Christie's Latest Blockbuster Edges Closer to the $1B Mark

Christie’s yet again set a record for all auctions everywhere on Wednesday evening at its Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York, taking in a mind-boggling $852,887,000 for 75 works of art.The tally surpassed the night's historic high pre-sale expectations of $630.6-836 million. (Estimates reflect hammer price and not the added

A Pop Art Clearance Sale: Warhol Foundation Partners With Christie's to Sell Off Its Entire Collection

If you ever wanted to buy an Andy Warhol, now is your chance. This fall, thousands of works by the Pop icon will hit the market when the artist’s foundation deaccessions its entire collection through a combination of sales and donations. The paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, and printed graphic material —

Christie's Postwar and Contemporary Sale Takes $388 Million, Led by a Record-Smashing $87-Million Rothko

Powered by a stunning handful of super-trophies, including a sublime and record-eclipsing Mark Rothko masterpiece from 1961, Christie’s delivered a $388,488,000 Postwar and Contemporary at evening sale. The tally zoomed beyond the $236-329 million pre-sale estimate and nicked the May 2007 high water mark of $384.6 million, harkening back to a time generally acknowledged as

"The Scream" Scares Up $120 Million and Shatters Records at Sotheby's Epic Impressionist and Modern Sale

Edvard Munch’s angst-filled masterpiece "The Scream" rocketed to a record $119,922,500 at Sotheby’s Wednesday evening. The 1895 pastel, expected to fetch in excess of $80 million, became the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the first to break the $100 million mark.It is one of four versions and the

Banksy: primed and all set for take-off

After a few years in the wilderness, the elusive graffiti artist Banksy was back on form last week with two highly successful auction sales. At Christie’s, a metal panel from the exterior of a sound-system lorry which Banksy had spray-painted with military helicopter images for the 1998 Glastonbury festival, trebled

Sotheby's Contemporary Sale Soars to $80 Million in London, Driven by Gerhard Richter Fever

LONDON — Stoked by a half-dozen Gerhard Richter paintings chased by an international cast of hungry bidders, the contemporary art market maintained its surging pace at Sotheby’s tonight, realizing £50,688,450 ($79,672,106). The tally clipped pre-sale expectations of £34.5-48 million ($54.2-75.5 million), and improved on last February's £44.3-48 million ($71 million). Only six of the 63 lots

A Sizzling Francis Bacon Helps Christie's Cook Up $126 Million at Its London Contemporary Sale

LONDON — Powered by a rare-to-market Francis Bacon painting of a reclining female nude, Christie’s Postwar and Contemporary Art evening sale shot to £80,576,100 ($126,504,477), the highest contemporary mark for the house here since June 2008.The tally came close to the high end of the £56.77 to 84 million ($88.96-131.9 million)