The Detroit Free Press reports on the $100 million sale of Paul Cézanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue du bosquet du Château Noir by the The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in 2013, which would make it one of the 15 most expensive works ever sold.  “This was really a once-in-a-lifetime offer,” says Ford House president Kathleen Mullins. “The family thought it was a way to guarantee the estate would be taken care of the way Eleanor would have wanted.” (more…)

As the U.S. renews diplomatic relations with Cuba, critics and market leaders are predicting a new rush of interest in the island’s arts community.  “I believe Cuban art has been a best-kept secret among a few collectors,” says collector Howard Farber, “and now that Cuba is opening up to us I think more people will discover a genre that’s fresh and great.” (more…)

The LA Times reviews the departure of both Christie’s and Sotheby’s CEO’s this year, and investigating the motivations behind each’s departure.  “I think it makes dramatic copy to characterize boardroom confrontations,” says William Ruprecht, the soon to depart Sotheby’s head.  “The fact is, the board and I have had extremely civilized conversations. Dan has been respectful to me and only respectful. It has been an orderly and thoughtful process.” (more…)

Little more than one week has passed since Christie’s CEO Steven Murphy announced he will be leaving his post, but the auction house is already seeing more position changes, as Doug Woodham, president of its Americas division for the past two years, has announced he will step down.  Jussi Pylkkanen will be taking over for Murphy.  “Jussi Pylkkanen will be responsible for the global management of Christie’s art specialist community and for the global development of client engagement,” Christie’s said in a statement. (more…)

A recent article in Financial Times by writer Bendor Grosvenor takes a discerning look at the specter of price speculation in the contemporary market, and notes some of the more manipulative practices in guarantor purchases.  “To liven things up, they are allowed to bid the work up during the sale too. But if they happen to buy it, their presale negotiation (again, undisclosed) means they will not pay anything like the “price” reported by the auction house, and nor will the new ‘value’ of the work be representative,” says Grosvenor.  “Almost half of the lots in Christie’s sale last week were guaranteed.” (more…)

Frank Stella, Concentric Square (1966), via Phillips

The Phillips Contemporary Evening Sale concluded Thursday evening, capping off the fall auction season with a staid, relatively stable performance.  While the sale lacked some of the flair and fireworks of the proceeding evening at Christie’s, a number of notable sales defined the evening, as the auction house achieved a final tally of $52 million, with 8 of the 47 lots on offer failing to sell. (more…)

An article in Forbes traces the conclusion of the modern and contemporary art auctions over the past two weeks, and places the overall sales during the two series of sales at an unprecedented $1.78 billion.  “We’ve seen a trend over the last few years where clients are going into hard assets, from real estate to art, which is a neutral currency,” says Citi Bank head of art advisory and finance, Suzanne Gyorgy.  “We continue to see U.S. collectors discretely buying at a high level.” (more…)

Andy Warhol, Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] (1963), via Christie’s

The market has a new world auction record after Christie’s monumental sale last night in New York, an $852.9 million benchmark that saw 92% of the works find buyers, and 69 of the 75 works on sale exceed $1 million in its final sales total.  Capitalizing on a remarkably strong selection of works and an eager buying pool, the auction saw a number of impressive figures reached, as well as several artist records fall. (more…)

Mark Rothko, No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange) (1951), via Sotheby’s

Following a strong sale of works from the Mellon Collection last night, many were expecting Sotheby’s to continue with an exceptional start to the auction week, and given the strong offering the auction house had on view this past week at its York Avenue exhibition space, it was conceivable that it would bring forth a competitive sale.  However, a number of major passes and underwhelming bids during the sale left the auction house with what could best be classified as a moderate success with $343 million tally, as a number of records were set, while other works failed to live up to initial estimates. (more…)

The New York Times reports that hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen is the collector who purchased Alberto Giacometti’s Chariot last week at Sotheby’s for over $100 million.  “Steve is a very serious, very astute collector,’’ says dealer William Acquavella said. “He also has just the right instincts, ones that can’t be learned from reading art history books.’’ (more…)

An article on CNBC this week notes that the battle for control of Sotheby’s auction house against investor Dan Loeb cost the company upwards of $20 million in fees for legal defense and a $10 million reimbursement to Loeb for his own fees.  The full total in expenses makes up nearly half of the company’s net income during the time period. (more…)

The New York Times highlights the challenges faced by a growing online auction market, including a relative unwillingness by collectors to exceed certain prices when bidding for work, and concerns about work authenticity and provenance.  “They feel comfortable up to about $10,000,” said Ben Hartley, a managing director at Auctionata, an online auction company. “Beyond that, people are still needing levels of trust. Online purchases are going to take time reaching the upper limits.” (more…)

Edouard Manet, Le Printemps (1881), via Art Observed

Christie’s concluded its sale of Impressionist and Modernist works last evening, capping a short but successful 39 lot sale that only saw four works fail to find a buyer, and which achieved a final tally $165,635,000. (more…)

Alberto Giacometti, Chariot (1951-52), via Art Observed

Sotheby’s Evening Sale for Impressionist and Modern Art concluded last night, capping a successful if occasionally unpredictable auction that achieved $422.1 million in sales, the highest record of sale for the auction house in its history. (more…)

Outside the Grand Palais for FIAC, all photos via Art Observed

As the doors to one fair close, another set has opened on the opposite side of the English channel.  Paris’s FIAC is now in full swing after opening its VIP preview yesterday at the Grand Palais, packing in guests to view the fair’s deep selection of works from Europe and abroad.  (more…)

The annual Art Review Power 100 Ranking has been published, with Tate Director Nicholas Serota topping the list.  Serota is followed close behind by David Zwirner (who maintains his number two ranking from last year) and Iwan Wirth.  Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, last year’s number 1 entry, has been placed this year at 13th. (more…)

Alexandrea Da Cunha at Thomas Dane, all photos via Andrea Nguyen for Art Observed unless otherwise noted

The last hours of Frieze London have come and gone, with a sizable portion of the $2.2 billion in works on sale changing hands over the course of the week, with a number of noteworthy sales, performances and events capping the fall art staple. (more…)

In an interview with Bloomberg, Christie’s chief executive officer Steven Murphy has commented on the ongoing growth of the contemporary auction market, noting that sales are only increasing, and that Christie’s is increasingly focused on digital auctions.  “We have 14 exhibition spaces around the world where we exhibit the art, and we’ve really grown our accessibility to clients through the online experience,” he says.  “What brings the most consignments is the number of buyers.” (more…)

Next month, Christie’s New York will place a landmark set of 21 “Film Stills” by Cindy Sherman on sale, a set of works from early in the artist’s career that carries an estimate of $6 million – $8 million.  The stills were originally collected by curator by Ydessa Hendeles, who sold them in turn to industrialist Mitchell P. Rales, who noted his intent to keep the works together as a set.  “We are deep into Cindy’s work and will continue to collect it,” he says. “Ydessa did a fabulous job putting it together, and it would be almost impossible to replicate it today.” (more…)

Christie’s auction of works from the Essl Collection launched Frieze week last night in London, with the 44-lot sale attracting £46.9 million in sales, within the estimate for the evening.  The exhibition cover lot, Gerhard Richter’s Netz, failed to sell at auction, but ultimately sold privately after the auction for £5.5 million.  “Through the proceeds of this sale, the long-term future of the Essl Museum is now secured,” Karlheinz Essl said in a statement. (more…)

Joe Bradley, Untitled (2011), via Christie’s

Last evening, Christie’s auction house closed its first auctions of the fall season in London, a successful affair that saw only 5 of the 46 lots on sale go unsold, with a final sales tally of £40,344,500, settling firmly into the auction house’s estimated £32 million to £47 million sales range. (more…)

Christie’s has announced that it will be offering a series of three classic Magritte canvases at its New York Impressionist and Modern Art sale next month, including Mesdemoiselles de l’Isle Adam, 1942 (estimated at $5-$7m).  Magritte has been a strong seller in recent years, with a sizable percentage of his top sales occurring in the past five years. (more…)

Carsten Höller, Dice (2014), via Gagosian

After a summer pause, the major art fair circuit will look to get back up and running this fall, as collectors, dealers and artists flock to Regent’s Park in London for the 2014 edition of the Frieze Art Fair. (more…)

Peter Doig, The Heart of Old San Juan (1999), via Christie’s

The fall auction season will get back underway this week, as the bustle of Frieze London will also play home to the first major evening sales since early this summer.  With major lots offered at Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, buyers in the British capital will compete over a number of classic works alongside their recent purchases at Regent’s Park.

Francis Bacon, Study for a Portrait (1954), via Sotheby’s

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