Art News

Christie's started off a big week of auctions with a bang last night. Their 19th & 20th Century Art Evening Sale, the first in a series of auctions of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, totaled over $646 million dollars. Touted as the most valuable collection ever offered at auction, all proceeds will go to some of the many charities the Rockefellers supported.

Peggy Gottlieb, jewellery specialist at Christie’s in Los Angeles, reveals how to tell good jewellery from bad. ‘I have the best job in the world — I get to go on a treasure hunt every single day,’ says Peggy Gottlieb, jewellery specialist at Christie’s in Los Angeles.

Sotheby’s recent auction, "A Beautiful Life: Photographs from the Collection of Leland Hirsch," presented fifty striking photos from Hirsch’s private collection. Richard Avedon’s iconic "Dovima with Elephants" led the auction, selling for $375,500, one of the highest prices of the season.

Sotheby’s recent American Art auction included works by seven important female artists in a range of styles from classical sculpture to cubism and folk art. Self-taught artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses, known as “Grandma Moses,” painted "Hurrah for Christmas," one of the highlights of the auction. An autumnal success story, Grandma Moses didn't start painting until 75, becoming one of the most famous folk artists of the 20th century.

On February 27th, Fernand Léger’s (1881-1955) L’usine or Motif pour le moteur sold at Christie’s London at the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale for over 1.9 million pounds ($2.9 million), far exceeding the auction house’s estimate of nine hundred thousand to 1.2 million pounds.

Featured in Christie's upcoming "Beyond Imagination: Outsider and Vernacular Art Featuring the Collection of Marjorie and Harvey Freed" auction on January 19th, is a large work by Henry Darger, a key figure in outsider art. On the auction block is an over six-foot long double sided page, 93 At Jennie Richee, are chaced for long distance by Glandelinians with blood hounds.

Sotheby’s auctioned off an extraordinary collection of Tiffany Masterworks December 13th. Collected by William A Richardson, the ensemble showcased a number of extraordinary Tiffany Lamps, including the iconic Dragonfly Lamp, and included rare examples of Tiffany mosaics, fancy goods and leaded glass windows. The entire collection sold for $7,309,500 USD, with many items going for three to four times the estimated value.

An auction of the estate of Harriet Gould is bringing new works by big names to the public. According to the auction house, John McInnis Auctioneers, Gould's son, Jon Gould, was the former Vice President of Paramount pictures, and a close friend of Andy Warhol's. Upon Jon Gould's death in 1986, his belongings, including works by Warhol, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, were stored in his mother Harriet's attic in Amesbury, Massachusets. Now that her estate is being sold, these newly rediscovered treasures are up at auction.

At the upcoming Phillips Design Evening Sale, on December 12, 31 beautiful objects are up for auction. These include a George Nakashima coffee table and several pieces designed by Alberto Giacometti. Standing out among an impressive collection of design objects is Peter Voulkos’ monumental clay sculpture, Rondena.

The griffins that adorn this 18th-century ormolu, bronze, and marble clock might be reminders of Harry Potter, but it will take someone with the purse of JK Rowling to bring it home.  The clock, offered at auction by Christie's on October 24, has a pre-auction estimate of $70,000 to $100,000.  This spectacular timepiece traces its roots to Dominique Daguerre, a marchand-mercier in Paris who likely commissioned this piece.  The tail-tale sign are th