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. [...]

The Impressionist and Modern Art Works on Paper and Day sales took place today at Christie’s NY (May 7 2009) and realized a combined total of $20,659,000/ £13,772,800 / €15,417,314, with a sell-through rate of 90% by value. The top price of the day was achieved for Fernand Léger’s Le cinq de trèfle, 1947 which [...]

Christie’s Latin American Sale in New York on May 28 and 29 will feature rare masterpieces spanning from 17th century Colonial art to Contemporary paintings. Important artists represented include Diego Rivera, Leonora Carrington, Mario Carreño, Cundo Bermúdez, Wifredo Lam, Rufino Tamayo and Matta. The two-day sale will offer 276 lots and expects to realize in [...]

Works of art that belonged to Gianni Versace sold at a London auction on Thursday for almost three times the presale estimate, despite the fact that a star attraction had been pulled on suspicions its was stolen. In 12 hours of heated bidding, the 545-lot sale of the treasures from the late fashion designer’s 19th-century [...]

The National Gallery confirmed it had purchased “Bagpipe Player in Profile” (1624) by Hendrick ter Brugghen, which sold for $10.2 million at auction. (Sotheby’s) The National Gallery of Art’s acquisition of Bagpipe Player in Profile (1624) by Dutch painter Hendrick ter Brugghen, made possible with substantial support of Gallery donors Greg and Candy Fazakerley, is [...]

The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale took place at Christie’s this evening and realized $91,210,543. The top price of the evening was paid for Claude Monet’s Dans la Prairie, 1876, which was exhibited at the seminal third Impressionist Exhibition in 1877 and which sold at this evening sale for $16,164,918. At this evening’s auction, [...]

Sotheby’s announced that it will offer for sale the recently rediscovered, museum-quality painting Concetto spaziale of 1961, by Italy’s foremost Contemporary artist Lucio Fontana** (1899-1968). From the artist’s celebrated Venezia Series, Concetto spaziale is completely fresh to the market and has been hidden from public view for almost 50 years. The oil on canvas will [...]