Vincent Van Gogh’s Night Cafe will remain hanging at Yale University, after the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal over its ownership by Pierre Konowaloff, who claims the work was stolen from his family during the Russian Revolution.  “This is the end of the road,”Konowaloff’s lawyer, Allan Gerson says. “There is not much I or anyone can do except respect the rulings of the court, but I do believe there has been a miscarriage of justice.” (more…)

Pablo Picasso, La Gommeuse (1901), all photos via Sotheby’s

The first week of sales is in the books in New York, as Sotheby’s concluded its Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale last night, following up on a somewhat lackluster sale the prior evening with a briskly paced sale and solid results that lost momentum in the late minutes of the event, ultimately selling 36 of 47 lots for a final tally of $306,712,000. (more…)

Dutch police have arrested a man accused of trying to sell a counterfeit Van Gogh painting for â‚¬15 million, claiming the piece was an early study for the artist’s work The Harvest.  Several buyer had expressed interest in the work, which had forged papers claiming authenticity by the Van Gogh Museum. (more…)

Vincent Van Gogh, Installation View, via Art Observed

While the Metropolitan Museum of Art is well-known for its constantly rotating series of special exhibitions, this summer sees a new focus on the museum’s permanent collection. For the first time in over a decade, the Met has united its collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh under one roof, where they will stay for the next six months. Typically scattered across the globe on loans to various museum, the Met’s seventeen paintings by the artist is the largest such collection in North and South America. (more…)

Many of Vincent van Gogh‘s works have been in Arles, France for around a decade since the artist worked there, but due to absence of exhibition space, no one was able to see them. After a three-year remodeling project, the antiquated Hôtel Léautaud de Donines has been officially transformed into a modernized gallery that will contain and display van Gogh’s treasured works to the public. “There was no space like this in Arles before,” said Maja Hoffmann from the Fondation van Gogh. “We can host van Gogh at anytime now. This is what we really call the permanent home for van Gogh.”

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In a desire to combine art and science, artist Diemut Strebe has created a copy of Vincent van Gogh’s ear by using living cells of the great-great-grandson of Van Gogh’s brother.  The newly created ear is currently on display at The Centre for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, and is planned to be shown in New York next year.

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‪‬Vincent Van Gogh would celebrate 159 years today, born March 30, 1853 in Zundert, the Netherlands, later committing suicide at age 37 when he “walked into a wheat field and shot himself in the chest” and died two days later [AO Newslink]

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‪‬New Van Gogh biography proposes the artist died of murder, not suicide [AO Newslink]

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Is this £1,500, internet purchased drawing a lost portrait of Vincent Van Gogh? [AO Newslink]

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Vincent Van Gogh, Poppy Flowers (Vase and Flowers), c. 1887. Image via BBC News.–>

A Van Gogh painting valued at $55 million dollars was cut from its frame and taken from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo on Saturday. Despite reports that the painting, referred to as either ‘Poppy Flowers’ or ‘Vase and Flowers,’  had been recovered from an Italian couple at the Cairo airport yesterday, Egyptian officials now confirm that the painting remains missing.

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Picasso’s Portrait d’Angel Fernandez de Soto sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for £34,761,250 – the 2nd highest price for a work of art sold by Christie’s in London (est. £30-40million)

Last night Christie’s held London’s biggest ever art auction when 46 Impressionist and Modern works racked up £153 million ($227 million), but the total was off from the pre-sale estimate of £164-231 million. While nearly quadrupling the anemic $60.4 million brought in by Christie’s at the same sale last June, tonight’s results suggest that while the art market may have recovered, pricing points are still a moving target. The sale was dominated by UK and European bidding – that includes Russia and former Eastern Bloc countries – which bought 55 percent of the lots sold, the U.S. accounted for 40 percent, and Asia for the remaining five percent. The sale saw only 46 of the 62 lots on offer sell, for a buy-in rate of 25 percent by lot and just 26 percent by value. Eight lots sold for over five million pounds and 31 broke the million-pound mark (37 works sold over $ 1million).

More text, images and related links after the jump…
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Nymphéas, Claude Monet (est. £30 – 40million)

The June sales in London are packed with potentially record-breaking Impressionist and modern works that are expected to fetch a combined total of £300-450 million. If the pre-sale estimates are realized, these the most lucrative series of auctions ever held in London, easily surpassing the £298 million realized in June 2008 before the global economic meltdown during which the June sales achieved just £96 million. Giovanna Bertazzoni, Director and Head of Impressionist and Modern art at Christie’s, London has noted the recent confidence renewed in vendors in light of the the strong results witnessed at auction over the last year, “we are witnessing a great willingness from clients to consign works of art of the highest quality. There is a fierce international demand in the art market, particularly for the rarest and the best, and the market itself is now truly global as illustrated at our auction in New York in May where we saw bidding from Russia, China and the Middle East, as well as from Europe and the Americas.”

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Portrait of Ángel Fernández de Soto, Pablo Picasso (est. £30-40million)

More images, text and related links after the jump….
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Self-Portait as an Artist (1888), by Vincent Van Gogh, via The Royal Academy of Arts

Currently on view at the Royal Academy of Art is a major exhibition of the work of Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1893) and his incredible written correspondence. The show exhibits 35 original letters which have rarely been exhibited to the public due alongside 65 paintings and 30 drawings. The grouping of such works in different artistic disciplines reveals how closely the artist’s writing was interlocked with his painting.

Still-Life with a Plate of Onions (1889) by Vincent Van Gogh, via The Royal Academy of Art

More images, text and related links after the jump…

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New MOCA Director, Jeffrey Deitch. Via LATimes

More on  MOCA’s new director, Jeffrey Deitch, who brings his more business-oriented background to the Museum in LA: [Bloomberg] Deitch’s contract with the museum has certain safeguards against conflicts of interest that might arise from his foot in the business world– among the new rules, Deitch must notify the museum’s board of anything he adds to or sells from his collection. [LATimes]

Eli Broad and his Broad Art Foundation reveal that they are considering 3 different Westside locations on which to build and endow a museum for his art collection. The third site was recently revealed as being a ten-acre parcel on the campus of West LA College in Culver City.  [LA Times]

Works by Picasso and Henri Rousseau have been stolen from a private villa in the South of France, marking the country’s second major art robbery in that week– (work by impressionist painter Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseilles only days before). [FT]

To stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world…

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Tacita Dean’s Christmas tree, ‘Weihnachtsbaum‘ at Tate Britain via Zimbio

The Tate has been embracing the Christmas spirit this week with a series of headlining seasonal happenings.  The Tate Christmas Tree 2009, “Weihnachtsbaum” designed by Tacita Dean, shocked critics by actually appearing “Christmassy”[Bloomberg]  This weekend, Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall was taken over by Rob Pruitt‘s festive ‘Flea Market’ – originally held at Gavin Brown’s Passerby gallery in New York in the late 1990s, this event was programmed to coincide with the Tate Modern exhibition Pop Life: Art in a Material World, in which Pruitt also appears [POP Magazine]

Italian police have seized works of art belonging to Carlisto Tanzi – founder of the Italian firm Parmalat who collapsed in a massive fraud scandal in 2003. The 19 paintings and drawings, included works by Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh, and is estimated to be worth more than 100million euros [BBC News]

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Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon that will appear in New York’s Madison Square Park in March 2010 via ArtInfo

Antony Gormley has announced plans to install 31 nude sculptures cast from his own body in and around Madison Square Park in Manhattan’s Flatiron District beginning March 26 [NY Times]

to stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world read more…..
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Performa 09 party via Artinfo

-To benefit Performa 09, party designer Jennifer Rubell invites 600 guests to “Creation” held at X Initiative in Chelsea in New York, where 3,600 drinking glasses, a pyramid of unshelled peanuts and 2,000 pound hillock of honey-soaked ribs were among the excess of food being served (Performa 09/ Food for Thought) [The Moment]

-In related, To mark the start of Performa 09 MoMA invited Fischerspooner to stage a show (Performance Art Enters the Museum) [Artinfo]

-In related, At Haunch of Venison in New York Marina Abramovich, Leandro Erlich, Mickalene and Rob Wynn pair with NYC pastry chefs to create performances; cakes were served by topless models (Kreemart or Cream Art Performance at Haunch of Venison) [NY Art Beat]

-Bikes used by Lance Armstrong and with frames designed by contemporary artists fetch $1.3 million at auction in Sotheby’s, among them Damien Hirst’s sold for $500,000 (Armstrong’s Tour de France Bikes Fetch $1.3 Million at Auction) [Bloomberg]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)

Vincent van Gogh, “Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night” (1888). Via How Stuff Works

Beginning in January 23, 2010, the Royal Academy of Arts will host a landmark exhibition of Vincent van Gogh’s work with a focus on his private correspondence through letters. Over 35 original letters penned by Van Gogh will be showcased in this exhibition along with approximately 65 paintings and 30 accompanying drawings. The letters, as the centerpiece of the exhibition, will tie together the principal themes found in the actual artwork.

Related Links:
The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters [Royal Academy of Arts]
Van Gogh’s letters: the definitive edition [The Art Newspaper]
What Van Hogh’s letters reveal of his life [Financial Times]
The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters [Art Museum Journal]

Vincent van Gogh, “Van Gogh’s Room at Arles” (1889). Via Scituate.

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van Gogh’s “Ernte in der Provence” (1888), at Kunstmuseum Basel.

The Kunstmuseum Basel is currently showing works by the master painter Vincent van Gogh.  Seventy paintings, both better- and lesser-known, are featured in this first large-scale showing of exclusively landscape works by the artist.  The van Gogh paintings will be accompanied by a biographical video on the artist as well as forty landscape pieces by his contemporaries.  The intended result gives patrons a look at van Gogh’s contribution to the evolution of technique and concept in landscape work. The show closes on September 27.

Related links:
Kunstmuseum Basel
Switzerland’s art blockbuster of the year: Van Gogh landscapes [GenevaLunch]

Vernissage has video of the exhibition.

More images and story after the jump…

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Damien Hirst’s ‘For the Love of God’ via Artinfo

Ukrainian collector Viktor Pinchuk, who is currently hosting Damien Hirst’s retrospective in Kiev, is revealed as the fourth stakeholder in the artist’s platinum, diamond-encrusted skull, which has yet to sell despite a £35 million offer from Alberto Mugrabi [The Art Newspaper]
in related, Fiats decorated by Hirst have had little problem selling at a London charity auction [Art Review]
Two proposed tax-free ports in Paris and Singapore aim to revolutionize international art handling [NY Times]

Roxy Paine with one of his ‘Dendroid’ sculptures via Artinfo

National Gallery of Art commissions a Roxy Paine ‘Dendroid’ sculpture [National Gallery of Art via Artnet]
Art Basel’s Marc Spiegler says that now is an essential time for collectors to buy work from galleries to support artists and local art scenes [ArtInfo]
In conjunction with Saatchi, the Times lists top 200 artists of the 20th century with Picasso and early Modernists at the front [TimesUK]
Three arts professionals describe how they collect for their own homes [Financial Times]

Sam Francis, Grey, the subject of an auction dispute at Christie’s

Shipping magnate Gregory Callimanopulos appealing court decision in auction dispute with Christie’s and Broad Art Foundation over Sam Francis’ ‘Grey’ [ArtForum]
Art during the Nazi regime: Van Meegeren and Göring, forgery and thievery [New York Times]
Unusual Renoir painting recovered in Venice 25 years after it was stolen [Artinfo]

Edward Hopper, Rooms by the Sea, recently acquired by Yale University. via ArtDaily

Yale University counter-sued over Van Gogh painting ‘The Night Café,’ seized during the Communist takeover of Russia [Bloomberg.com].
In related, Yale University Art Gallery acquires Edward Hopper preparatory drawings ‘Rooms by the Sea’ and ‘Western Motel and the Study’ [ArtDaily]
Young collectors pooling resources and sharing art [Financial Times]

Pablo Picasso’s Homme à l’épée for sale in London. via The Telegraph.

€7 – 10 millionv notebook of Picasso sketches discovered stolen from the Picasso museum in Paris [ArtDaily]
and in related, two ‘Musketeer’ paintings by the artist to be auctioned at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, respectively [The TelegraphUK]
As early as 2010, the Louvre may be at risk financially, despite a wave of acquisitions totaling an estimated  €38 million [NYTimes]

Andreas Gursky’s ‘James Bond Island III’ via FOTO8

An interview of Andreas Gursky in which he speaks of scaling down his monumental prints, the influence Bernd and Hilla Becher, and working with North Korea [FOTO8]
Vito Acconci closes his studio, citing cash flow troubles [The Architect’s Newspaper via ArtInfo]

Massimiliano Gioni navigates Venice during the Biennale opening via NY Times

Following curator and critic Massimiliano Gioni and his various party obligations at the Venice Biennale [NY Times]
Points on whether or not the recession is indeed good for art [GuardianUK]
Gagosian has hired Richard Meier to double the space in his Los Angeles Gallery [The Art Newspaper]

62 Imlay Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, recently leased by Christie’s for storage

Christie’s leases a building for storage in Red Hook, in what is likely one of the largest real estate deals in Brooklyn this year [Brownstoner]
A guide to investing in contemporary art in current market conditions [NY Times]
Sotheby’s London Russian Art Evening Sale totals £7.9m with 17 of 28 lots sold [Art Market Monitor]

Video of Banksy’s exhibition in Bristol via BBC

Banksy secretly sets up exhibition in Bristol museum [BBC]
Beginning June 16, 2009 the Metropolitan Museum of Art will display ‘The Torment of Saint Anthony,’ now widely believed to be Michelangelo’s first painting, before it goes to its new home at Kimball Museum in Texas [ArtDaily]

Picasso’s Château de Vauvenargues via Artinfo

Picasso’s Château will open to the public this summer [Artinfo]
Billionaire collector Eli broad contends that the downturn in the art market has bottomed [Bloomberg]
Christie’s similarly calls a leveling off of the art market’s downshift [Reuters]

Tracey Emin’s ‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1996’ via The Independent

In an act that summons issues of appropriation of artistic works, the Chapman brothers, just before Tracey Emin’s White Cube show in London,  announce an unauthorized rebuild of Emin’s infamous tent which was destroyed by the same 2004 art storage warehouse fire that burned their work as well [The Independent]
Damien Hirst is looking for identical twins to sit in front of his spot paintings for 100 days in the Tate Modern [Boing Boing]
A Q&A with Michael Moses, co-creator of the Mei Moses Fine Art Index [Monocle]

Video from the opening of Museum Brandhorst in Munich via Vernissage TV

Video: The Museum Brandhorst, home of the Udo and Anette Brandhorst Collection, opens in Munich [Vernissage TV]
A couple volunteers to move their house into Miami MOCA for a Fritz Haeg work [Tuscaloosa News via Art in America]

Sanyu’s ‘Cat and Birds’ via Christie’s set a record at auction for Chinese oils

Hong Kong auctions small but strong [Bloomberg]
and in related, ART HK 09 successful despite market jitters and swine flu fears [Artforum]

Takeshi Murakami’s ‘The Emergence of God at the Reversal of Fate’ via SLAMXHYPE

A piece from Murakami that is 5 years in the making will be unveiled in Venice on the eve of the Biennale’s opening [Slamxhype]
Warhol authentication battle moves closer to trial [Art Newspaper]

Rendering of Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi via LA Times

Construction begins on Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi, expected to be completed in 2012 or 2013 [LA Times]

Edouard Manet’s ‘The Bohemian’ at Louvre Abu Dhabi via NY Times

In related, Carol Vogel gives a preview of what is to be exhibited the Louvre Abu Dhabi [NY Times] 
and in further related, some of the works in the collection were bought in this spring’s Yves St. Laurent auction at Christie’s [Financial Times]

Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Jerry Valdes, After Titian’s (Tiziano Vecellio)’ via WSJ

Kehinde Wiley releases his first book of photographs [WallSreetJournal]
Indicted old masters dealer Larry Salander takes a job at an upstate NY gallery, selling his own paintings for $100 [Bloomberg]

Richard Serra, out-of-the-round X (1999). Album cover for Sunn O))), Monoliths & Dimensions (2009) via Frieze

Richard Serra’s work used for cover of SunnO)))’s new album Monoliths & Dimensions [Frieze]
and in related, Serra receives an honorary degree from alma mater Yale [AP]
and in further related, Yale is involved in a lawsuit over Van Gogh’s ‘The Night Café,’ allegedly stolen by the Soviet government in the 1920s [Hartford Courant via Art Market Monitor]

James Turrell’s ‘Unseen Blue’ at the James Turrell Museum via WSJ

A look at the newly-opened James Turrell Museum in Colomé, Argentina [WSJ]
A look at outsized artworks at this year’s Art Basel, featuring Sigmar Polke, Nan Goldin, Banks Violette and others [Artdaily]
and related, Frieze Art Fair announces it program for this October [Frieze]

David Zwirner via Art Info

An interview with power gallerist David Zwirner [WSJ] and more here [WSJ]
Jerry Saltz on the controversial Adel Abdessemed video of animals killing animals on display at David Zwirner [NYMag]
The Turner Prize Shortlist is announced [ArtDaily]
ArtPrize out of Grand Rapids, Michigan will award nearly $1/2 million to its winners [ArtPrize]
Art Basel announces eight works for its public art projects [ArtDaily]
A walk through Peter Brant’s new contemporary exhibition space in Greenwich, complete with a Jeff Koons sighting [NewYorker]

An annotated view of Roxy Paine’s ‘Maelstrom’ at the Met’s Roof Garden [NYMagazine]

A self portrait of Vincent Van Gogh

Book asserts that Paul Gauguin and his sword were the cause of Van Gogh’s lost ear[NYTimes] and more here’ [TelegraphUK]

A self-portrait of Paul Gauguin

And a refute of the assertion here [Bloomberg] and another non-believer here [GuardianUK]

Art Collector Nicolas Berggruen

Nicolas Berggruen to open private museum in Berlin [ArtNewspaper]
The Getty Museum will cut 205 people from its work force [NYTimes]
Sotheby’s cuts its dividends and plans to cut more jobs [Bloomberg]
Art + Auction publisher Louise T. Blouin MacBain cuts executive salaries [NYPost]

A work by Nam June Paik via  albrightknox.org

The Smithsonian receives the complete Nam June Paik archives [ArtInfo]

‘Burn, Baby, Burn’ by Roberto Matta

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired a 10′ x 30′ work by Roberto Matta [CultureMonster]

JR in Brazil

JR shows up in Brazil with more installations [WoosterCollective]
California Judge dismisses suit against MOCA regarding Takashi Murakami prints [LATimes]
NYTimes has an article on the resurgence of private sales amidst high profile failures at auctions [NYTimes]
New York Magazine on opportunities to be had in the art world [NYMag]
And an anonymous forecast on artists by their contemporaries [NYMag]
Impressionist works and their value [Economist]

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Marc Drier

Marc Dreier, the powerful attorney indicted on fraud charges totaling nearly $700 million, revealed as a substantial client of Larry Gagosian [ArtLovesMoney]
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and in related: Chris Burden on his exhibition at Gagosian Los Angeles that became entangled in the Allen Stanford fraud case [New Yorker]
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Spurred by a spate of deaccessionings, New York State looks at a bill aimed at limiting museums’ art sales [NY Times]
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Yvon Lambert closes fledgling London branch [Bloomberg]
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in in other recession-related: facing a shrunken endowment, Getty cuts its budget by a quarter [LA Times]

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via Traileraddict.com

Steve McQueen’s first feature film, ‘Hunger,’ opens in New York at the IFC Film Center [IFC film Center]
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London sees a number of Russian women as a force in the contemporary art scene [Financial Times]

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Curators of ‘New Deal’ at the Art Production Fund gallery, Matthew Moravec, left, and Kyle Thurman via NY Times

In their early 20s, two curators present an exhibition of artists 19 to 26 years old for Yvonne Force Villareal’s Art Production Fund [NY Times]
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Christian Holstad’s installation at X Initiative via NY Magazine

Jerry Saltz reviews two new energetic galleries: The Boiler in Williamsburg and X Iniatiative in the old Dia space [NY Magazine]
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The European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht displays trust in Old Masters [The Art Newspaper]
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Hirst, Serra, Koons and others bring in exceed estimates and bring in $6 million at Paris charity auction [Bloomberg]
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Asian Art Week actions sell robustly at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s [Crain’s]
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Artprice publishes its top 10 ranking of artists based on auction revenue in 2008 [ArtPrice]

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A portrait of Yves Saint Laurent by Andy Warhol via artnet

Pierre Bergé withdraws four portraits of his partner, the late Yves Saint Laurent, from an Andy Warhol exhibition in Paris four days the opening [Artinfo]
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Fashion designer contextualized art is again resilient: Sotheby’s Gianni Versace sale greatly exceeds its estimates [Artdaily]
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Yale University files suit to claim ownership of Van Gogh, after self-proclaimed descendent of previous owner lay claim to the work [Associated Press]
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Director of SFMoMA sets example on how to tackle economic difficulty [NY Times]
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Jackie Wullschlager looks at three new books that explore Darwin’s influence on Modern art [Financial Times]
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Beacon in upstate New York is an art destination [NYTimes]

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Levi’s collaborates with Stefan Sagmeister on art series featuring its iconic 501 [PaperMag]
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and in related Lucien Pellat-Finet and Marc Quinn collaborate [Vogue]
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The Chapman Brothers direct new video for PJ Harvey and John Parish [NME]
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Michael Visocchi has won the 2009 Jerwood Sculpture Park Prize [BBC]
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and in related, Pipilotti Rist has been awarded the 2009 Joan Miro Prize [Artdaily]
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A London studio visit interview with Anish Kapoor [GuardianUK]
Richard Prince, who opened at Gagosian Chelsea tonight, interviewed on VBS.TV [VBSTV]
Three public art projects from Jeff Koons, Daniel Arsham, and John Henry will be at Art Basel Miami Beach [Artdaily]
All about Maia Norman, Damien Hirst’s companion [TimesUK]
How the current times can offer art bargains [Bloomberg]
The Asian Contemporary Art Fair, on in New York from Thursday to this Monday the 10th at Pier 92, 52nd Street & 12th Avenue [Official Site]
Two portraits authenticated as Van Goghs from 1886 Paris [cbcnews]
Former MET Director Philippe de Montebello and Paula Zahn to host 13’s SundayArts [ArtDaily]
Murakami ‘Wraps’ Louis Vuitton corner on 5th and 57th in Manhattan [WWD via Kempt]

Danseuse au Repos, the 1879 painting by Edgar Degas is a highlight of this evening’s Sotheby’s auction though it remains to be seen if it will sell for its estimated $40 million, via NY Times

After extremely high sales in May which tallied $1.56 billion, and then more recently lackluster sales in London which missed low estimates by up to $40 million, as covered by Art Observed here, the art world is up for a major test in the next two weeks as Sotheby’s and Christie’s begin tonight selling contemporary, impressionist, and modern works that add up to high estimates of $1.76 billion, including a work by the Russian Kazimir Malevich (“Suprematist Composition” 1916, a $60 million geometric work) and a $40 million self-portrait by Francis Bacon and other works from high profile financiers Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. co-founder Henry Kravis and Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Officer Fuld.

Despite Pablo Picasso’s 1909 painting ‘Arlequin’ (which was estimated at $30 million) being pulled before the Sotheby’s auction recently, this evening’s Sotheby’s impressionist and modern art sale is slated to tally about $320 million and includes 71 lots including “Danseuse au repos” by French Impressionist Edgard Degas which is expected to go for $40 million (pictured above).

This auction will be followed by Christie’s $153 million high estimate November 5th sale which includes works from the estates of the widows, Rita Hillman and Alice Lawrence, and then a November 6th sale, comprised of art from various owners, estimated to total up to $344 million. Sotheby’s November 11th sale of contemporary art could total up to $281.6 million and features works by John Currin, Richard Prince, and Yves Klein. Following that is Christie’s November 12th sale with a high estimate of $321.7 million, featuring Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich’s Jean-Michel Basquiat painting of a boxer at an estimate of $12 million.

On Auctions Overall:
Big Prices, Big Risks at Fall Art Auctions [NY Times]
NY art auctions under microscope amid financial crisis [AFP]
Art world dreading declines at upcoming key NY sales [Reuters]
Kravis, Fuld Brace for N.Y. Auctions as Collectors Lower Prices [Bloomberg]
Falling under the hammer [Financial Times]
It’s not a pretty picture Christie’s, Sotheby’s may be on the hook [New York Post]
Art sales face acid test in midst of credit crunch [Financial Times]
Exceptional Work by Francis Bacon Leads Christie’s New York Post-War & Contemporary Art Sale [ArtDaily]
Things Are Cold, Clammy at City Auction Houses [NYObserver]

From ArtObserved:
Metallica’s drummer to sell Basquiat painting at Christie’s New York, November 12th auction; ‘Boxer’ to be displayed during Frieze Art Fair in London [ArtObserved]
Sotheby’s hopes to smash Russian art at auction record with $60 million sale of Malevich painting in New York on November 3rd [ArtObserved]

On withdrawn Picasso:
Picasso work withdrawn from Sotheby’s sale [Reuters]
Picasso painting pulled from sale [BBC News]
Picasso Work Is Withdrawn From Sotheby’s Sale [NY Times]
Sotheby’s Withdraws Picasso’s Arlequin From Impressionist and Modern Art Sale [Art Daily]
Picasso Withdrawn From Sotheby’s Imp-Mod Sale [Artinfo]
Picasso painting withdrawn from Sotheby’s auction [Associated Press]

Auction Information:
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale – Sotheby’s November 3 [Sotheby’s]
Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Evening Sale November 5th [Christie’s]

more pictures from the Sotheby’s Sale and other auctions after the jump…

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