David Rockefeller, banker, philanthropist and avid collector died in March at the age of 101, prompting the sale of more than 2,000 items from his estate....
Andrew Wyeth’s bucolic painting “Ice Storm” is at the center of a legal dispute evolving out of a 20-year-old New York City art scandal perpetrated by disgraced art dealer David Ramus, who swindled clients out of millions of dollars. Among his victims is Reed Galin, a former TV news anchor, who was a life-long friend of Ramus and college roommate....
Sotheby’s kicked off the Spring art auctions with the sale of a Van Gogh painting for $66.3 million, the highest price paid for a work by the Dutch artist since 1998, the auction house said. Claude Monet’s water lilies also sold for $54 million. The Impressionist and modern art sale Tuesday, saw Van Gogh’s “L’allée Des Alyscamps” go to a private collector in Asia after heated bidding with at least five other collectors. Van Gogh’s works have always been among the most collectible among Impressionist artists. ...
Joan Fontaine’s historic best actress Oscar for her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “Suspicion,” won’t got to the auction block, because of a threatened lawsuit by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Fontaine, who died a year ago at age 96, specified in her will that her Oscar should be sold to raise funds for the Monterey, California SPCA. It was expected to fetch as much as $300,000, according to an estimate by Christie’s, which was handling the sale....
George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution so it was only natural that he got a copy of the august document and its attendant Bill of Rights, both of which just fetched $9.8 million at Christie's in New York on Friday (June 22)....
The art market shows no signs of cooling off after record sale prices in the past week for works like Andy Warhol’s “Double Elvis,” Roy Lichtenstein’s “Sleeping Girl,” and Mark Rothko’s “Orange, Red, Yellow.”...
Christie’s contemporary and post-war art auction marked the end of New York’s fall art season this week and dispelled once and for all concerns about the strength of the art market in the fragile economy....
When the gavel fell last February on the right to buy a rare bronze statue by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, the art work set an all time record for a sale -- $104.3 million. It dethroned a Picasso, which had held the previous record....
A highly anticipated auction of works by old masters at Christie’s in London has shattered records, with a rare chalk drawing by Raphael selling for $48 million and a painting by Rembrandt last seen publicly 40 years ago, selling for $33.2 million...
The art world is seeing a sudden resurgence in collecting with auctions generating stunning sale prices as investors move off the side lines and into the action. The real estate crash and the shaky stock market have no doubt been major contributors to the trend, narrowing investment options that provide a hedge against inflation....
Late fashion guru Yves Saint Laurent was a life-long slave to fashion and style, and his obsession was reflected in everything he sought, from his couture designs to his furniture.
Collectors signaled their approval with his taste by paying $13.22 ...
