who died in September. Last seen in public in 1953, the work on paper is expected to fetch as much as $20 million when it hits the block in May. More»