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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: art auction

art auction stories: 44 news summaries

1 - 20 of 44 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Color Christie's Blue 
 Over Weak Modern Sale 

Picasso, Mondrian flop at sparsely attended auction

Nov 4, 09 9:26 AM CST
(Newser) - A New York art dealer at the Christie's auction last night decreed "the recession is ending," but apparently not soon enough to move 13 of 41 modern and impressionist art works on offer, leaving the auction house millions of dollars short of pre-sale estimates. Major works by Picasso... More »

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art market • Christie's • Picasso • art auction • Degas • art dealer • Piet Mondrian • Auguste Rodin

 Teacher Fired for Butt Art 
 Paints Colbert for Charity 

Stan Murmur's auctioning portrait to benefit Va. public schools

Oct 13, 09 8:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Virginia teacher fired after a YouTube clip surfaced of him using his posterior to paint is turning the other cheek—and auctioning off a portrait of comedian Stephen Colbert to benefit public schools. Stan Murmur uses what WTVR-TV calls “the anthropometric monotype method of painting. That means he... More »

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entertainment • eBay • art • Comedy Central • Stephen Colbert • art auction • public schools • teacher • Stan Murmur • anthropometric monotype method • butt • posterior

 London Art Market 
 Feels a Chill 

Lack of once-plentiful foreign cash hurts auctioneers

Jun 26, 09 11:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - London became the hottest art market in the world last year, eclipsing New York, but the recession is putting the squeeze on auction houses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Last year’s influx of foreign money has dried up, and sellers are keeping a firm hold on their  most desirable... More »

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London • art • Sotheby's • Christie's • art auction

 Madonna-Guy 
 Nude Painting 
 Sells, Finally 

Exact price is unknown

Jun 9, 09 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - After failing to sell at auction last month, a painting of Madonna in the buff with ex Guy Ritchie has found a buyer, the BBC reports. An anonymous collector paid more than the $24,000 reserve price demanded by a Scottish house. “We were very confident we would find... More »

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entertainment • Scotland • painting • Glasgow • Madonna • art auction • Guy Ritchie • Peter Howson


 Modest Success 
 at Christie's 
 Cheers Art World 

Hockney breaks record as auction house sells $93.7M

May 14, 09 6:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Christie's contemporary auction in New York last night went better than expected, selling $93.7 million worth of postwar art—double the result of its rival Sotheby's the night before. The top lot was a 12-foot panorama by British painter David Hockney, which sold for $7.9 million, a record... More »

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art market • contemporary art • art • Christie's • David Hockney • auction • art auction • Jay-ZTV

 Buyers Return 
 for Healthy 
 Christie's Sale 

Auction house pulls in $103M, besting rival Sotheby's

May 7, 09 7:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - The art market performed better last night at Christie's New York sale of Impressionist and modern art, pulling in $103 million after a lackluster showing by its rival Sotheby's on Tuesday. The top lot was a 1968 portrait by Picasso, which sold for $14.6 million. As the Wall Street ... More »

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art market • Christie's • art auction • Pablo Picasso • Degas

 Sotheby's Sale 
 Busts, Picasso 
 Goes Unsold 

$61.3M result fails to reach low estimate

May 6, 09 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The art market failed to recover from its recent slump last night, as Sotheby's held a disappointing New York sale that saw works by Picasso and Giacometti go unsold. The small auction of 36 lots brought in just $61.3 million—well below the low estimate of $81.5 million.... More »

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art market • art • Sotheby's • modern art • art auction • Pablo Picasso • Alberto Giacometti

 Strapped 
 Art Market 
 Preps for 
 Auctions 

Expectations low as auction houses try variety of tactics

May 1, 09 10:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - After a 7-year boom, art auction houses are struggling as collectors hit hard by the recession close their wallets. Sotheby’s predicts it will pull in $179 million to $256 million at spring sales, compared to $742 million a year ago. As the spring events approach, auctioneers are employing an... More »

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art market • art • Andy Warhol • Sotheby's • Christie's • Damien Hirst • Francis Bacon • Mark Rothko • art auction • Jeff Koons • Pablo Picasso • financial crisis • Alberto Giacometti • Robert Gober • Tamara de Lempicka • Jean-Michel Basquiat • Tom Wesselman

More Hitler Paintings Go
Up for Sale

British auction house has 13 thought to be painted by him

Mar 27, 09 9:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British auction house will sell 13 paintings next month attributed to a minor Austrian-born amateur artist: Adolf Hitler. The works, which include a supposed self-portrait signed "AH," were found by a soldier in 1945, Reuters reports, though lingering doubts remain about authenticity. Two years ago, 21 Hitler... More »

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art • Adolf Hitler • painting • art auction • Howard Stern Grid

 Auction Winner 
 Won't Pay for 
 Chinese Relics 

Collector says he bid $36 million on antiquities as protest

Mar 3, 09 9:32 AM CST
(Newser) - Among the most closely watched lots at last week's Paris auction of Yves Saint Laurent's art collection were two imperial Chinese bronzes that each sold for $18 million. Beijing spent months insisting that the sculptures were looted in the 19th century and should be returned to China, but failed to... More »

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China • art market • art • Christie's • looting • Yves Saint Laurent • art auction • antiquities

(Newser) - Celebrity power revived the art market in Paris for at least one night, the Wall Street Journal reports. Despite the economy, a giddy atmosphere prevailed at Christie's as bidders battled over blue-chip works from Yves Saint Laurent's personal collection, dishing out $32 million more than expected. Only a moody, Cubist... More »

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art • Christie's • Paris • Yves Saint Laurent • art auction • what recession?

Tough-as-Nails Pooty-Poot Is Also an Artiste

Russian PM's painting fetches $1.15M
 at charity auction

Jan 19, 09 7:21 AM CST
(Newser) - Vladimir Putin has a murky past with the KGB, a black belt in judo, and the public image of a tough guy, so when the Russian PM tried his hand at fine art, patrons sat up. Putin painted a scene of snowfall seen through a window for a charity auction... More »

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Russia • Vladimir Putin • art • St. Petersburg • art auction

 Christie's Cuts Jobs 
  as Art Sales Slump 

250-year-old auction house downsizes to stay afloat

Jan 13, 09 7:10 AM CST
(Newser) - Following months of bad results in America and Europe, Christie's is reorganizing to cut costs, including "significant staff reductions," the auction house said yesterday. While at the start of 2008 the art world seemed immune to the economic downturn, the decade-long boom in art prices busted this fall.... More »

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art market • art • Sotheby's • Christie's • art auction • downsizing • recession depression

 'Risqué' Attic 
 Painting Sells 
 for $4.1M 

Hidden away because it showed a breast

Dec 4, 08 3:27 AM CST
(Newser) - A provocative 18th Century painting, hidden in the attic of a French chateau for decades because it featured a woman with a breast exposed, has fetched $4.1 million from an anonymous buyer at a Christie's auction in London, reports the Daily Telegraph. The price was three times its estimated... More »

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art • Christie's • painting • art auction • Giambatista Tiepolo • Portrait of a Lady as Flora

 Auction Houses 
 Counting on 
 Russians 

Buyers prop up industry staggering from economic crunch

Nov 30, 08 1:28 PM CST
(Newser) - With dwindling sales and empty showrooms, art auction houses are increasingly relying on what they have dubbed RR: rich Russians. Houses are hoping the record price drawn by a Kasimir Malevich painting earlier this month is proof that the Russian market will escape the downturn that's affecting other sectors. Of... More »

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Russia • contemporary art • Moscow • art • Sotheby's • Christie's • modern art • Bonhams Auctions • art auction

 Hirst: Art Is Overpriced 

Multimillionaire artist says economic woes will likely bring (his) prices down

Nov 17, 08 10:39 AM CST
(Newser) - With the economic slowdown finally slamming into the art market, one of the world’s priciest living artists says art has become too costly anyway, the Independent reports. British multimillionaire Damien Hirst failed to sell a painting valued at some $3 million last week; in retrospect, he said, it “... More »

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art • Damien Hirst • art auction • financial crisis

 Major Works 
 Fail to Sell 
 at Christie's 

Dismal auction season continues as Bacon fails to find buyer

Nov 13, 08 9:16 AM CST
(Newser) - The art world bust continued last night at the Christie's contemporary auction in New York, where almost a third of the 75 works on the block went unsold. Not a single collector bid for the highlight of the sale, a self-portrait by Francis Bacon estimated to sell for around $40... More »

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art market • contemporary art • art • Christie's • Francis Bacon • Lehman Brothers • art auction • Richard Fuld

 Contemporary 
 Art Goes Bust 
 at Dismal Auction 

Lot after lot goes unsold at New York auction

Nov 12, 08 7:58 AM CST
(Newser) - Collectors from Steve Martin to Valentino packed the Sotheby's saleroom in New York last night, but its contemporary art auction barely pulled in $125 million—far below the low estimate of $202 million. For those who could afford it, works were going at bargain-basement prices. "It was a half-price... More »

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art market • contemporary art • art • Sotheby's • art auction

 Sotheby's Pulls 
 $30M Picasso 
 on Market Jitters 

Top lot in Nov. auction withdrawn as seller panics

Oct 28, 08 8:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - A painting from Picasso's Cubist period that was one of the highlights of the fall auction season has been pulled "for private reasons," Sotheby's New York office said yesterday. The withdrawal of Arlequin, a 1909 work which was estimated at more than $30 million, had been rumored for... More »

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art market • art • Sotheby's • auction • art auction • Pablo Picasso

Painting Price Spells Gloom
for Economy

Portrait of Bacon auctions for only
$9.4M at Christie's

Oct 19, 08 7:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Lucian Freud painting expected to sell for more than $12 million at Christie’s today went for only $9.4 million, a sign that even super-rich buyers of contemporary art are cutting back in the financial crisis, the Daily Telegraph reports. The art world anxiously awaited the sale of... More »

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art • Sotheby's • Christie's • Francis Bacon • art auction • Lucian Freud • financial crisis

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