Displaying items by tag: Christie's

Francois-Henri Pinault, a French billionaire and CEO of the luxury-goods brand, Kering (formerly PPR), has announced that he will return a pair of Qing dynasty bronze statues to China. The looted bronzes were part of a 2009 auction at Christie’s in Paris that sparked a campaign in China aimed at putting an end to intimidation by foreign powers. Officials from Beijing have applauded Pinault’s efforts to create a more camaraderie-focused dynamic between France and China. Pinault is the owner of the Artemis Group, Christie’s holding company.

The works to be returned to China are the bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit, which were part of a group of 12 animal heads that were looted from Beijing’s Summer Palace by French and British troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Since emerging as a powerful international force in recent years, China has been campaigning for the return of the works. Five of the bronzes have been given back to China and one is in Taiwan while the whereabouts of the remaining four pieces remain a mystery.

The bronzes being returned to China by Pinault were previously owned by French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and were put up for auction in 2009 following his death. Chinese officials voiced opposition at the time of the sale and an advisor to a Chinese government fund placed the winning bid on the bronzes but never ended up paying for them. The works were returned to Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent’s former partner.

Pinault is working with the Cultural Heritage Administration to get the bronzes back to China as quickly as possible. The decision is a clever move on Pinault’s part as his businesses, which include Gucci and Puma, have been thriving in China’s growing consumer economy.

On April 26, 2013 Christie’s announced the sale of Three Generations of Wyeth: The Collection of Eric and Cynthia Sambol, which will take place on May 23, 2013 as part of its American Art auction in New York. Comprised of thirteen works – one by N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), six by Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), and six by Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946) – it is one of the largest collections of Wyeths Christie’s has ever sold.

Eric Sambol, a 53-year-old New Jersey businessman, became captivated by the work of Andrew Wyeth after a school trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1976 to see the exhibition Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth: Kuerners and Olsons. Years later in 2000, after building an impressive collection of Hudson River School and maritime paintings, Sambol acquired his first Andrew Wyeth painting, Flat Boat. With the help of his wife Cynthia, a landscape designer, the couple’s collection grew to include works by Andrew’s father, N.C. Wyeth, and Andrew’s son, Jamie Wyeth.

Highlights from the collection include Andrew Wyeth’s Rocky Hill, an emotionally wrought watercolor of his dog Nell, which is expected to garner between $1.8 million and $2.4 million; Jamie Wyeth’s Lighthouse Dandelions, which draws on the family’s close connection to Maine and is expected to sell for $250,000-$350,000; and N.C. Wyeth’s Norry Seavey Hauling Traps Off Blubber Island, which was painted as a gift to Roger Scaife, a friend of the artist and editor at Houghton Mifflin and is expected to bring $300,000 to $500,000.    

In an effort to curb the massive debts accrued by the American Folk Art Museum’s former chairman, Ralph Esmerian, the institution has decided to sell over 200 works from its collection at an auction at Sotheby’s. Esmerian, the former owner of the jewelry company Fred Leighton, is currently serving a six-year jail sentence for wire fraud and other charges.

In 2005, Esmerian promised to donate 263 works from his illustrious collection to the Folk Art Museum. However, he used some of those same works as collateral to secure multi-million-dollar loans with Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Late last month, Manhattan’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court arranged a settlement with the museum allowing the Folk Art Museum to keep 53 of the promised works as long as they enhance the institution’s collection and aid its educational mission. The remaining works, which include paintings, sculptures, scrimshaw, and needleworks, will be sold at Sotheby’s.

The trustee responsible for liquidating Esmerian’s estate has decided to sell the remainder of the collection through Sotheby’s, much to Christie’s dismay. Christie’s filed an objection to the settlement on March 15, 2013 claiming that Sotheby’s intimidated the trustee into choosing them to host the important auction.

The Esmerian sale will be held in December 2013 or January 2014 and the profits will go towards repaying the creditors the former chairman defrauded.    

Next month, Sotheby’s and Christie’s will hold some of their most anticipated auctions. The major sales of Impressionist, modern, and contemporary art are expected to garner at least $1 billion. Most of that money will be generated from the contemporary art auctions, which have been the highest earning in recent years. The Impressionist and modern art sales are expected to bring a joint $383 million while the contemporary auctions are estimated at over $700 million.

Highlights from the auctions include the renowned collection of vacuum-cleaner tycoon Alex Lewyt at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on May 7, 2013. The 200-piece collection is valued at $65 million and includes a still-life by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) that carries a $25 million estimate and a portrait by Amedeo Modigiliani (1884-1920), which is expected to garner anywhere from $20 million to $30 million.

Christie’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art on May 15, 2013 will be lead by Jackson Pollock’s (1912-1956) Number 19, a seminal drip painting, which is expected to sell for $25 million-$35 million. It is the most important work by the artist to appear at auction in the past two decades.

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction on May 14, 2013 is also expecting a number of high priced sales. Francis Bacon’s (1909-1992) Study for Portrait of P.L. is estimated to sell for $30 million to $40 million and a painting by Barnett Newman (1905-1970), which is deemed one of the most important works from the Abstract Expressionist School, is also expected to bring $30 million to $40 million.

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale will be held on May 8, 2013 and includes works by Claude Monet (1840-1926), Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), and Alfred Sisley (1839-1899).

George Bailey, the Chairman of Business Development at Sotheby’s London has partnered with fellow Sotheby’s employee, Lucinda Blythe, to launch an independent online auction site. The Auction Room (www.theauctionroom.com) specializes in “middle market” works of art that fall just under the minimum value criteria that many big name auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s enforce.

The Auction Room’s inaugural sale of Middle Eastern Contemporary Art will take place on June 24, 2013. An accompanying exhibition will held in London so that prospective buyers can view the works in person before the online sale begins. All of the lots offered will also be available for browsing two weeks before the sale on The Auction Room’s website.

The Auction Room will also specialize in the sale of jewelry, watches, silver, ceramics, and paintings. While the website is a bold new venture, Bailey will maintain his post at Sotheby’s.

Back in January, a 17^th century masterpiece was discovered at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel, which is currently undergoing a major $267.5 million renovation. Olivier Lefeuvre, a specialist in the period at Christie’s France, first spotted the work, which is by the French painter and court artist of Louis XIV, Charles Le Brun (1619-1690). How the painting ended up in the Ritz remains a mystery, as the hotel archives lack any reference to the work.

The 400-year-old painting was sold by auction house Christie’s on Thursday, April 18, 2013 to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for $1.88 million. The Met does not have any other works by Le Brun so the acquisition will be a welcomed addition to the museum’s collection of 17^th century paintings. The masterpiece is expected to go on display at the Met at the end of May.

The painting, which depicts the killing of Trojan princess Polyxena after she was linked to the death of Achilles, had hung in one of the suites at the Ritz that designer Coco Chanel lived in for over 30 years. Proceeds from the sale will go to the foundation established by Ritz owner Mohamed Al Fayed in memory of his son Dodi, the late boyfriend of Princess Diana.

After 89 years in British collections, Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) Child with a Dove will leave the UK. The painting, which marks Picasso’s transition from a predominantly Impressionist style to his somber blue period, was sold last year to a collector in Qatar for nearly $77 million. The UK’s government quickly placed an export ban on the work in hopes that a British buyer would step up and claim the painting. The ban expired in December and no British collector or institution was able to raise the funds necessary to keep Child with a Dove in the country.

Qatar has emerged as a major force in the modern and contemporary art markets in recent years. In 2011, the emirate purchased one of Paul Cézanne’s (1839-1906) versions of The Card Players for $250 million. Other major acquisitions by the country include Mark Rothko’s (1903-1970) White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) for $72 million as well as works by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) and Richard Serra (b. 1939).  

Child with a Dove first came to the UK in 1924 after being purchased by a British collector, Mrs. R.A. Workman. The painting eventually made its way to the art collector Samuel Courtauld and following his death in 1947 was bequeathed to the Welsh Aberconway family. Christie’s sold the painting in 1947 on behalf of the Aberconways. Just last year the painting went on display at the Courtauld Gallery, which Samuel Courtauld founded, as part of the exhibition Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901. The exhibition ends on May 27, 2013 at which point the painting will be returned to Christie’s and then shipped out of the UK.  

Christie’s will present a seminal painting by Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) during their Contemporary Art Evening Auction on May 15, 2013. Created during Pollock’s most important artistic period, Number 19 (1948) is the most significant painting by the artist to appear at auction in 20 years.

One of Pollock’s famous drip paintings, Number 19 features layer upon layer of swirling silver, black, and white paint punctuated by pops of red and green. The movement of the paint mimics the movement of Pollock’s hand, creating a unique connection between the artist and the viewer.

From 1947 to 1950 Pollock was exceptionally prolific as an artist. It was during this time that he revolutionized abstract painting with his gestural drip paintings. 1948 is considered the year that Pollock truly mastered the technique, exhibiting more control over the thinned enamel paint he poured and dripped onto unprimed surfaces.

Number 19, which is an exemplary work from this remarkable period in Pollock’s career, is expected to garner anywhere form $25 million to $35 million at auction.      

On Tuesday, April 9, 2013, Christie’s announced that they have been granted a license allowing them to hold independent auctions in Mainland China, making them the first international auction house to do so. The company’s inaugural sale will be held autumn 2013 in Shanghai. Christie’s has been building its relationship with China since 1994 when the auction house set up a representative office in Shanghai.

China’s art market continues to grow at a rapid pace, making it an ideal location for international auction houses. The sale of art and antiques in China garnered $13.7 billion in 2012, making it the second largest market in the world behind the United States. The country’s strong buyer base has been active in Christie’s global auction centers in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Paris. In fact, the number of clients from Mainland China bidding at Christie’s international auctions has doubled since 2008. Christie’s presence in Shanghai will allow the auction house to sell directly to China’s growing number of wealthy buyers.  

China’s auction market is currently dominated by the country’s own Beijing Poly International and China Guardian. Sotheby’s joined forces with the state-owned Beijing GeHua Cultural Development Group last year to hold auctions in China. Sotheby’s own 80% of its venture with Beijing Gehua.

Christie’s recently granted license, which is good for the next 30 years, allows the auction house to hold sales anywhere in China, but prohibits the company from selling anything created before 1949. Christie’s plans to sell wine, jewelry, watches, contemporary Chinese paintings, and international modern paintings starting this fall.

After losing a major court case, Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky will sell a limited edition print of former Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin by Andy Warhol (1928-1987). Berezovsky hopes that the sale of Red Lenin (1987) will help him pay off legal bills stemming from the failed court case.

In 2011, Berezovsky brought a civil case in the UK High Court against Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea Football Club. Berezovsky was a former business associate of Abramovich’s and helped him acquire control of the Russian oil company, Sibneft, in the 1990s. Berezovsky accused Abramovich of blackmail, breach of trust, and breach of contract and claimed that he was threated and intimidated to sell his stake in Sibneft in 2011 for less than its actual value. Berezovsky was seeking $4.5 billion in damages.

Red Lenin will be sold as part of Christie’s Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Prints auction on March 20, 2013 in London. The brightly colored screen print is expected to garner $45,000 to $75,500.