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THE CONTRACT THAT LAUNCHED THE BEATLES AT SOTHEBY’S

Saturday, September 5th, 2015

The contract that launched the most successful band of all time, binding together the Beatles with manager Brian Epstein, comes up at Sotheby’s London Rock & Pop sale on September 29. Signed on October 1, 1962 just days before the release of their first single ‘Love Me Do’ it is estimated at £300,000-500,000. This is the only management contract signed between the Beatles and Epstein after the band attained its final line-up of John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.

“Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that the Beatles could have achieved all that they did: it took more than inspired musicianship and song-writing to remake popular music. The presentation, direction, and internal harmony of the Beatles all owed a huge amount to Brian Epstein. He was, as Paul McCartney has acknowledged, the Fifth Beatle.” – Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s Specialist in Books and Manuscripts.

Fascinating insights revealed in the terms of the contract include that Epstein would determine “on all matters concerning clothes, make-up and the presentation” of the Beatles and a clause allowing for band members to be kicked out “should two or more of them desire to remove one or more of the other Artists … with the consent in writing of the Manager”. UPDATE: It sold for £365,000

Tags: Brian Epstein, sotheby's, The Beatles
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THE ABBA PIANO AT SOTHEBY’S IN SEPTEMBER

Thursday, August 27th, 2015

The Abba piano.

The “ABBA Piano”, the first major piece of ABBA material to be offered at auction, comes up at Sotheby’s in London on September 29. No other single instrument has featured more prominently in pop music since the 1970’s. From the opening refrain of ‘Mamma Mia’, to ‘Waterloo’, ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Money, Money, Money’, the sound of this piano has resonated throughout countless bedrooms, headphones and dancefloors across the world. The instrument on which ABBA recorded their best-loved songs is from the collection of Atlantis Grammofon (formerly known as Metronome Studios), where ABBA recorded their greatest hits. Estimated at £600,000-800,000, it is accompanied by a certificate of authentication signed by Benny Andersson in 2015.

“The Bolin Grand, one of a kind and a great source of inspiration while working in the recording studio during the ABBA sessions!” Benny Andersson said this year. It was originally built for American composer and jazz pianist Bill Evans (1929-1980) by the Swedish designer George Bolin (1912-1993). It was purchased by the Metronome Studios in Stockholm in 1967 and featured on virtually all ABBA recordings from 1973-77.

In 2000 John Lennon’s Steinway upright piano, on which he composed Imagine, sold for £1.67 million. The upright piano which featured in Rick’s Cafe Americain in the film Casablanca sold for $3.4 million last year.

UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Tags: ABBA, Bolin Grand, sotheby's
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Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall at Sotheby’s

Tuesday, August 25th, 2015

The Dylan lyrics

In 1962, in a small room above the legendary Gaslight Folk Club in Greenwich Village, New York, the 21-year-old Bob Dylan, hunched at a typewriter, wrote what is widely considered one of the greatest songs in the history of rock music. Fifty-three years later, the original type-written manuscript for the revolutionary, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, has emerged for sale at Sotheby’s in London, where it is estimated to sell for £150,000-200,000.

Described by Rolling Stone magazine as “the greatest protest song by the greatest protest songwriter of his time”, it marks a key artistic breakthrough by the most influential songwriter alive today. The scratchings-out and revisions offer fresh insight into the creative process behind one of the world’s most loved songs.

The lyrics will be part of Sotheby’s “Rock & Pop” sale in London on September 29.

UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Tags: Bob Dylan, Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, sotheby's
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THE SIMPSONS AT SOTHEBY’S SAM SIMON SALE IN NEW YORK

Thursday, August 20th, 2015

Fine art and memorabilia from the personal collection of television legend Samuel “Sam” Simon (1955-2015) – co-creator of The Simpsons – will come up across a series of auctions at Sotheby’s in New York this autumn. Sam Simon’s passions extended beyond television to include a notable career as a boxing manager, as well as a lasting legacy as a champion of animal rights. To that end, full proceeds from the sale of his collection will benefit the multi-platform Sam Simon Charitable Giving Foundation, which supports both animal welfare programs and poverty alleviation and disaster relief organisations. He was showrunner on Taxi and a writer/producer/director on countless pop culture icons of the small screen.

Sam Simon’s creative eye manifested itself in his extensive art collection, which spans an impressive range of styles, genres and mediums. The strong figurative vein that runs throughout the group is evidenced in paintings such as Thomas Hart Benton’s T.P. and Jake, in which the artist communicates the emotional connection between a boy and his dog in beautiful detail ($1.5/2.5 million). That work held such personal significance to Simon that it is pictured in the logo for the Sam Simon Foundation.

Thomas Hart Benton, T.P. and Jake.

Auguste Rodin, Balzac en robe de dominic

Circa 1990 The Simpsons Data East Pinball Machine

An interior shot of Sam Simon’s house in Los Angeles.

Mel Ramos, Val Veeta

Simon’s Personal The Simpsons Jacket

Tags: Sam Simon, sotheby's, The Simpsons, Thomas Hart Benton
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A COMPANION TO A PAIR OF COMMODES AT THE FRICK

Wednesday, August 19th, 2015

A magnificent companion pair to the Blake of London commodes in the Frick Collection will come up at Sotheby’s in New York on October 15. The estimate is $300,000-500,000. Sotheby’s auctions of 19th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts in New York will feature both a dedicated single-owner sale from a distinguished Asian collection and a various owners auction. The collection was formed over 50 years with the help of renowned dealers in London and Paris. There are 18th and 19th century pieces based on royal and aristocratic models of the ancien regime as well as creations from Francois Linke and Leon Message.

The Frick Commodes’ Companion Pair Boulle Style Marquetry Commodes by George-Henry Blake (19th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts)

A Large Louis XVI ormolu mantle clock (Property from a Distinguished Private Asian Collection)

A Large Louis XVI ormolu mantle clock, Paris c1765 – (Property from a Distinguished Private Asian Collection) ($25,000-35,000).

Tags: Blake of London, Frick Collection, sotheby's
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A GREAT HOUSE RE-AWAKENED IN DORSET

Monday, August 10th, 2015

The re-awakening of one of Britain’s great houses, St Giles House in Dorset ancestral seat of the Earls of Shaftesbury, has emerged as the winner of the 2015 Historic Houses Association (HHA) & Sotheby’s Restoration Award. St. Giles, which has remained in the family since the 14^th-century, had been abandoned and derelict for over 50 years. It was transformed over the past four and a half years through a restoration project undertaken by the 12^th Earl and Countess of Shaftsbury. Lord Shaftesbury inherited the house and 5,000 acre estate in 2005, aged only 25, following the tragic death of his father and, only a few months later, of his elder brother. With the help of grants from Natural England and the Country House Foundation, the grounds and grand interiors of St Giles House have now been returned to their former glory.

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftsbury (1621-1683), a founder of the Whig party, built the nucleus of the house. The estate continued to be developed over successive generations. It was uninhabited for the latter part of the 20th century. Only a few years ago snow was blowing into the library and sections of the house were at risk of collapse.

Lord Shaftesbury said: “It is a huge honour to receive this award after four and a half years of hard work. It’s amazing now to look back at the project and think where we’ve come – it’s safe to say we’ve achieved far more than any of us imagined possible. Hopefully it will inspire others to do the same.”

Library (copyright Marcus Peel)

North Drawing Room (copyright Marcus Peel)

St Giles House 1862 (copyright St Giles House Archives)

Great Dining Room (copyright Marcus Peel)

St Giles House from Great Avenue (copyright Philip Hughes)

Tapestry Room (copyright Justin Barton)

Tags: Historic Houses Association, sotheby's, St. Giles House Dorset
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WORKS FROM YOSHIHARA JIRO COLLECTION AT SOTHEBY’S

Friday, July 31st, 2015

Yoshihara Jiro’s Work (1971) (US$129,000-258,000).

The first dedicated sale of works from the Yoshihara Jiro collection ever to appear on the market will come up at Sotheby’s Contemporary Asian Art sale in Hong Kong on October 5. It will feature works both created and coveted by Yoshihara, the celebrated founder of Japan’s 20th-century avant-garde Gutai movement. There are more than 20 original Yoshihara canvas, paper and ceramic works, many from his iconic Circle series.

Evelyn Lin, Head of Contemporary Asian Art, Sotheby’s, said: “Dating from the mid-1930s to the early-1970s, Full Circle encompasses a comprehensive array of works rarely seen on the market, showcasing Yoshihara’s immaculate art, vision and taste, as well as his exploration on the circle motif in the later stage of his artistic career. At a time when Gutai has received much international acclaim on its art-historical contributions, we look forward to presenting the collection this autumn, as a much deserved tribute to the contemporary master.”

Tags: GUTAI, sotheby's, YOSHIHARA JIRO
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A FRENCH ROYAL FAMILY SALE AT SOTHEBY’S PARIS

Wednesday, July 29th, 2015

Paintings, drawings, furniture and historical memorabilia from the French royal family will come up at Sotheby’s in Paris on September 29. The sale from the collections of the late Comte de Paris (1909-1999) and Comtesse de Paris (1911-2003) is from the dynasty that reigned over France for nearly a thousand years. There are 200 lots from various residences of the Orléans family, the cadet branch, which later became the eldest branch of the Royal House of France. In 1848, during the July Revolution which ended the reign of Louis-Philippe, they went with the royal family into exile, firstly to Claremont House in England, then to the Manoir d’Anjou in Belgium, and then to Portugal. They returned to France in the 1950s when the exile act barring pretenders to the French throne from French territory was repealed. They have always remained the private property of the descendants of King Louis-Philippe. The works have been housed since 1974 by the Fondation Saint-Louis and were restored to the heirs of the Comte and Comtesse de Paris by a district court ruling in 2013.

Louis-Phillippe, duc de Valois au Berceau by Nicolas Bernard Lepicie (150,000-200,000).

an 1821 portrait by Horace Vernet of the Duc de Chartres (50,000-70,000).

Tags: Comte de Paris, French royal family, sotheby's
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SOTHEBY’S RECORDS 28% INCREASE IN ONLINE BIDDERS

Friday, July 17th, 2015

Andy Warhol’s One Dollar Bill (Silver Certificate) selling for £20.9 million.

A significant growth in online transactions including a 28% increase in online bidders so far in 2015 was reported by Sotheby’s today. In what has been a good season for the auction house there has been a 45% increase in the number of lots purchased online and a 35% increase in value spent by online buyers this year.

The Impressionist and Modern Art sales series in London achieved a 40% rise compared to the values of 2014 and Contemporary Art sales are 30% up in value terms. The Impressionist and Modern sale recorded an increase of 20% in geographical reach and 20% of Contemporary Art buyers were new to this category. In the Old Masters sales series there was a doubling in the number of buyers from Asia and an 18% increase in buyers from Russia.

Overall there has been an increase of 30% in new buyers at Sotheby’s this year. There has been a 51% increase in spend by Chinese buyers and a 35% increase in the number of buyers from China.

Tags: Andy Warhol, sotheby's
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STUDY FOR “FLAMING JUNE” SELLS FOR £167,000

Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

The only known head study for one of the most famous masterpieces of the nineteenth century, Frederic, Lord Leighton’s Flaming June sold to an American private collector for £167,000 at Sotheby’s in London today. The pencil and white chalk study sold for four times it pre sale low estimate (£40,000-60,000) to make an auction record for a work on paper by the artist.

Various museums possess studies for the draperies in Flaming June, for the nude figure and for the overall composition, but this unique head study was only known from an illustration in the Magazine of Art of 1895. It was rediscovered hanging on a bedroom wall at West Horsley Place, the 400-acre Surrey estate that was home to the late Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, by Sotheby’s Victorian Art specialist Simon Toll. The head study represents one of the most important surviving drawings relating to this famous painting and provides the missing link in the preparatory work for what has become known as ‘The Mona Lisa of the Southern Hemisphere’.

The sale also featured Leighton’s oil painting Catarina, another re-discovery, which sold to an UK private collector for £233,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £100,000-150,000.

Frederic, Lord Leighton – Study for Flaming June – sold for £167,000.

Frederic, Lord Leighton – Catarina -sold for £233,000.

Tags: Frederic Lord Leighton, sotheby's
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