Sotheby’s announced that its will soon hold its first evening auction of Indian works in 12 years, a collection of 43 works from collector and dealer Amrita Jhaveri.  The upcoming auction will be exhibited in New York, London and New Delhi in advance of the sale, and will include works by Tyeb Mehta, Francis Newton Souza and Syed Haider Raza, with a total value of $7 million. “Her father and mother were also collectors and knew various artists. But I believe that these are her works.” Says Yahmini Mehta, international director of Indian and South-east Asian art at Sotheby’s. (more…)

Painter Jean-Michel Basquiat’s tribute to his favorite writer, William Burroughs, titled Five Fish Series will be on the auction block at Sotheby’s February 12th Contemporary Arts sale. The work is estimated to sell from £4.25 million to £6.25 million.  “Basquiat is the blue chip artist of the moment,” said Sotheby’s contemporary specialist Alex Branczik. “He is recognised today in perhaps the same way he recognized Burroughs in the 1980s as someone who was streets ahead of his time – Basquiat is the artist who everybody wants at the moment so we have high hopes of it doing well at auction.” (more…)

On February 5th, Sotheby’s will offer Salvador Dali’s portrait of international socialite Mona Bismarck as part of their Modern Art auction.  The painting will look to follow the recent spike in auction prices for Dali’s work, and is forecasted to sell at $2.41 to $3.21 million.  Samuel Valette, a specialist at Sotheby’s, calls the estimate for “Portrait of Mrs. Harrison Williams” “a fair estimate that leaves room for excitement.” (more…)

An 18th century Chinese vase made for the Qianlong emperor has been sold for less than half of its last auction price.  The vase had sold for a record $83 million at auction two years ago, but was put back on the market after its buyer, collector Wang Yaohui, failed to pay.  The vase was recently resold for an undisclosed price said to be between  $32 million and $40 million.  “It’s the right price,’’ Dealer Roger Keverne says. “That was the figure at which most people were interested when the vase was originally offered. It’s settled to its true value.’’ (more…)

A 1932 painting of Pablo Picasso’s mistress is expected to sell for as much as $56 million at auction next month.  Femme assise pres d’une fenetre has been placed on sale by Sotheby’s auction house, and is guaranteed to sell courtesy of a third-party, “irrevocable” bid.  The 61-lot auction on February 5th will also include works by Claude Monet and Joan Miró, among other notable surrealist and impressionist painters, and is valued at $240 million.

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An Amedeo Modigliani portrait of the artist’s common-law wife may command up to $35.5 million at auction next month in London.  The 1919 painting of the artist’s common-law wife, titled Jeanne Hebuterne (au Chapeau), is part of a 78-lot auction of Impressionist and Surrealist works by Christie’s International, and also includes works by Henri Matisse and Joan Miró.  The total sale is valued at $237 million, and will take place on February 6th.

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Sotheby’s total sales for art and antiques appear to be down by 10% this year, according to the figures on Sotheby’s website, says the Telegraph. The auction house realized $4.4 billion in auction sales this year; however that figure does not include private sales, which increased significantly this year. Last year the auction house realized $5.8 billion in total sales, with around $800 million of that from private sales. (more…)

In a record-breaking auction, the black chalk “Head of a Young Apostle” by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael), sold Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 for $47.8 million. This is the highest price paid for any work on paper, and the second highest for any Old Master, after Ruben’s “Massacre of the Innocents” which raised $78.2 million at Sotheby’s in 2002. The highest bidder was Natasha Mendelsohn, who bids on behalf of clients for Sotheby’s (BID) London.  (more…)