Displaying items by tag: Christie's

Edouard Manet’s portrait of an actress will star at Christie’s fall auction where it’s estimated to bring $25 million to $35 million.

The work is widely known by its French title, “Le Printemps” (lu PRAHN’-tahm), which means “spring.” It’s been on loan at the National Gallery of Art for two decades.

The 1881 painting depicts actress Jeanne Demarsy (zhahn day-mahr-SAY’) with a frilly parasol, lacy bonnet and floral dress.

In early May, Christie's invited a group of 18 new collectors from China to visit New York. The auction house escorted the guests on guided tours through the Museum of Modern Art, arranged VIP tickets to a local art fair and threw a lavish dinner in the Rockefeller Center ballroom of Christie's. Auctioneers also reserved two discreet skyboxes overlooking the house's saleroom so the group could watch its major spring sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art.

Christie's efforts paid off: During its May 13 contemporary art sale, members of the group placed bids on at least half the top 10 priciest pieces in what became an historic, $745 million auction.

The Northampton Museum and Art Gallery and the Abington Park Museum are both being excluded from the UK’s Accreditation Scheme for museums by the Arts Council, reports the BBC. The decision to sanction the museums comes after the Northampton Borough Council, which runs both institutions, sold the Sekhemka limestone statue, an ancient Egyptian artifact, at Christie’s last month.

As reported by artnet News, the local community opposed the sale of the 4,000-year-old statue, organizing to form the Save Sekhemka Action Group. They have since dubbed the auction day “the darkest cultural day in [Northampton's] history.” The auction was also condemned by Egyptian ambassador Ahsraf Elkholy, who called it “an abuse to the Egyptian archaeology.”

Christie’s veteran and former CEO of the Qatar Museums Authority Edward Dolman has joined Phillips as chairman and CEO. He will share his time between the auction house’s London and New York headquarters, overseeing and developing a major growth strategy for the business, which will include a push abroad as well as the inclusion of new categories.

Dolman’s appointment comes at a crucial time for Phillips, which will inaugurate grand new headquarters at 30 Berkeley Square in London this October.

The art market is still crackling. Christie's International PLC said Tuesday it sold $4.5 billion of fine and decorative art during the first half of the year, up 22% from the same period a year ago—and representing a record high for the privately held company based in London. Christie's total included $3.6 billion in auction sales and $828 million in privately brokered art sales. Its private sales were up 16% compared with the first half of 2013.

Rival Sotheby's said it auctioned $3.3 billion in art during the first half, up 29.4% from the year before. The New York-based auctioneer will release consolidated totals next month.

The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, France, is currently hosting the exhibition “ArtLovers: Stories of Art in the Pinault Collection.” The show features forty works from François Pinault’s illustrious collection, including more than a third that have never been displayed in previous exhibitions of the Collection. Thirty-three artists, including Maurizio Cattelan, Urs Fischer, Dan Flavin, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, and Rachel Whiteread will be represented.

The Pinault Collection, which features paintings, sculptures, installations, video, drawings, and more, was assembled by the French businessman François Pinault. Pinault is the founder of the holding company Artemis S.A., which owns Christie’s auction house as well as a number of luxury brands. Pinault currently owns one of the biggest collections of contemporary art worldwide and in 2006, he acquired Venice’s Palazzo Grassi Punta della Dogana to display his collection. The exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum was curated by Martin Bethenod, the Director of the Palazzo Grassi.

Christie's evening auction of classical decorative arts  has realised £31,048,500/ $53,186,081/€38,934,819, marking the highest total for any and breaking the previous record established by Christie’s Exceptional Sale in 2011 at £28.7million.

The top price was paid for a controversial Egyptian statue of Sekhemka, made of painted limestone. The statue dating to the Old Kingdom, Late Dynasty 5, circa 2400–2300 B.C. was probably from Saqqara in Lower Egypt. It realised a staggering £15,762,500/ $27,001,163/€19,766,175 (estimate: £4,000,000- £6,000,000). This has set a world record price at auction for an ancient Egyptian work of art. The piece was sold off from a regional English Museum and was “originally acquired by the 2nd Marquess of Northampton during his travels in Egypt in 1849-50. It was given to the Northampton Museum either by the 3rd or 4th Marquess of Northampton prior to 1880.

Christie’s evening auction of Old Master & British Paintings realised £44,986,000/ $77,016,032/ €56,547,402. The sale attracted 145 registered bidders from 27 countries across 5 continents. The top price was paid for Venice, the Bacino di San Marco with the Piazzetta and the Doge's Palace by Francesco Guardi From The Baron Henri de Rothschild Collection, a masterpiece dating from the artist’s full maturity which realised £9,882,500/ $16,918,840/ €12,422,303, setting the second highest price for a work by the artist at auction (estimate: £8-10 million). New artist record prices at auction were achieved for works by Willem Claesz. Heda (lot 31); Matthias Stomer (lot 34); The Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (lot 36); Luca Giordano (lot 38); and Sir Henry Raeburn (lot 64), among others.

Henry Pettifer, Head of Old Master & British Paintings at Christie’s London: “This sale drew strong and enthusiastic bidding from around the world for the rarest works of the highest quality. The continued breadth of demand for Old Masters was reflected by the fact that bidders from 27 countries across 5 continents registered to bid in this auction. We are very pleased with the results of the works from The Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection which was led by Vermeer's Saint Praxedis and included a group of Italian Baroque paintings which set new record prices at auction for The Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (lot 36: £2,434,500) and Luca Giordano (lot 38: £962,500). Notable prices were also achieved for the masterpiece by Francesco Guardi from The Baron Henri de Rothschild Collection (lot 19: £9,882,500) and the Brueghel the Younger "Road to Calvary‟ (lot 13: £5,514,500), each respectively setting the second highest auction price for the artist.”

A self-portrait of Andy Warhol in a spiky fright wig sold for 2.9 million pounds ($4.98 million) at Phillips yesterday in London, concluding the spring auction season in Europe.

This week’s evening sales of contemporary art at Phillips, Sotheby’s (BID) and Christie’s in the U.K. capital produced a total of 202.4 million pounds, a 28 percent jump from the tally at equivalent events last year. New buyers from China and other international markets are boosting prices for top postwar and contemporary artists, as the works are being increasingly seen as strong investments.

Ever since Rachel Lambert Mellon died in March at the age of 103, the art world has been wondering what would become of the vast treasures of art and objects that she and her husband, Paul Mellon, had collected and lived with.

On Tuesday, Sotheby’s announced that it had landed the sale of the estate of Mrs. Mellon, winning it over its rival Christie’s. The auctions, starting in November, will be among the most highly anticipated sales from a fabled family collection, with more than $100 million of art, jewelry, furniture and decorative objects. Proceeds will benefit the Gerald B. Lambert Foundation, a charitable entity established by Mrs. Mellon, known as Bunny, in memory of her father. The foundation supports the Oak Spring Garden Library, Mrs. Mellon’s celebrated collection of rare books, manuscripts, works of art and artifacts relating to horticulture, landscape design and natural history.