Joaquín Sorolla’s “Barcas en la Playa” Doubles Low Estimate at Sotheby’s Sale

LONDON.- Sotheby’s sale of 19th-Century European Paintings in London today realised £7,168,400 / €7,937,589 – surpassing the pre-sale high estimate of £6,748,600/ €7,472,744, and obtaining sell through rates of 70.2% by lot and 88.4% by value. Public institutions pitted themselves against private collectors and trade, driving prices over estimate in many instances. Overall, 41.6% of the works sold today achieved prices in excess of high estimate. The top lot of the day was Joaquin Sorolla’s “Barcas en la Playa”, which [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell “The Old Dealer” by Charles Spencelayh-Artist’s Masterpiece

LONDON.- Sotheby’s sale of Victorian and Edwardian Art on Thursday, December 17, 2009 will bring together some 100 works by leading artists of the era and is expected to raise in excess of £4.2 million. Among the categories of works to be offered will be a strong contingent of classical, mythological, genre, landscape and fairy pictures. The sale will include a quintessential work by Charles Spencelayh (1865-1958). Considered his masterpiece, The Old Dealer (The Old Curiosty Shop) was immensely popular [...]

Fine Portrait by York’s Most Famous Artist Bought by York Art Gallery

YORK- One of the finest portraits ever painted by York ’s most famous artist has been purchased by York Art Gallery. William Etty’s ambitious Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball was commissioned in 1833 by MP Charles Watkin Williams–Wynn and depicts two of the patron’s five daughters. It is one of only a handful of society portraits painted by the artist. The acquisition was made possible thanks to the generosity of Friends of York Art Gallery – which gave £44,000, [...]

Bonhams to Sell “White Gold: One of the Finest Collections of Meissen in the World”

LONDON.- The preferred gifts of kings, Meissen porcelain, from many of the noble houses of Europe, will be sold at Bonhams on November 25 2009 when the first part of the Hoffmeister Collection is auctioned. The world-famous Hoffmeister Collection was assembled over the last 40 years by two German brothers who have a passion for this rare 18th-century porcelain. Considered one of the finest collections of Meissen in the world, for the past ten years it has been on view [...]

Sotheby’s Sale of American Paintings to be Held in December

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s auction of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture on 3 December 2009 will offer collectors a rich array of works by American artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. The auction includes a number of major paintings and sculptures almost entirely unknown to the market, many of which have been in private collections for the last several decades. Works from the sale will be exhibited at Sotheby’s New York galleries beginning November 28. Featured on the cover [...]

Sotheby’s Hopes “Zero Art” Sale will Raise Plenty of Cash

LONDON.- Sotheby’s is hoping its February sale of 49 works from the so-called “Zero Art” movement will raise plenty of cash, and confidence is high after a recent New York contemporary auction that eclipsed expectations. The works from the private collection of Gerhard and Anna Lenz are expected to fetch more than 12 million pounds ($20.2 million) and will form part of the auctioneer’s London contemporary art sale in 2010. Jan Schoonhoven, “Relief R 69-1″, 104 x 104 cm. Executed [...]

Top works fail at Christie’s contemporary auction

NEW YORK— Apart from two pricey casualties, Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary week opener brought an impressive $74,154,500, with 39 of the 46 lots selling for a crisp buy-in rate of fifteen percent by lot and eighteen percent by value. Twenty-one of the 39 lots that sold made over one million dollars. The results compared to the pre-sale estimate of $61,450,000 to $88 million, which had been reduced thanks to the 11th-hour withdrawal of Andy Warhol’s rare-to-market, back cover lot, Most [...]

Top works fail at Christie’s contemporary auction

NEW YORK— Apart from two pricey casualties, Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary week opener brought an impressive $74,154,500, with 39 of the 46 lots selling for a crisp buy-in rate of fifteen percent by lot and eighteen percent by value. Twenty-one of the 39 lots that sold made over one million dollars. The results compared to the pre-sale estimate of $61,450,000 to $88 million, which had been reduced thanks to the 11th-hour withdrawal of Andy Warhol’s rare-to-market, back cover lot, Most [...]

The art market: ‘When you have the right property … you get fireworks’

The autumn sales of Impressionist and modern art held in New York this week demonstrated that big money is still available on the right works of art but that the market will mercilessly reject the run-of-the-mill. The two evening sales were an exercise in contrasts. Christie’s offered a lacklustre selection of works of art on Tuesday and failed to find buyers for almost a quarter of the 41 lots, and its total fell short of expectations, raising just $65.7m, well [...]

Christie’s Amasses $65.67 Million in a Sparse Impressionist Sale

NEW YORK — Christie’s scored beyond all hope on Tuesday night in a sale of Impressionist and Modern art that was alarmingly thin. Of the 40 paintings and sculptures offered, 28 realized an aggregate $65.67 million. In a market starved for goods, the modest signs of an apparent economic recovery in the United States stimulated art buyers. Artists represented by works currently in high demand consistently exceeded expectations. Pastel studies of ballerinas, seen by the general public as the supreme [...]