Displaying items by tag: Sotheby's

The Cleveland Museum of Art has boosted its smallish but choice pre-Columbian collection significantly by acquiring a dozen rare and important gold objects of a type that once lured Spanish conquistadors to the New World.

Bought in March in a private sale arranged by Sotheby's in New York for an undisclosed price, the gold pieces will go on view at the museum in a special exhibition starting Saturday May 16. The museum plans to install them in the pre-Columbian galleries by August, after making room by adjusting space in display cases.

Sotheby's annual American art auction this May will have Georgia O'Keeffe's "White Calla Lily," with an estimate of $8–12 million, as its star lot.

The announcement of the offer of "White Calla Lily" comes on the heels of O'Keeffe's biggest sale, just last year. Her "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1" went for a whopping $44.4 million (three times its $15-million estimate) at Sotheby's, making it the most expensive painting by a female artist ever sold at auction.

Nearly a hundred examples of iconic Tiffany Studios works are forming the centerpiece of Sotheby’s sale of Tiffany and Prewar Design: The Warshawsky Collection in New York on May 19.

Led by the "Elaborate Peony" Lamp, circa 1910 (est. $600,000-$900,000), the variety of colorful glass works in mostly floral motifs is emblematic of the collection of noted Chicago businessman Roy Warshawsky and his wife Sarita, who assembled the works from the 1960s through the 1990s. There are also leaded glass lighting and windows, favrile glass, enamels, pottery, and bronze pieces produced by the firm founded by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Two Francis Bacon self-portraits are going on public display for the first time after resurfacing in a private collection.

Descendants of the original collector have decided to sell the paintings, which are expected to fetch £15m each at auction.

Experts knew of the works’ existence, but had no idea who had bought them soon after they were completed about 40 years ago.

The paintings will go on show at Sotheby’s in London and New York before going under the hammer in July.

A "perfect" diamond said to be so large that it draws awe-struck people across a room has sold for $22 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York.

The 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond is the largest of its clarity and cut to ever be shown at auction.

"People everywhere have been drawn to it from across the room and they are in awe of its size, particularly when they put it on their hand," said Gary Schuler, the head of Sotheby's jewelery department in New York, before the sale. "They can't believe there's a diamond this pure of such impressive scale."

The collection of the highly regarded sculptor and philanthropist Lolo Sarnoff will be presented over several several sales in New York and London throughout the spring. The selection of work on offer  spans important Impressionist & Modern Art, follows Sotheby’s legendary six-day, 700 lot auction in 1978 of the collection of Lolo Sarnoff’s step-father, Robert von Hirsch. Works by artists such as Picasso, Chagall and Renoir are expected to sell for above the estimates. 

Warren Weitman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Americas, commented: “It is a great privilege for Sotheby’s to present works from this extraordinary collection."

A private collection of musical automata that would have been created in Europe for export around the world will lead Sotheby’s New York sale of Important Watches on June 11.

The 21-piece collection, valued at $2.3 million, was assembled over 50 years, and includes pieces by renowned craftsman such as Jacquet-Droz and Piguet & Meylan.

“These works were the ultimate luxury toys of their day – a sign of wealth that epitomized Swiss technological and creative genius."

Thirteen leading interior designers and design firms have been selected to curate rooms in the second annual Sotheby’s Designer Showhouse. Located in the auction house’s Manhattan headquarters, the Designer Showhouse will be brimming with an array of treasures, including mid century modern furniture, American studio furniture, Abstract Expressionist paintings, 18th and 19th century American antiques, European antiques, Old Master paintings, contemporary art, and much more. The Showhouse will be open to the public April 11-19, 2015, culminating in a dedicated sale on April 20, 2015.

Each space in the Designer Showhouse brings together fine and decorative arts from a variety of categories offered by Sotheby’s. In addition to reflecting each designer’s singular style, the Showhouse exemplifies the vital role that antiques and fine art play in creating dynamic contemporary interiors. According to Cullman & Kravis, the New York-based firm behind the Showhouse’s living room, “Antiques and fine art play a critical role in adding context...

Continue reading this article about the leading interior designers involved in the 2015 Sotheby's Designer Showhouse on InCollect.com.

There's always a battle going on somewhere between Sotheby's and Christie's for some piece of the art cake. But to get a sense of the biggest confrontation on the calendar, London is the place to be next weekend when the two auction houses exhibit highlights from their forthcoming New York sales of Impressionist, Modern (Monet to late Picasso) and Contemporary art (Rothko to today).

The most significant exhibit without a doubt is Picasso's eye-popping "Les Femmes d'Alger," 1955, based on a painting by Delacroix, that has a whopping $US140 million ($183 million) estimate from Christie's.

Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian is known to set record prices at art auctions worldwide. At a Sotheby’s sale in Hong Kong on Tuesday, the Shanghai-based Liu proved himself once again.

This time, he bought a Southern Song dynasty-era (1127-1279) vase for 113.9 million Hong Kong dollars ($ 14.7 million). The price is one of the highest ever paid at an auction for a ceramic vase of that period. The crackled bluish-green artifact is part of the Guan Yao, or official ware created for the imperial court of that time.