Auctioneers

Thomson, Harris works kick off fall auction season

Globe and Mail (Free subscription) | yesterday

Bullish estimates abound at Canada's three largest fine-art auction houses

Naked Carla Bruni Photo Flops At Art Auction

The Business Insider (Free subscription) | yesterday

Art auctions are hot again, but some items that should be huge, still end up as shocking flops. Telegraph : Bidding for the black and white shot, showing Miss Bruni standing pigeon-toed and covering her crotch with her hands, began at €4,000 (£3,600) but reached only €5,800, less than the undisclosed reserve price, the Drouot auction house said. The agent for the German collector who...

Bill Ackman Is Auctioning Off His Central Park West Apartment

The Business Insider (Free subscription) | yesterday

Bill Ackman sent out a letter to Majestic shareholders letting them know that after ten years, he plans to move out of the 115 Central Park West Majestic co-op. Ackman's main apartment on the 19th floor and another smaller 1-bedroom apartment on the 18th floor that is "great for staff," are both up for grabs. Curbed NY obtained a copy of Bill's letter , which lists where and when interested...

Understanding art prices

Indian Art (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009

(By Nalini S Malaviya) Now that the art market is beginning to look up, there is a lot of interest in understanding the intricacies of the market. The pricing of artworks has been a component that often requires a greater understanding of the market dynamics in order to analyze it. And, even then it may not appear entirely rational, as it is not completely deterministic or quantifiable. Many people...

Market bouncing back in time for Art Basel Miami Beach

Miami Herald (Free subscription) | 11/22/2009

When the gavel came down on Andy Warhol's painting 200 One Dollar Bills earlier this month, the usually staid audience at the Sotheby's auction house broke into applause as if they had won the bid themselves.

Peter Nitz Zurich the Ultimate in Understated Bejeweled Handbags

Luxist (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009

Peter Nitz creates unique leather goods that represent his own personal vision of what a sophisticated luxury aesthetic embodies. A former Assistant Director of Acquisitions at an auction house, Peter has a unique eye for quiet luxury and handcrafts each piece himself. He refined his abilities for two and a half years at the knee of a former Hermes craftsman, who he encountered on a weekend trip to...

Make A Bid On Slick Rick's Diamond Encrusted Camouflage Eye Patch...

The Daily Swarm - Headlines (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009

Slick Rick’s Eye Patch : Phillips de Pury’s Music Auction : Phillips de Pury is an esteemed auction house dating back to 1796. Its clientele includes Marie Antoinette, Beau Brummell and Napoleon. A different ilk of bidders, however, will be raising their paddles this Saturday as the firm holds its inaugural Music sale. The auction’s 231 lots are a constellation of music-inspired...

A HUGE Night At The Art Auctions, As Sotheby's Hits One-Year High

The Business Insider (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009

One of the most reliable indicators around is the value of Sotheby's (BID), which always forms sharp peaks as speculative froth gets the most ridiculous. Here's a long-term chart, and you'll see exactly what we mean. But now it's coming back, sitting at a one-year high: The world has completely changed since the March lows, particularly as it pertains to rich people spending cash on expensive, unnecessary...

China Steps Up Pressure and Calls for Return of Art Treasures from Abroad

Artdaily (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009

BEIJING (REUTERS).- China has ratcheted up pressure for imperial treasures to be repatriated, condemning overseas auctions of its relics and demanding they come home. China is particularly eager to get back a series of bronze animal heads looted in 1860 by British and French soldiers when they burned down the Qing emperors' summer palace in Beijing. China's drive to recover the heads has alarmed Western...

How Do We Reform the Art World?

Hrag Vartanian (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009

Charlie Finch has an interesting idea: The auction houses should be required by law to tell us who bought what, but, more importantly, transparency would be in the best interests of the auction world because more people would get involved and it would be more fun! Unfortunately, “fun” is the last thing that art world elitists are [...]

Dow Jones Writer Surveys The Current Art Auction Market

Art Knowledge News (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - Strong sales at the auction houses this month may not yet signal a broad recovery for the art market. The art community was pleasantly surprised when sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art at New York's top auction houses, Sotheby's (BID) and Christie's International, brought in about $596 million combined. It represented a 46% increase over spring sales in May.Leading...

Buying Art in the Information Age : Open Thread

edward_ winkleman (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009

I remember it like it was yesterday. Art market articles across the spectrum of the art press spreading the story in sync of how the new boom of the early 2000's was quite different from the previous booms because the collectors buying then were so much better informed than those who had come before them. In 2003, for example, art market guru Richard Polsky wrote : In this day and age, with information...

Today I nailed my first long

Cara Community - Comments (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009

In reply to Daily Trading & Social Commentary for Nov. 13 : Today I nailed my first long term capital gain since Oct 1 and I don't know whether to laugh or cry. You see, I only made 12 cents on the sale after commissions. Laughable but I was glad to be out, finally. The stock was Sotheby's (BID) which has a high Beta and a low div return at the present price. BID and TIF are indicators of the...

Taking The Temp Of The Art Auction Market

ArtsJournal (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009

"While prices for the best works seemed high and bidding was often deep, the volume of sales -- nearly $600 million between the two companies -- was vastly diminished from a year ago, when Sotheby's and Christie's sold a combined $729 million or two years ago when the market peaked at $1.6 billion. But the relief that prices are crawling back up was palpable."...

• Art Prices (and Mood) Inch Back Up - New York Times

Art Market Shows Signs of Recovery

ShoppingBlog.com (Free subscription) | 11/15/2009

The Wall Street Journal reports that the art market may be on the mend. The fall art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's showed recovery in certain markets. Above is Picasso's "Bust D'Homme," which sold for $10.3 million, although the estimate was $12 million. The U.S. art market appears to be on the mend. The major fall art auctions may not have sold everything on offer, but collectors showed...

Watch Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 3

Priandra | 09/29/2009

Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 3 aired 28 September, 2009 It’s a face-off between Chuck and Blair when they both want to bid on the same item at Sotheby’s. Meanwhile, Serena suspects that Carter may have return to his old habits, while Georgina takes an interest in Dan, and Vanessa suspect something is not right with Scott. Watch Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 3 online.

Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 3 “The Lost Boy” Synopsis

elvisjal | 09/15/2009

BLAIR VS. CHUCK It’s an Upper East Side face-off when Blair (Leighton Meester) and Chuck (Ed Westwick) both set their sights on a particular item up for bid at Sotheby’s and the personal stakes are high. Serena (Blake Lively) suspects that Carter (guest star Sebastian Stan) may be up to his old habits,

• Gossip Girl (3.03): The Lost Boy - Tv Zine