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    • Posts Tagged ‘Christie’s’

    IS THIS THE MOST EXPENSIVE HANDBAG EVER TO BE AUCTIONED?

    Monday, May 25th, 2015
    THIS BIRKIN IS ESTIMATED AT US$129,000-194,000.

    THIS BIRKIN IS ESTIMATED AT US$129,000-194,000. UPDATE: THE BLACK VERSION DID NOT SELL, THE PINK MADE  US$222,912

    Possibly the most expensive handbag ever to be auctioned comes up at Christie’s in Hong Kong on June 1.

    An Exceptional Shiny Fuchsia Porosus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 35 with 18K White Gold & Diamond Hardware, Hermès, 2014 made US$222,912, a world record for a handbag.

    An Exceptional Shiny Fuchsia Porosus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 35 with 18K White Gold & Diamond Hardware, Hermès, 2014 made US$222,912, a world record for a handbag.

    An exceptional shiny black porosus crocodile Diamond Birkin 40 by Hermes 2007, with 18 carat gold and diamond hardware, is estimated at US$129,000-194,000.  A shiny fuchsia Birkin 35 from 2014 has an identical stellar estimate.  These are among the most valuable handbags in existence.

    Rare collector’s items are the highlights at this season’s Handbags and Accessories auction in Hong Kong.  There are exceptional pieces sought after by top handbag connoisseurs and limited edition collector’s items, a selection of one of a kind custom pieces and more than 50 minis and clutches.

    UPDATE: The sale of more than 300 of the worlds most coveted handbags and accessories brought in US$5,985,495.

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    ROGER BANNISTER’S RUNNING SHOES AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, May 20th, 2015
    The shoes worn by Roger Bannister when he broke the four minute mile (£30,000-50,000). Courtesy CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD. 2015

    The shoes worn by Roger Bannister when he broke the four minute mile (£30,000-50,000). Courtesy CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2015  UPDATE: THEY SOLD FOR £266,500

    The running shoes worn by Sir Roger Bannister CBE when he broke the record for the four-minute mile on May 6, 1954 will be sold at Christie’s, South Kensington, in September.  Estimated at £30,000-50,000 they will be sold to benefit charitable causes. They will be sold with an accompanying letter written by Eustace Thomas to Sir Roger prior to the race denoting ‘the lightness’ of the shoes made by GT Law and Son.  The shoes come up at the Out of the Ordinary sale on September 10.

    Sir Roger Bannister said: “I could see there was an advantage in having the shoe as light as possible. The leather is extremely thin and the spikes are unusually thin, as I used a grindstone to make them even thinner. These shoes are the last tangible link I have with the four-minute mile. All my trophies are now on display at Pembroke College Oxford, where I was Master”.

    UPDATE: THEY SOLD FOR £266,500

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    HIGHEST SINGLE SALE WEEK TOTAL IN ART AUCTION HISTORY

    Saturday, May 16th, 2015
    Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Les femmes d'Alger, Version O

    Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Les femmes d’Alger, Version O sold for $179,365,000 a world auction record for a painting.

    Christie’s generated a grand total of $1,726,019,375 in a week of fine art sales in New York – the highest single weekly total in auction history. Impressionist & Modern and Post-War & Contemporary art were combined into a single sale week of auctions and online-only sales.  Events kicked off on Monday evening with Looking Forward to the Past, a curated sale with top-quality work from both categories in a new context. The stellar results – the opening sale achieved a new work auction record for any painting and for any sculpture – demonstrate that accelerated demand for great art from collectors around the world continues to drive strong prices at all levels.

    Alberto Giacometti – L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man). Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2015/© 2015 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

    Alberto Giacometti – L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man). Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2015/© 2015 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York sold for $141,285,000, a world auction record for a sculpture.

    “This has been an extraordinary week for the art market and for Christie’s. Our much heralded total of $1.726 billion is only a part of the story. It was striking that there were 40 bids above $100 million for the Picasso on Monday night and over 45 bids for the Rothko which made $82 million on Wednesday. This is a rich, deep market in which masterpieces elicit the greatest competition and which now attracts high level buyers from all over the world,” said Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie’s Global President.

    There were new world records for Picasso, Giacometti, Freud and Mondrian. No less than 147 lots sold for over $1 million, 18 for over $20 million, seven for over $50 million and two for over $100 million.

    Bidders from 48 different countries registered to participate, creating an electric atmosphere of competition that grew and gained momentum over the course of the week.

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    NOW IT IS A $50 MILLION MONDRIAN

    Friday, May 15th, 2015
    Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Composition No. III (Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black), 1929.

    Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Composition No. III (Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black), 1929.

    Piet Mondrian’s Composition No. III (Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black) was the top lot at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern evening auction in New York last night. It sold for $50,565,000 in a sale which realized $202,608,000.  This brings the running total for this week’s sales at Christie’s to a truly staggering $1,678,763,000.  Day and online sales are to be concluded late today.

    Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) - Beatrice Hastings painting in 1916 sold for $16,069,000.

    Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) – Beatrice Hastings painting in 1916 sold for $16,069,000.

    Bidders from 34 countries competed in the room and on the phone for works by Impressionist and Modern masters, including Piet Mondrian, Chaïm Soutine, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger. Bidding on Modern works was particularly active, a testament to the energy brought to the market by a new breed of crossover collectors.

    Fernand Leger’s Le Corsage Rouge sold for $16,965,000; a portrait of Beatrice Hastings by Modigliani made $16,069,000; Monet’s Les Meules a Giverny made $16,405,000; La Communiante (La Mariee) by Chaim Soutine made $15,621,000 and Trois Danseuses by Degas made $11,925,000.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 20 and March 16, 2015).

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    A BILLION DOLLAR WEEK AT CHRISTIE’S

    Thursday, May 14th, 2015
    Mark Rothko - Number 10 sold for $81.9 million

    Mark Rothko – Number 10 sold for $81.9 million

    An $81 million Rothko and a record breaking Freud brought Christie’s to a benchmark in art auction history last night – the first $1 billion week for the art world.  The Post-War and Contemporary art sale in New York last evening made $658,532,000. The top lot of the sale was Rothko’s No. 10, an ethereal masterpiece by the artist from 1958 which made  $81,925,000.  Seven collectors, including clients from the U.S., Europe and Asia, chased the painting past the $50 million dollar mark.

    Lucian Freud - Benefits Supervisor Resting made a world record $56,165,000

    Lucian Freud – Benefits Supervisor Resting made a world record $56,165,000

    Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Resting sold for the world auction record price of $56,165,000. The previous artist’s auction record of $33.6 million, set at Christie’s London in 2008. The square-format depiction of Freud’s model Sue Tilley, which drew in viewers to Christie’s presale exhibitions in Hong Kong, London and New York, had never been offered at auction before. Four bidders chased the work up and over the $30 million mark.

    The stellar collection assembled by art world figures Ileana Sonnabend and her daughter Nina Sundell gave the sale a lively start. All nineteen works found buyers and the group totalled $60.1 million.

    There were eight artist world auction records: Freud; Robert Ryman ($20,605,000); Robert Rauschenberg ($18,645,000); Giovanni Anselmo ($6,437,000);  Hans Hofmann ($6,325,000); Sturtevant ($5,093,000); Rudolf Stingel ($4,757,000) and Carroll Dunham (4509,000).

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 22, April 17  and April 15, 2015).

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    SELF-PORTRAIT BY AMRITA SHER-GIL AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, April 24th, 2015
    Amrita Sher-Gil - Self portrait at the age of 18 (1931).

    Amrita Sher-Gil – Self portrait at the age of 18 (1931).  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £1,762,500

    A 1931 self-portrait by Amrita Sher-Gil, depicting one of India’s most important modern artists at the age of 18, comes up at Christie’s in London on June 10. This is the first painting by the artist ever to be offered in London, and one of only eight canvases by Sher-Gil to be offered at auction. It is the only known profile self portrait by the artist. It is estimated at £1-1.8 million.

    Born in Budapest in 1913 to a Hungarian mother and an India father Sher-Gil was a tour de force in the landscape of modernism in British India. In her brief 28 years she lived between India, Hungary and France. She painted the life of people and her surroundings with an intensity that remains unparalleled in modern Indian art. In Paris she was elected as an associate of the Grand Salon, a rare honor at the time for a young, foreign artist, as a result of the power of her portraits.  Most of her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.  This self portrait is one of her undiscovered paintings and it has remained in France since the time it was painted.

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £1,762,500

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    ELIZABETH TAYLOR AUCTIONS BRING IN COMBINED TOTAL OF $156,756,576

    Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

    Elizabeth Taylor Collections generate unprecendented global response.

    The Elizabeth Taylor auctions brought in a combined total of $156,756,576 at Christie’s in New York.  In what turned out to be the most valuable jewelry and fashion auctions in history 26 items sold for over $1 million and six lots sold for over $5 million.  Christie’s first ever on-line only auction brought in over $9.5 million in additional sales from the collection.  It generated over 57,000 bids.

    The auctions drew unprecedented interest from bidders throughout the world.  They bid in person at Christie’s Rockefeller Centre saleroom, on the phone, on-line and by absentee bid.  The sale of 1,778 lots of jewelry, fashion, decorative arts and film memorabilia far exceeded Christie’s pre-sale expectations and lots were frequently hammered down for five, ten or even fifty times their estimate.  The jewelry sales, for example, had been estimated to bring in more than $30 million, but the combined total for two jewelry sales was $137,235,675.

    All sales proceeds will be directed to the Elizabeth Taylor Trust. A portion of the profits generated by sales of exhibition tickets, event sponsorships and the ongoing sales of select publications will be donated to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF).  An estimated 58,000 visitors viewed highlights during an eight-city global exhibition and tour in Moscow, London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Paris, Geneva, Hong Kong and New York.

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    WORLD RECORD FOR COLOMBIAN EMERALD EAR PENDANTS AT CHRISTIE’S, HONG KONG

    Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

    The world record Colombian emerald ear pendants © Christie's Images Limited 2011. (Click on image to enlarge).

    THERE was a world record for this fabulous pair of Colombian emerald ear pendants at Christie’s in Hong Kong on November 29.  They sold for $4,036,318 US, equivalent to $83,000 US per carat.  Each pendant is set with a cushion-shaped emerald weighing 25.38 and 23.12 carats, surmounted by a cushion-shaped diamond weighing 3.04 and 3.04 carats, mounted in platinum, 3.6 cm long.  Matched pairs of Colombian emeralds of this size and possessing such a high quality with a complete absence of any clarity enhancement are very rare, making the “Estrellas de Colombia” an outstanding pair of Colombian emeralds.

    At Christie’s sale of magnificent jewels the top lots were two D flawless type IIa brilliant cut diamonds of 35.77 and 35.61 carats.   They sold for $8,275,350 and $8,131,654 respectively.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 25).

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    JAMES BOND’S ROLEX AT CHRISTIE’S, GENEVA

    Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

    Roger Moore with that Rolex and Jane Seymour. © 1973 Danjaq, LLC & United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved. (Click on image to enlarge).

    JAMES Bond aficionados might be stirred by the lure of his Rolex from the 1973 film Live and Let Die.  Modified by Q the Rolex ref 5513, the most memorable watch to appear in film, comes up at Christie’s sale of important watches in Geneva on November 14.   The submariner watch features a bezel spinning at high  at high speed to cut ropes and chains.

    In Live and Let Die it bore an ultra strong magnet designed to neutralise bullets. 007 used it to unzip Ms. Solitaire’s dress.  The Rolex was modified for Bond by the brilliant film production designer Syd Cain and the lot is to be sold together with an original construction drawing and two signed images from the set.  (est: SFr. 200,000 – 400,000 –  Euro 163,000- 327,000).

    UPDATE: IT MADE 219,000 SWISS FRANCS, $243,959.

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    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR GERHARD RICHTER AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, October 14th, 2011

    Jussi Pylkkanen selling the record-breaking 'Kerze' by Richter in London tonight. (Click on image to enlarge).

    THERE was a new world record for Gerhard Richter at Christie’s in London on October 14. His Kerze (Candle), painted in 1982, was sold for £10,457,250 after a fierce bidding battle. This was the top price at this evenings auctions of Post-War & Contemporary Art and the Italian Sale.  There were nine artists records.  A life size maquette of Antony Gormley’s iconic Angel of the North (1996) sold for £3,401,250 a world record for the artist at auction. The evening saw record prices for Ahmad Alsoudani, Joe Bradley, Karen Kilimnik, Albert Oehlen, Domenico Gnoli and Arnaldo Pomodoro. Untitled by Martin Kippenberger (1990) sold for £1,329,250 a world record price for a sculpture by the artist at auction.

    The combined total for the sales was  £55,630,000.  Ten lots sold for over £1 million and 20 lots sold for over $1 million. The corresponding sales last year realised £38.2 million. The buyer breakdown was 49% Europe including the UK, 38% Americas and 13% Asia.

    See video post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 13.

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