Author Archives: Eileen Kinsella and Colin Gleadell

NEW YORK—Dominating the headlines at the recent round of spring auctions was Edvard Munch’s 1895 version of his iconic painting The Scream. Commanding just under $120 million with premium, the painting, which became the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, accounted for just about one-fifth of the $523 million Impressionist and modern art total at Sotheby’s and Christie’s combined. Read More

Sotheby’s had a record-breaking sale of modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam on March 8, when it auctioned off the BAT (British American Tobacco) ArtVenture Collection, formerly known as the Peter Stuy­vesant Collection, one of Europe’s most highly regarded corporate art collections. Read More

“It was a good evening,” remarked one man to another as the crowd filtered out of Sotheby’s New York saleroom following its $134.4 million evening sale of Postwar and contemporary art on Nov. 11. Read More

Despite a decline in volume from a year ago and totals that were a fraction of what they were at the peak of the art market boom, the London auctions of Postwar and contemporary art, which coincided with the annual Frieze Art Fair, held Oct. 15–18, were surprisingly upbeat and showed confidence in the contemporary market, observers said. Read More

While London and New York auctions are still on summer hiatus, the Australian auction market has been active, albeit at lower price points. Read More

Christie’s and Sotheby’s have announced cost-reduction efforts that will include an unspecified number of layoffs. Read More

The Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions of Impressionist and modern art in London, from Feb. 4-6, achieved a total of £271.1 million ($531 million), up considerably from £243.2 million ($479.5 million) last June. Read More

Sotheby’s sale of 20th-century British art in London on July 13 realized £10.9 million ($22.1 million), generously surpassing last December’s record total of £7.7 million ($15 million) and exceeding the overall high estimate. Read More

Auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art at the Christie’s and Sotheby’s London salerooms from June 18-22 were up sharply compared with last year’s totals, underscoring London’s increasing prominence as a major auction venue. The city’s key biannual auctions of art each February and June traditionally have complemented the larger New York sales season that precedes them in May and November. In recent seasons, however, London sales have been closing the gap with New York, both for individual prices realized at the top end for trophy artworks and for overall sale totals. Read More

Sales of Russian art hit a high of £29 million ($55.4 million) at Sotheby’s on May 31 and June 1, the latest in a string of record-setting auctions. Demand from Russian buyers has sparked a surge in overall auction volume as well as price levels for individual artists in recent years. Russian billionaires competed, as anticipated, for 19th- and early-20th-century paintings. The surprise element of the sale, however, was a small section of nonconformist, dissident art of the 1970s and ’80s. This area of the market has been conspicuously quiet since Sotheby’s groundbreaking 1988 sale of Russian contemporary art in Moscow, where Elton John was among the buyers. Read More