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Alberto Giacometti – Grande Tete Mince. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This busted by Alberto Giacometti highlights the New York sales at Sotheby’s this month. The painted bust of the artist’s brother Diego comes up at the Modern evening auction on May 13 with an estimate of in excess of $70 million.
The sales will be a crucial test for the art market amid global economic uncertainty, where worries about tarriffs and stock market volatility have deepened the mood of caution.
Luis Meléndez – Still Life with a Cauliflower, a Basket with Eggs, Leeks, and Fish, and Assorted Kitchen Utensils
One of the greatest collection of Old Masters to come to auction in living memory will be offered by Sotheby’s in New York on May 21 with an estimate of $80-$120 million. Comprising fifty-six works, many of which have been exhibited at leading institutions around the world, the collection of Jordan and Thomas A Saunders III features leading artists from the 16th to the 19th century. At its heart is a remarkable group of still-lifes by Dutch and Flemish masters of the 17th century, alongside exceptional portraits and landscapes. Among the highlights are landscapes by Francesco Guardi and Frans Hals and still lifes by Luis Meléndez, Adriaen Coorte and Jan Davidsz de Heem and portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence and Frans Hals. The c1826 Lawrence portrait is of Julia Peel, eldest child of British Prime Minister Robert Peel. The collection will be sold on May 21 and a further selection of works will highlight the Masters paintings sale on May 22.
Sir Thomas Lawrence – Portrait of Miss Julia Peel
Yoshitomo Nara – Cosmic Eyes (in the Milky Lake) at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £9,027,500
Van Gogh, Calder, Tamara de Lempica, Leonora Carrington and Francis Bacon are among the wide range of celebrated artists whose work will come under the hammer at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London next week.
At all levels of the market the offerings locally, nationally and internationally are appetising as the art selling season gets seriously underway.
Featured in no less than 17 international exhibitions Francis Bacon’s Portrait of a Man with Glasses III from 1963 is among the highlights at Christie’s 20th/21st evening sale next Wednesday (March 5). It is at auction for the first time.
An arresting portrait of the bacteriologist Dr. Boucard by Tamara de Lempicka is another highlight of an auction with work by Modigliani, Monet, Twombly and Polke and other luminaries.
A small and intricate stabile by Alexander Calder, blending movement, balance and colour, is among the standouts at Sotheby’s contemporary day auction on the same day.
Yoshitomo Nara’s Cosmic Eyes (in the Milky Lake) is a highlight at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary evening auction next Tuesday. Nara will be the subject of a retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London from next June.
The evening sale features art by Gerhard Richter, Constantin Brancusi, a pen and ink drawing of a public garden in Arles by Van Gogh, a charcoal on paper portrait by Matisse and art by Lucio Fontana, Picasso, Rodin and Roy Lichtenstein.
Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico are among the artists in the Art of the Surreal sale at Christie’s on Wednesday evening. Sacrament at Minos by Carrington testifies to her engagement with a myriad of cultures and their ideologies.
A large Fabergé jewelled obsidian model of a rhinoceros, St Petersburg, circa 1900 (£50,000-£70,000)
One of the last important groups of Fabergé animals in private hands will be sold by Castle Howard at Sotheby’s in May. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the restoration of the long lost tapestry drawing room at the castle. The collection of some 30 rare and beautiful carvings is similar to those owned by the British Royal Family and members of the Russian Imperial Court. With the latter
disassembled by Revolution and the former still held in the Royal Collection, the sale marks an opportunity for collectors to acquire pieces that fully demonstrate why Fabergé earned a prime position in royal and noble collections throughout Europe.
The pieces range from a tiny vole carved of smoky quartz to a commanding obsidian rhinoceros, a captivating bloodstone anteater to a charming series of woodland animals. Alongside the menagerie, the collection also includes Fabergé and European desk accessories.
Part of the proceeds from the auction will contribute to the restoration of the Tapestry Drawing Room, gutted by a devastating fire in 1940. It has remained a shell ever since. As part of a major renovation of Castle Howard’s historic interiors, from April 2025, visitors will be able to see the fully restored and decorated space, with the tapestries that originally hung in the room returned to their original positions.
A group from the collection.
The Joachim-Ma Stradivarius. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $11,250,000
The Joachin-Ma Stradivarius, one of the world’s finest violins, will come up at Sotheby’s in New York next February with an estimate of $12 million – $18 million (€11.34 million – €17 million). Crafted in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari during his renowned “Golden Period” it is being offered by the New England Conservatory with all proceeds dedicated to student scholarships. Before it was gifted to NEC it belonged to the late Si-Hon Ma, a violinist and pedagogue who graduated from NEC in the 1950s. It was given to the school with the provision that it could one day be sold to provide student scholarships. Before Ma, the violin was owned by Joseph Joachim whose collaborations with composers like Johannes Brahms shaped the course of classical music. It is likely that this violin premiered the Brahms Violin Concerto in 1879 asJoachim was one of the most influential violinists of the 19th century. What sets the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius apart according to Sotheby’s is its exceptional sound—rich, complex, and full of depth. The tone is both sweet and rounded.
FRIDAY FARE BY NANO REID SOLD FOR £57,600 AT SOTHEBYS MODERN BRITISH AND IRISH SALE IN LONDON IN NOVEMBER
Sotheby’s is to close its Irish office at the end of February as part of an international cost cutting exercise. The company plans to continue to serve its Irish clients in ways that are as yet unannounced. The Irish office opened first in 1978 and Arabella Bishop has been Irish Director for the past 25 years.
Trade restrictions that followed Britain’s departure from the EU created extra expense and red tape for the London auctioneers when it came to sourcing works here for sale in London. Sotheby’s is suffering internationally from a decline in auction sales, about 70 staff in London have recently been let go, offices in Moscow and Bangkok have been closed and presence in other cities has been reduced. Layoffs globally account for about six per cent of the workforce. Sotheby’s has faced increasing competition from online platforms and niche marketplaces that cater to a new generation of collectors. This cost-cutting follows the taking of a minority stake in the company, owned by French Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi, by an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, in a deal valued at $1bn.
Peter Curling – Around the Turn. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $31,200
This oil on canvas by the Irish artist Peter Curling is a feature lot at Sotheby’s Arcade sale in New York with an estimate of $15,000-$20,000. The Tipperary based Waterford born artist is particularly noted for his action paintings of horses, of which this work is a fine example, and he has shown in Saratoga and Kentucky. The Arcade sale, with 96 lots in total, runs from December 10-19.
Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A. – Portrait of William Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790–1858). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This arresting portrait of William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, is lot 22 at Sotheby’s Old Master and 19th century paintings evening auction in London on December 4. The estimate is £300,000-500,000. Inheriting the title at just 21 he was one of the greatest patrons of the arts of any age in British history. In the first year of his accession alone he commissioned Samuel Ware to draw up plans for the refurbishment of his two central London properties, Devonshire House and Burlington House, both in Mayfair; despatched William Atkinson to Ireland to carry out alterations to Lismore Castle, the family’s medieval stronghold atop a cliff on the banks of the Blackwater in County Waterford; and constructed the largest conservatory yet built in England on newly acquired land at Chiswick House, the celebrated Palladian villa which had been built by his great-grandfather, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. He transformed Chatsworth from a country house into a palace beyond parallel in England and it is largely due to his energies that Chatsworth is today one of the richest private collections of Western Art anywhere in the world.
Maurizio Catalan – Comedian
Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, comprised of a banana fastened to a wall with duct tape, sold to cryptocurrency entrepeneur Justin Sun for $6.2 million at the Now and Contemporary auction at Sotheby’s in New York last night. It comes with instructions of how to replace the banana if it rots. The New York Times reported that the actual banana was bought earlier yesterday for 35 cents and Justin Sun, who outbid six other rivals, plans to eat it as part of the artistic experience. Comedian was first unveiled in 2019 and became a viral sensation. Justin Sun runs the Tron blockchain network, which facilitates some cryptocurrency transactions.
Joseph Walsh – Unique “Lilium” Low Table
This unique Lilium low table by Joseph Walsh sold for $78,000 at Sotheby’s in New York today. It was from the collection of Sydell Miller whose enthusiasm for the work of the Irish sculptor started when she first encountered one of his works at an art fair. The commission of two site-specific low tables ensued, including the present lot, with Walsh designing the pieces with the proportions of her sitting rooms in mind. As functionality was primordial to the patron, Walsh included to the design unique moulded glass insets punctuating the top, ensuring that objects could be placed on its surface. In fact, Miller provided the artist with a curated list of objects that she wished to place on the tables.
The ebonized bentwood, characteristic of Joseph Walsh’s practice, beautifully complements the crystal inclusions, which turned out to be the most technically challenging part of the production process. A relatively new technique for the artist at the time, Walsh collaborated with Waterford crystal manufacturer and the Corning Museum of Glass in the production and moulding of each unique glass element, shaped like delicate teardrops.
The day auction of the Sydell Miller collection brought in $11,605,680
