Opacity In The Auction Market Gets Greater and Greater
The first part of the October 28th evening sales at Sotheby’s featured their Contemporary offerings, plus a piece of furniture and three Alfa Romeos! Now you, like me, might think this makes no sense, but for the auction rooms, it … More…
Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern
On October 28, Sotheby’s presented two sales, a Contemporary one followed by the Impressionist & Modern (which we will cover here). By the time the sale began, four works had disappeared, so the featured 36 lots. This review will also … More…
Seeking Clarity – Contemporary Curated at Sotheby’s
It is getting to the point where auctions go out of their way to add a layer of opacity to the results, seemingly in an effort to make it more difficult to analyze their sales… I assume the underlying reason … More…
Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Day Sale
Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Day Sale was a full-day event for me as I began watching it at 10:00 AM, and there were still six lots to go when I left the gallery at 5:35 PM. Unfortunately, there was really … More…
Christie’s 19th-Century: Part II
On the 16th, Christie’s presented Part II of their 19th-century works, and it was a continuation of a difficult situation — lack of good quality material. Taking the top spot was Francois-Joseph Navez’s Two Italians. The painting was estimated to … More…
19th Century European – Sotheby’s Mid-Level Sale
When I first saw the Sotheby’s sale (and we did physically view it), I knew they would have a tough go – there were very few outstanding works. A few years ago, they moved their major 19th-century sale from the … More…
Christie’s – Part I – 19th Century
Well, the 19th century action continues (and there is more coming). Today, Christie’s presented a small, select, group of more expensive works, and the results were ok (for those items that were really nice). We went to view the sale … More…
Birds Fly By Estimate
We are happy as larks to be presenting Taking Flight, an exhibition that benefits the American Bird Conservancy. As such, I thought it would be very apropos to find a recent auction item with a bird theme…I was successful! John … More…
Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Day Sale – Not Enough Meat!
On October 8th, Christie’s held their Impressionist & Modern Day Sale, and I am sure they were not very happy with the end result. I have said this before, the auction rooms are flooding the market with material … some … More…
Mao Zedong Scroll Recovered, But Cut In Half
Three people were arrested in connection to a September 10th burglary in Hong Kong that is said to be the most expensive heist in the region to date. According to reports, the apartment of Fu Chunxiao, a well-known collector of … More…