NewsAuction houses
2020 vision: the big year of change for auction houses?
Supported by transformational new technology, the sector is ditching its traditional business model in favour of the luxury goods market
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
Art Basel helps Hong Kong exhibitors offset extra costs
Fair organisers says the discounts are not "incentive to do the fair" but are "part of an effort to mitigate their additional expenses"
AnalysisArt market
Tiepolo and Giovanni di Paolo spark excitement in underpowered Christie’s Old Master sale
Auction raised more than last year but supply still limited as Brexit-dominated general election looms
AnalysisArt market
Randomness rules New York's $42m American art sales
Small works won out at Sotheby's and Christie's as top lots went for their low estimates or were withdrawn
NewsArt market
Marina Abramovic’s The Life to become first mixed reality work ever auctioned
Christie’s will sell the piece with a £600,000 price tag next October to coincide with artist’s Royal Academy retrospective
AnalysisAuctions
New York's autumn sales were subdued but not necessarily septic
Overall sales were down by around 30% but beyond the disappointing headline figures, women and minority artists shone
PreviewArt market
Confidence may be low, but New York's auctions are aiming high
Can the quality of the smaller works coming up during "gigaweek" quell economic jitters?
CommentHong Kong
Hong Kong art market profits despite protestors’ pain
If not immune to geopolitical unrest, then perhaps art is a refuge for money that is struggling to find its way into other assets
NewsAuctions
A portrait of Rembrandt sold for more than 30 times its estimate—could it be by the Dutch master himself?
High price for painting at Christie’s in New York last week is prompting speculation but expert says his money is on Isaac de Jouderville
NewsAuctions
Futurist masterpiece by Umberto Boccioni could sell at Christie's for up to $4.5m
A different version of the sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space sold at the auction house in 1975 for $41,000
NewsArt market
A 'destructive act': scholars criticise sale of pages separated from 15th-century Persian manuscript
Christie's defends decision to sell two illuminations, expected to make up to £1m each, as they were removed from The Paths of Paradise 30 years ago
NewsArt market
Christie’s plods to a sturdy end to Frieze week
Post war, contemporary and Italian art sale notched up £89m, topped by a £7.4m Jean-Michel Basquiat
AnalysisAuctions
Selling off the Gloucestershire Gustons: Jeremy Lancaster collection kicks off Frieze Week auctions
Christie's sale in London totals £23m with Modern British artists rubbing shoulders with international post-war names
NewsArt market
US-China trade war expands to books and maps as increased tariffs hit art imports
Trump's newly increased tariff of 15% on Chinese goods now applies to the antiquarian trade, further affecting dealers and auction houses
NewsFake or Fortune?
Sculpture knocked over by cat revealed as authentic Giacometti, which sold for £500,000 at Christie's
Featured on the BBC's Fake or Fortune TV show, the sculptor's Tête qui regarde was badly repaired after it was felled by a family feline
NewsArt market
Brexit contributes to 10% drop in sales at Sotheby’s in first half of 2019
Sale to telecoms magnate Patrick Drahi looks set to go ahead as firm makes up for a loss in revenue through increased commissions and more efficient guarantees
NewsLaw
Collector says he was duped into selling Brancusi sculpture
He seeks $200m in damages from lawyer who he says "hoodwinked" him
NewsMoon
Lunar landing anniversary inspires tributes to the Moon across the globe
Exhibitions and events at museums and galleries worldwide proves we are still looney for the Moon 50 years after setting foot on it
AnalysisArt market
Price match! Old Masters vs contemporary art: what can you get for your money?
As London's Classic Week of sales comes to a close, we take a look at what the same sum will buy you at either end of the art historical timeline
NewsArt market
Protestors gather outside Christie's as ancient head of Tutankhamen sells for £4.7m
Egyptian authorities had tried to stop the sale claiming that the 3,000 year old quartzite sculpture should be repatriated
NewsArt market
Christie's holds auction in Saudi Arabia to raise funds for Jeddah museum
Sale raises $1.3m for new heritage museum dedicated to the history of Jeddah's historical district
NewsAuctions
Fresh talent breathes life into slim £45m postwar and contemporary evening sale at Christie’s London
Records set for Tschabalala Self and Kara Walker as a new wave of works by contemporary artists come to auction
NewsArt market
Tough going for Christie's skinny £36.4m Impressionist and Modern art sale
Early Schiele drawing is the low-key star of an unremarkable sale, topped by a flashy Picasso
AnalysisAuctions
Edward Hopper's over-priced ode to Shakespeare goes unsold as market for American art proves capricious
Christie's American art sales this week realise a new record for Hartley but Sotheby's struggles to get the pricing right on Hopper's Shakespeare scene
NewsArt market
Rabbit hops to a record $91m at Christie's as Jeff Koons once again becomes the world's most expensive living artist
Post-war and contemporary sale in New York also produced a big sale for Robert Rauschenberg and new records for Louise Bourgeois and Jonas Wood
NewsArt market
Big but bland Impressionists lead Christie's sale, with new records for a peachy Cezanne and feline-filled Bonnard
Fresh material from big collections led the $399m New York auction, while mid-tier Monets primed the market for his $55m haystacks work at Sotheby's tonight
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Virtually unseen Van Gogh painting comes up for sale in New York next week
Christie’s values the Japanese-influenced picture of the asylum garden at $25m
NewsLaw
Wildenstein & Co sued for the 1985 sale of an alleged fake Bonnard painting
The collectors are seeking more than $300,000 in damages after the painting failed to be authenticated before heading to auction last year
NewsArt market
With loot from two veteran dealers and one artist, Christie’s Old Masters sales push $50m
A Dutch double portrait from Frank Stella's collection led the New York auctions by fetching $10m
AnalysisArt market
Spanish still-lifes test the staying power of a dealer's legacy at Christie's
Two works from the private collection of renowned New York dealer Herman Schickman, previously on long-term loan to the Met, hit the auction block today
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
London's National Gallery defends inclusion of Salvator Mundi in Leonardo show after criticism in new book
The curator’s attribution to the Renaissance master helped Christie’s achieve a world record price for the painting
NewsArt market
Sotheby’s settles claim against London dealer Mark Weiss in Frans Hals case
Settlement came day before trial was due to start, but its suit against financier will continue
NewsBlockchain
Blockchain-based art registry Artory acquires Auction Club database
The acquisition will make public 4,000 international auction house sale records
NewsArt market
Bid me up before you go-go: sun goes down on George Michael’s art collection at Christie’s
Buyers have faith in Tracey Emin who leads the white glove, YBA-heavy sale, but Damien Hirst’s market continues to soften
AnalysisAuctions
Hockney double portrait sells for £37.7m, accounting for half of Christie’s contemporary sale in London
Overall results are down 42.7% on last year, but European buying remains strong despite Brexit
NewsArt market
The good, the pricey and the Surreal: Monet flops while Signac glows at Christie's sale
Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art auction makes second highest total for Christie's London at £165.4m, but much of overpriced collection goes unsold
BlogIn the frame
Pop Art: George Michael’s YBA collection goes on the block
NewsArt market
'Rockefeller effect' contributes to Christie’s £5.3bn record total in 2018
Brexit not a factor in dip in auctions in Europe and the Middle East, says auction house's Emeri president Dirk Boll
NewsObject lessons
Object lessons: from a heart-shaped meteorite to a censored image of Joséphine Baker
Our highlights of works being sold over the next fortnight
NewsArt market
New York’s Americana week reveals a generational shift in taste
Sales lag while demand for folk art is on the rise as Millennials move away from a ‘Home Alone’ aesthetic
NewsArt fairs
The mainstreaming of outsider art yields a market in flux
New York’s Outsider Art Fair swells in size as it looks to align itself with larger contemporary art fairs
NewsArt market
Old Master works from the personal collection of famed art dealer Richard L. Feigen head to Christie's
The dealer says he will sell ten works to fund his retirement
NewsArt market
Christie's France wins the artist resale royalty battle
Supreme court victory in France allows the auction house to shift the responsibility for resale royalties from sellers to buyers of works of art
NewsArt market
Shifts among the major auction houses could spell serious change
Loic Gouzer to leave Christie’s as the auction house restructures in wake of Francis Outred's departure, while Phillips upgrades its New York headquarters
Commentartificial intelligence
We must not let the art market hoodwink us in the AI debate
The AI work that was sold at Christie's is profound in its conservatism, but others reflect how the technology can impact on art in fascinating ways
AnalysisThe Year In Review
2018 in the market: the price is right for pale males
David Hockney was latest white male artist to set a record this year
NewsArt market
Jump-bidding for Rembrandt's fingerprints and a tale of two Van Dycks: dispatches from London's Old Master auctions
Christie's and Sotheby's sell near identical Van Dyck portraits of Princess Mary, and new records are set for Frans Hals and a jolly Judith Leyster
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Van Gogh's portrait of a prostitute coming up for sale
Christie’s, more discreetly, entitles it “Portrait de femme”
AnalysisAuctions
The highs and lows of New York ‘gigaweek’
Hockney made the headlines, but other artists made waves—or flopped—at November’s auctions
NewsArt market
Christie’s head of post-war art in Europe Francis Outred leaves after ten years
Auction house is yet to announce a successor, while Outred says he is taking time out to consider offers
NewsArt market
Hockney sets new auction record for a living artist, but were strings pulled behind the no-reserve sale?
The Yorkshireman's 1970s Californian scene, Portrait of an Artist, sold on the nose at $80m at Christie's in New York last night
Podcast
David Hockney: exclusive interview with the world's most expensive living artist
We talk to David Hockney about Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which broke an auction record this week, selling at Christie's New York for $90.3m with fees. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
PreviewArt market
How high will Hockney go and can his soaring market last?
A double pool portrait, estimated at $80m and offered at Christie’s with no reserve, could set a record for the most expensive work by a living artist
NewsArt market
Record $91.9m sale of Edward Hopper’s Chop Suey buoys confidence at Christie’s American art sale
At $317.8m, the Ebsworth evening sale becomes one of the top five most valuable collections ever sold at auction
NewsArt market
Top lots go unsold at New York's Impressionist and Modern sales, proving a discerning but 'not doomsday' market
Monet carries Christie's evening sale while a Magritte shines at Sotheby's, marking an auction record for the Surrealist painter
NewsArt market
Ambitious estimates hamper Christie's $279.2m Impressionist and Modern art sale as Van Gogh goes unsold but Monet is on the money
New York auction topped by Monet's Le bassin aux nymphaés, sold to an Asian buyer at $31.8m
PreviewArt market
What to watch on the block during New York's fall sales
Lesser known lots still hold plenty of hammer potential
NewsArt market
Kerry James Marshall painting created for Chicago library withdrawn from Christie’s auction
Knowledge and Wonder was estimated to sell for more than $10m, but Chicago’s mayor had a change of heart
NewsArt market
A record-setting $30.1m sale of an Assyrian relief at Christie's raises red flags
The 31 October sale has prompted calls for repatriation and criticism of the seller, highlighting the gap between art ethics and law
AnalysisArt market
Will the market for AI art take off?
With no auction precedent and little primary market data, Christie's sale of a work made by an algorithm tests demand
AnalysisDigital art
Who needs artists? Rise in works made by AI raises real questions for the art market
A new portrait produced by an algorithm, expected to sell for around $10,000 at Christie’s, prompts new debates over authorship
NewsArt market
Christie's to offer major works from the Klapper collection that could fetch more than $50m
The 20-lot sale spans the auction house's New York and London locations and includes works ranging from Old Master paintings to a Monet
NewsArt market
Eric Albada Jelgersma's Old Master collection estimated to make over £26m at Christie's
Pair of portraits by Frans Hals expected to lead two-day sale of collection of Dutch entrepreneur, who was advised by the dealer Robert Noortman
NewsArt market
Stolen painting shown on BBC Antiques Roadshow in 1988 now held in limbo at Christie’s
Auction house sold the painting by Emma Sandys for £62,500 earlier this year, but now 19th century work is caught up in a legal battle
CommentAuctions
The complicated history of Boccioni sculpture is no barrier to record price at Christie's in New York
Futurist bronze sculpture cast from another bronze in the 1970s sells for $16.2m—four times its estimate
Melanie Gerlis