Christie’s offerings for its February 4th, 5th and 7th auctions in London are already indicating a strong sale, with works by Picasso and Magritte leading an offering that is anticipated to earn nearly $380 million.  Picasso’s Femme au costume turc dans un fauteuil leads the auction, and has not been on sale in over 50 years, valued at £15-£20 million.  “This stellar sale presents international collectors and institutions with rare opportunities to acquire exceptional works with illustrious provenance by key impressionist and modern masters,” Jay Vincze, Christie’s International Director and head of its Impressionist and Modern Art Department, said in a statement. (more…)

The New York Times has published an interview with Christie’s auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen, discussing the continued growth of the contemporary market, the atmosphere of the auction, and some of the tricks in working a room.  “Someone might have collected 40 or 50 good paintings, and when the one work that he wants more than anything else comes up for auction, the auctioneer has to be very sensitive to that,” he says. (more…)

Amy Cappellazzo, Christie’s Chairman of Postwar and Contemporary Art Development, has announced that she will be leaving the company this February to work as a private dealer.  Cappellazzo joined the auction house in 2001, and is frequently touted as the reason Christie’s has experienced such profound success in the past years, but has decided to focus on more private sales and transactions.  “When I think about private sales,” she said in 2012, “I think about matchmaking—it’s literally about arranging love.”  (more…)

Christie’s is preparing for its first sale in India next week, pulling heavily from the collection of the late Mumbai-based curator Kekoo Gandhy and his wife, Khorshed Gandhy.  The works include a number of high-profile Indian artists, including Ram Kumar and Syed Haider Raza. (more…)

The Skarstedt Gallery is expanding in New York, opening a new gallery space in the former headquarters of Christie’s Haunch of Venison Gallery at 550 West 21^st Street.  Haunch of Venison had closed its doors in March of 2013. (more…)

A broad selection of works from the late collector Jan Krugier’s enormous art collection is set to go to the auction block on Nov. 4th and 5th at Christie’s in New York.  Consisting of 156 works, the selection of works includes an incredible 29 Picassos, as well as works from Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Rauschenberg, with a total estimated value of $170 million.  “Krugier saw himself as but a temporary possessor of these works. I think he’d rather like it.”  Said Christie’s deputy chair Conor Jordan. (more…)

Mark Tansey, The Raw and the Framed (1995), via Christie’s

The last major auction of Frieze Week in London concluded this evening at Christie’s, a strong sale that saw nearly all of the 55 lots on sale finding a buyer, bringing the total sales for the evening up to £27,788,900, placing the auction house as the clear leader in a week of busy auctions and impressive sales figures.

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Nets (T.W.A.) (2000), via Christie’s (more…)

On November 12th in New York, Christie’s will offer a classic triptych by Francis Bacon of fellow artist Lucien Freud, estimated to sell for an artist record of $95 million.  The piece comes from an unidentified European collection, and is one of only two Bacon triptychs of Freud.  It has never been on the auction block before. (more…)

Christie’s November 12th auction in New York will feature a classic Gerhard Richter, on sale from the collection of musician Eric Clapton.  Abstraktes Bild (809-1), which was painted in 1994, is estimated to sell between $20 and $25 million.  “Richter is certainly the greatest abstract painter working today, Abstraktes Bild (809-1) is remarkable for the illusion of space that develops, ironically, out of his incidental process: an accumulation of spontaneous, reactive gestures of adding, moving, and subtracting paint,” says Christie’s Post-War Chairman Brett Gorvy. (more…)

Christie’s completed its first auction mainland China yesterday, selling a variety of artworks, jewelry and collectibles for a total sale of $25 million.  One highlight was a painting by Pablo Picasso, which achieved a final price of over $1.5 million.  “I’m very happy with the results, with the right place, with the right people, with the right moment,” said Christie’s executive Steven Murphy.  (more…)

A selection of more than 150 works from the collection of Geneva dealer Jan Krugier will be on sale this November at Christies in New York. The auction will include works by Picasso, Kandinsky and Giaccometti. “Because of his connection with the Picasso family, no one could compete with him in terms of the volume and breadth of works in different media he was able to sell.” Says dealer Richard Nagy.
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In an unprecedented move, the final tally of Christie’s Detroit Institute of Arts appraisal later this fall will offer a rare look into the true market value of a major museum’s art collection.  Expected to reach into the billions, the valuation of the museum’s collection will add a new sense of urgency to the current budgetary crisis in Detroit, and its effects on DIA.  “This is like the weighing of souls,” says Maxwell Anderson, director of the Dallas Museum of Art. “This is biblical stuff, not the approximations that insurance companies look for. It’s extremely problematic for all museums, because it alters the public’s perception of artworks from being ciphers of public heritage of transcendent value, to objects for sale to pay other people’s debts.” (more…)

The Detroit Free Press reports that city emergency manager Kevyn Orr has contracted Christie’s to appraise a portion of the Detroit Institute of Arts‘ city-owned collection.  While some have taken this as a further step in the potential selloff of much of the DIA’s collection, Orr himself spoke out on the contrary: “There has never been, nor is there now, any plan to sell art. This valuation, as well as the valuation of other City assets, is an integral part of the restructuring process. It is a step the city must take to reach resolutions with its creditors and secure a viable, strong future for Detroit and its residents.” (more…)

Collector Charles Saatchi has announced that he will offer 50 of the largest sculptures and installations from his collection for auction at Christie’s this fall, in order to support the Gallery’s education program. The October 17th auction, held in London, will be shown in an out of use postal depot before the auction, with the offered works targeted for sale to public institutions. “We think it’s really important to open things up and give museums a chance to have a crack at acquiring these works – they need to be enjoyed and shown.” Says Saatchi Director Philippa Adams.

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A number of works from the collection of the late Jan Krugier will go on sale this fall at Christie’s in Manhattan.  The sale, estimated to bring in about $160 million, includes a 1911 landscape by Kandinsky, estimated to bring somewhere between $20 million and $25 million.  “This painting represents a world he loved, one that falls between the figurative into the abstract,” said Conor Jordan, deputy chairman of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department. (more…)

Controversially held for centuries outside of China, two bronze zodiac statues looted from Beijing’s summer palace were returned by François-Henri Pinault on Friday.  The Christie’s owner first promised to return the heads in April, during a visit to the country by president Hollande and a number of ranking French businessmen.  “This donation is a token of our family’s appreciation for China as well as our passion for the preservation of art and cultural heritage,” Mr. Pinault said in a statement. (more…)

Gursky Sells at Sotheby’s, via Sotheby’s

The final auction hammers have fallen for the first half of 2013, concluding June’s London auction weeks. While the results of this week’s Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s were solid, final sales events before the summer break showed a marked tapering off in both sales prices and quantities. With the bountiful auctions, events and fairs, including the $1.1 billion New York auctions, Frieze New York, Art Basel Hong Kong, and the Venice Biennale with its record 86,000 attendance count.

Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Isabel Rawsthorne (1966) via Sotheby’s (more…)

As Sotheby’s and Christie’s prepare for the upcoming sales in London this week, the Financial Times has published a profile on the two houses, tracing their competitive rivalry for market dominance, and their divergent tactics regarding private sales, online auctions, and increasing buyers premiums.  Says Sotheby’s President Bill Ruprecht: “We are betting our future on the fact that wealth will continue to be created and there will continue to be an economic elite, and that works of art will be relevant to them all over the world.” (more…)

François Pinault, the Christie’s owner and art collector was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal, highlighting the executive’s passion for contemporary art, and the current show of work by Rudolf Stingel at Pinault’s recently purchased Venetian palace the Palazzo Grassi.  “He is a sponge. He is willing to learn all the time,” says Elena Geuna, the former director of Sotheby’s Europe. (more…)

Following the week’s record-setting contemporary art auctions, CNBC analysts weighed in on the current setting of the contemporary art market, criticizing the easy classification of the market as a bubble set to burst, and noting the ongoing theme of art market commentary asserting a link between money laundering and the increasing speculation on the art market. (more…)

Pollock’s Number 19 Sells to Applause at Christie’s, via Charles Shoener for Art Observed

Christie’s contemporary evening sale made history last night in grand style, storming through its 72 lots to realize a world record $495 Million sales total that included new auction records for Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and 13 other artists, aided auction house’s impressively assembled catalog.  Hailing a “new era in the art market,” according to auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen, the show achieved an almost unheard of sell-through rate of 94%, with only four works failing to find buyers.  The sale also continues Christie’s growing dominance in the auction market, eclipsing the previous night’s sale at Sotheby’s with little difficulty.

The top selling lot of the night, Jackson Pollock’s Number 19, 1948 (1948), via Christie’s

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Francis Bacon, Study from Portrait of P.L. (1962), courtesy of Sotheby’s

After last week’s busy schedule of fairs (Frieze, Collective Design Fair, Pulse, Nada, Wishmeme, Cutlog, and many more) the contemporary art hub of New York City will serve as the stage for another set of high-profile art sales this week, as Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips host their Evening Post-war and Contemporary Art Sales. Sotheby’s will hold their sale of 64 lots on May 14th, Christie’s on the 15th with 72 lots and Phillips on the 16th with 38 lots, featuring the familiar auctions and price tags for by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter and Agnes Martin, alongside a number of newcomers and unique pieces that define this month’s evening auctions as a major event.

Gerhard Richter, Domplatz Mailand (1968), courtesy of Sotheby’s (more…)

This spring, Christie’s auction calendar will feature a broad selection of works from the estate of the late Dr. Mona Ackerman, a psychologist and writer who counts works by Giacometti, Picasso, and Arp in her collection, as well as a number of fine antiques and pieces of furniture.  Her wide collection of pieces will be auctioned in the weeks leading up to Christie’s Modern Art Evening Sale on May 8th in New York.  Says Paul Provost, Christie’s Deputy Chairman: “Dr. Ackerman’s collection reveals her exquisite taste and wide interests. Her collection was striking and elegant, emanating the grace and passionate enthusiasm for life, for which Ackerman was well-known.”  (more…)

Christie’s has been granted a license to operate without government oversight in mainland China, becoming the first independent auction house in the country.  The agreement comes in the wake of a reported dip in auction sales for the country last year, and some suspect the move comes as a way to introduce higher standards of authentication to the proceedings of auctions in mainland China.  “In recent years we have seen phenomenal developments take place in the global art market, particularly in China, where the market has grown at an unprecedented rate,” said Christie’s CEO Steven P. Murphy. “Today’s announcement further solidifies Christie’s position and commitment in a market which possesses a strong heritage and deep appreciation of art.” (more…)