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NEWS ABOUT: art auction

As Stocks Slide, Hirst Auction Breaks Records

Unprecedented one-man auction exceeds high estimate

(Newser) - Damien Hirst won the biggest gamble of his career at Sotheby's last night—as lot after lot of the artist's work beat high estimates, totaling $127.2 million in sales. While the markets tumbled in New York, bidders in the London saleroom bought up dozens of brand-new Hirsts, from taxidermied... More »

Stones' Lips Logo Locks $93K

London museum buys rock-n-roll brand art

(AP) - Mick Jagger's pout is officially fit for a museum. London's Victoria and Albert Museum announced today it bought the original artwork for the Rolling Stones' famous lips logo, inspired by the singer's mouth, for $92,500. The lips-and-tongue logo was designed by London art student John Pasche in 1970, and... More »

Masters Shore Up Shaky Art Market

Auctions break records, but living artists' work suffers

(Newser) - The art market has again defied the economic downturn, with Christie's and Sotheby's bringing in more than $1 billion combined during the past two weeks' London sales—a 19% rise from last year. But those numbers disguise the erratic nature of the market, writes the Wall Street Journal. While new... More »

Monet Sells for Record $80.4M

Rare waterlily work attracts high bidders at Christie's

(Newser) - One of Monet’s rare waterlily paintings sold at Christie’s in London tonight for more than $80 million, a record price for the artist, the New York Times reports. At least six buyers competed for Le Bassin aux Nympheas, a 1919 work from a series of paintings considered among... More »

Hirst Goes Straight to Auction

Artist eschews galleries and sells new work at Sotheby's

(Newser) - In recent years, art collectors and auction houses have been reaping the profits of soaring contemporary art prices, while living artists watched with chagrin. Now Damien Hirst has stepped into the fray, bypassing the gallery system and bringing his latest works straight to auction. "It’s a very democratic... More »

Bacon Breaks Record as Art Market Sizzles

Artist's 1976 masterpiece sells for $86M at red-hot Sotheby's sale

(Newser) - A 1976 triptych painting by Francis Bacon became the most expensive piece of contemporary art ever sold when it went for $86.2 million at auction last night, Reuters reports. Seventeen other artists also set records at the sale, boosting Sotheby's to the best night in its 300-year history and... More »

Art Continues to Buck Ragged Economy

Contemporary works bring $348M at Christie's—which even sells a house

(Newser) - Christie's auction of contemporary art in New York belied an economic downturn, the Times reports, with paintings, sculpture, and even a house fetching handsome prices. Two works drew particular attention: a portrait of a 280-pound nude woman by Lucian Freud, which sold for $33.6 million, and a house in... More »

Monet Sells for Record $41M

Painting fetches tidy sum at Christie's

(Newser) - A Monet painting sold at Christie’s tonight for $41.4 million, a record price for the artist, the New York Times reports. Three bidders competed for the 1873 impressionist painting “The Railroad Bridge at Argenteuil,” which Christie’s estimated would go for $35 million. The high bid... More »

Art Auction Houses Predict 25% Bump

Sotheby's and Christie's prepare for booming auction season—they hope

(Newser) - The New York art auction season begins today, and Sotheby’s and Christie’s say they believe the art market’s 5-year boom will continue, forecasting $1.8 billion in sales, reports the Financial Times. The prediction of a 25% boost over last year flies in the face of financial-market... More »

Spring Art Auctions Surrounded by Crash Talk

Writers keep predicting implosion, but it might never come

(Newser) - It's auction season again in the art world, and Sotheby's and Christie's have put record estimates on dozens of paintings. Despite warnings in the media of an imminent crash, prices of fine art seem to be impervious to the global economic downturn. It's enough to make one writer at Slate ... More »

Carla Nude Pic Fetches $91K at Christie's

1993 portrait of Sarko's wife goes for 20 times expected price

(Newser) - Sarkozy isn't the only one who gets to see his wife in the buff: a collector paid $91,000 for a photograph of a naked Carla Bruni at Christie's today. The auction house expected Michel Comte's 1993 portrait of the French first lady to sell for no more than $4,... More »

Not a Great Time to Be an Artist

Top financier predicts sharp downturn in market

(Newser) - The exploding art market may be about to deflate: New York’s flurry of contemporary art fairs last week had surprisingly good sales in light of the economic times, reports Portfolio, but the president of one of the nation’s most active lenders against art predicts a sharp downturn from... More »

Sonic Youth's Album Art for Sale

Painting that graced classic Daydream Nation cover goes up for auction

(Newser) - Music fans for whom Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation is an all-time classic will get a chance next week to bid on the painting that served as album-cover art, the Independent reports. Kerze (Candle), a 1983 work by German Gerhard Richter, is one in a series of still lifes based on... More »

Russians Smash Records at Sotheby's Sale

Recession-defying London art auction brings in $230M

(Newser) - Sotheby's held its most successful sale ever of modern and impressionist art in London last night, with Russian collectors leading a buying frenzy on a day stock markets tumbled. The auction house sold 67 lots worth $230 million—topping high estimate, Bloomberg reports. "There was a lot of buying... More »

Contemporary Art Scores for Auction Houses

Sales swelled 36% in 2007; some fear houses too invested in the new

(Newser) - Contemporary art has been very good to Sotheby’s, fueling a 46% boost in sales for the world’s second-largest auctioneer this year over last, Bloomberg says. A crop of new collectors from the US, Russia and Asia brought new records for artists like Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons, for... More »

Art Market Sails Over Turmoil

Weak dollar, overseas buyers help keep prices high

(Newser) - US financial markets were in chaos this year, but the art market certainly wasn't. The expanding ranks of the super-rich, the weak dollar, and emerging connoisseurs from Russia, China, India, and the Middle East kept auction houses in fine form, the AP reports, with postwar and contemporary works—including a... More »

Gauguin Sculpture a Fake

'The Faun' outed as impostor after decade in Chicago art museum

(Newser) - After a decade on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, a ceramic figure allegedly sculpted by Paul Gauguin was revealed yesterday to be a fake. The museum discovered 'The Faun,' a half-man, half-goat figure, to be the work not of the 19th century French artist, but of a... More »

Rich Ruskies Buy Back Their Heritage

Billionaires snapping up art that left the country under Soviets

(Newser) - The super-rich of the new capitalist Russia are busy buying back a treasure trove of Russian art, much of it bought up on the cheap by foreign collectors after the 1917 revolution. This week, a throng of Russian billionaires walked away with most of the good stuff from a series... More »

Rockwell Santa Painting Sells for $2.17M

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... More »

Matisse Pulls Impressive $33.6M

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... More »

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