Sotheby’s today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.
Despite a 7% decrease in net auction sales, Sotheby’s reported a substantial improvement in fourth quarter 2009 earnings over the prior year fourth quarter. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 is the second highest in Company history at $73.6 million, [...]

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 [...]

Follower of Leonardo da Vinci, probably before 1750, “Portrait of a Woman”, called “La Belle Ferronnière”. (55 x 43.5 cm) 21 5/8 x 17 1/8 inches. Est. $300/500,000. Sold for more than $1.5 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.
A portrait once believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci sold for more than $1.5 million in New [...]

Tonight’s sale of Old Master & British Paintings at Sotheby’s in London saw a new auction record established for Sir Anthony van Dyck – one of the most important artists to have worked in England – when his last Self Portrait soared above expectations and sold for £8,329,250/ €9,207,960/US$13,521,704. The portrait was the top-selling lot [...]

A silver gilt and enamel cigar case, Moscow 1881 showing a photograph of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna with her children is displayed.
This afternoon, Russian Art Sales Series concluded bringing a total of £19.3/$31.9 million – near the high estimate (£14,882,080-21,246,220) – and established a healthy sell-through-rate of 74% overall.

Jeff Koons, “Elephant” (Purple). Estimate: 300,000 – 400,000 Euros
One of the major events at Sotheby’s this Autumn promises to be the sale in Paris on December 8 of a unique work by Jeff Koons: “Elephant” (Purple), donated by the artist to the Foundation Claude Pompidou in 2009.
This masterpiece from 1999 (estimate €300,000-400,000) will be sold [...]

Marsden Hartley (1877 – 1943), “Mountains No. 22″, 1930. Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 inches (76.2 x 91.4 cm). Est. $800,000/1.2 million.
Sotheby’s auction of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture on 3 December 2009 will offer collectors a rich array of works by American artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. The auction includes a [...]