Sotheby's

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All Hail the World's Priciest Carpet

17th-century Persian rug sells for $33.7M at auction

(Newser) - Please remember to wipe your feet: A Persian rug from the early 17th century has sold for $33.7 million in New York City. Sotheby's auction house says yesterday's price for the Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet was more than three times the previous auction record for a carpet. It...

Painting Fetches Highest Price Ever for Living Artist

Gerhard Richter oil work sells for $37M

(Newser) - A huge oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter sold for $37 million at Sotheby's yesterday, making it the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist, reports the Guardian . Richter painted the 9-foot-by-9-foot Domplatz, Mailand, in 1968, and it last sold 15 years ago for...

Christie&#39;s Expands to China
 Christie's Expands to China 
Apr 9, 2013 12:45 PM CDT

Christie's Expands to China

It will be first independent foreign auction house in the country

(Newser) - One more sign that China has a growing class of rich people ready to spend money: Christie's has been granted permission to become the first independent foreign auction house in the country, the New York Times reports. The company's first auction will occur in Shanghai this fall. It'...

Family Sells $3 Bowl for $2.2M
 Family Sells $3 Bowl for $2.2M 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 24, 2013 9:43 AM CDT

Family Sells $3 Bowl for $2.2M

1K-year-old Chinese bowl found at garage sale, sold at Sotheby’s

(Newser) - One lucky New York family sold a tiny Chinese bowl this week for $2,224,997 more than they paid for it: $3, at a garage sale six years ago. The bowl, which measures roughly 5.5 inches in diameter, sat in the unnamed family's home for years; eventually,...

Up for Auction: Charles Schulz's Forbidden Love Letters

'Peanuts' creator sent them to young lady while he was married

(Newser) - The late Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was once so infatuated with a young woman 23 years his junior he sent her dozens of romantic letters and drawings of his beloved cartoon characters. Many of the themes of that correspondence made it into his daily comic strips at the time, and...

Sotheby's Sets Record Thanks to $75M Rothko

$375M total for contemporary-art auction is biggest in house's history

(Newser) - What is it about Rothko that drives auction-goers wild ? One of the painter's works went for $75 million at a contemporary-art auction yesterday, helping make the evening's total haul—$375 million—a record-setter in the category for Sotheby's, reports the Wall Street Journal . A multinational group...

$10 Goodwill Buy: $15K Painting

 $10 Goodwill Buy: 
 $15K Painting 
in case you missed it
Jul 28, 2012 12:49 PM CDT

$10 Goodwill Buy: $15K Painting

Sotheby's to auction Ilya Bolotowsky work

(Newser) - During a visit to Goodwill, a North Carolina artist spotted two large abstract paintings selling for $10 each. That's a quarter of the price a brand new canvas would have cost Beth Feeback, and she figured she could easily paint over them with her subject of choice—cats with...

Marie de Medici Diamond Fetches Dazzling $9.7M

Pear-shaped jewel worn at 1610 French coronation

(Newser) - The diamond Marie de Medici wore when she was crowned queen of France in 1610 has been sold at auction in Geneva for an eye-popping $9.7 million. The 35-carat pear-shaped "Beau Sancy" diamond has been passed down by royal families through the centuries. The buyer is anonymous, reports...

Warhol's Double Elvis Sells for $37M

Lichtenstein's 'Sleeping Girl' brings in $45M

(Newser) - Another strong day for Sotheby's, though maybe not on the scale of the The Scream :
  • Andy Warhol's silkscreen Double Elvis sold for $37 million. One of 22 made by Warhol, it's based on a movie still and shows Elvis as a gun-toting cowboy, notes the Guardian .
  • Roy
...

Munch's The Scream Fetches Record $120M

Sotheby's sale is biggest ever for a painting at auction

(Newser) - The experts thought Edvard Munch's The Scream would bring in a princely sum, but not this much: $119.9 million. That's the most ever paid for a painting at auction, reports the New York Times . (The previous record was $106.5 million for a Picasso, notes AP .)...

Scream May Fetch $200M
 The Scream May Fetch $200M 
Apr 30, 2012 3:04 AM CDT

The Scream May Fetch $200M

Oddsmakers expect icon to bust records

(Newser) - One of the most recognizable painting in human history is now expected to fetch up to $200 million—well beyond Sotheby's early $80 million estimate —when it goes on the auction block this week. British oddsmakers are betting a Russian is most likely to scoop up Edvard Munch'...

This Tiny Dish Just Sold for $26.7M
 This Tiny Dish 
 Just Sold for $26.7M 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 8, 2012 9:08 AM CDT

This Tiny Dish Just Sold for $26.7M

Sotheby's gets hefty price for 900-year-old Chinese piece

(Newser) - Handle with care: A 900-year-old ceramic dish dating back to China's Song dynasty has sold for $26.7 million at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong, reports the AP . It was probably used to clean brushes by a Song scholar back in the day, notes Bloomberg . Only about...

The Scream Expected to Fetch $80M at Auction

Edvard Munch work to be sold by Sotheby's

(Newser) - One of four versions of Edvard Munch's iconic The Scream is expected to sell for more than $80 million at auction May 2 in New York. The estimate is the highest pre-sale value ever placed on a work of art by auction house Sotheby's, Reuters notes. This 1895...

Sun-Drop Diamond Fetches $12.3M

Rare yellow gem goes for record price

(Newser) - A dazzling 110-carat yellow diamond has fetched $12.3 million at a Sotheby's auction, a record for a diamond of its kind, and the eighth-highest price ever paid for a diamond. The gem, named the Sun-Drop, was found in South Africa last year and given the "fancy, vivid...

Painting Looted by Nazis Sells for $40.4M

Gustav Klimt landscape goes way above expectations at Sotheby's

(Newser) - The high-rent district of the art world might be rebounding if Sotheby's recent auction is an indicator. The big seller was a landscape by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, which went for $40.4 million, way above the $25 million estimate, reports the BBC . The history behind Litzlberg on the ...

Rebounding Art World Expects Huge Spring Prices

A dozen works are priced near $20 million each at auctions

(Newser) - The art market has bounced back amazingly well from the downturn, and auction houses are aiming to sell $1 billion in Impressionist and modern works at two major sales next week. A dozen works are expected to fetch close to $20 million apiece, a price the auction houses couldn't...

Painting of Picasso's Mistress Fetches $40M

La Lecture sells for double estimate

(Newser) - A painting of the teenage mistress Pablo Picasso picked up outside a Paris Metro station in 1927 has sold for $40 million at auction. La Lecture, which shows Marie-Therese Walter asleep in a chair, was sold to an anonymous buyer for double the expected price, the Telegraph reports. The painter...

Sotheby's Halts Sale of Looted Nigerian Mask

Protests, complaints cause withdrawal of $7M piece

(Newser) - Sotheby's has canceled the planned auction of a 16th-century ivory mask from West Africa after online protesters and the Nigerian government complained that the precious artifact had been looted from the country by British troops, reports the Independent . The mask, believed to have been worn by the king of Benin...

Audubon's Bird Bible Is World's Most Expensive Book

His 'Birds of America' sells for $10.3 million

(Newser) - John James Audubon's Birds of America—a rare blend of art, natural history, and craftsmanship—fetched more than $10 million at auction today, making it the world's most expensive published book. With its 435 hand-colored illustrations of birds drawn to size, the volume is one of the best preserved editions...

Rare Pink Diamond Fetches Record $46M

London dealer snaps up most expensive stone ever sold at auction

(Newser) - An extremely rare pink diamond has cut its way through world records at a Sotheby's auction. The 24.78 carat stone, graded "fancy intense pink," was sold to London jeweler Laurence Graff for $46,158,674, almost double the highest price ever previously paid for a gemstone at...

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