On November 15, Sotheby’s hosted the first of two stand-alone auctions of the Macklowe Collection. The results were historic. In total, the sale achieved a landmark $676.1 million, making it the most valuable single-owner auction of all time and the most valuable auction ever held at Sotheby’s.
Art News
The auction of a Roman Villa—known as Villa Aurora or Casino Dell’Aurora—has recently been announced and set a stir within the art world. Why? Because it contains the only known ceiling mural executed by the legendary artist Caravaggio.
On Thursday, October 14, one of Banksy’s most iconic artworks—a self-destructive piece entitled Love is in the Bin—sold for triple its high estimate at $25,383,941 (£18,582,000), setting a new record for the artist. The artist’s previous record, a $22 million sale of Game Changer, was set earlier this year at Christies.
Wayne Thiebaud’s painting of a young tennis player sold for almost $8.5 million on May 13, 2021, nearly five times the Christie’s estimate of $1.2–1.8 million.
Auctioneer Antoine Petit spotted Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s "Philosopher Reading"—which, on June 26, 2021, sold for £6.6 million ($9.2 million)—during a standard estate inventory of a Parisian apartment.
Later this month, Sotheby’s will offer five exceptionally rare CryptoPunks. Of the 10,000 Cryptopunks created, only twenty-four were issued in physical form, as certified prints signed by co-creator John Watkinson.
Sotheby’s blended in-person and digital experiences to execute three sales on the evening of May 12 with stunning results including the five-person bid over a star piece, Claude Monet’s Le Bassin aux nymphéas.
Last year, a man bought a Chinese bowl for $35 at a yard sale in Connecticut. In March 2021, the very same bowl went for auction at Sotheby’s and was sold for $721,800.
Sotheby’s April 18 Hong Kong sale, ICONS: Masterpieces from across time and space, features—as the name implies—a vast array of items chosen for their ability to inspire and delight viewers.
On March 23, Basquiat’s seminal work, Warrior, sold at Christie’s in a live-streamed sale for $41.9 million (HKD 323,600,000) just above its high estimate of $31 million - $41 million (HKD 320,000,000) becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold in a sale in Asia and is the fourth-highest price achieved by Basquiat at auction.
