Markets around the world are looking to China to buoy their financial prospects. So are art auction houses.
After a dismal year, Sotheby’s and Christie’s International PLC are set to begin a major round of art auctions in London on Tuesday, and experts say Chinese collectors may emerge as the latest power players to bid up [...]

Jean-Leon Gerome, “Man with a Waterpipe and Dog”. Estimate: £800,000 to £1,200,000
Christie’s will offer a highly curated auction of 24 Orientalist masterpieces on November 25, 2009 in London. An important Private Collection of 9 works will form the core of the sale and includes four works by Jean-Léon Gérôme and three exceptional watercolors by John [...]

Alfred Sisley, La Seine à Argenteuil, 1870. (est. $1.5/2 million, £900,000/1.2 million, €1/1.5 million)
Sotheby’s 4 November 2009 Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York will feature seven paintings from the Durand-Ruel Collection, encompassing works by a number of the Impressionist masters that legendary art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel represented — Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille [...]

Tonight in London , Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction realised the strong total of £25,549,540 ($41,911,318/€29,823,964), near the top pre-sale expectations for the sale (Estimate: £19,755,000-27,435,000). More than 380 clients registered to bid and 37 of the 40 lots offered found buyers, with 92.5% sold by lot – establishing one of the highest sell-through rates [...]

In a crisp, 50-minute sale Wednesday that was choreographed for today’s tastes, Sotheby’s managed to sell more than $55 million worth of Impressionist and modern art. Though the auction featured just 27 lots, the smallest number of works in a comparable evening sale here since 1997, bidding was consistent, and a late Picasso fetched $11.5 [...]

James Jacques Joseph Tissot (Nantes 1836-1902 Doubs), The Japanese Scroll, signed ‘J. J. Tissot.’ (lower right), oil on panel, 15¼ x 22½ in. (38.7 x 57.2 cm.). Image C. Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009.
The Old Masters and 19th Century Art sale realized $6,486,150/ £4,053,843/ €4,632,964 at Christie’s and was 86% sold by value and 72% sold [...]

One night collectors seemed resistant to part with their cash; the next evening they were clamoring to bid. Such was the auction whiplash that occurred over a 24-hour period. Unlike Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday, where bidding was thin and buyers reluctant, Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art on Wednesday showed a different face altogether. [...]