Art News

Two of Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe portraits are scheduled to go up for auction this May at two different, leading auction houses—Christie’s and Bonhams. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this unplanned duet is the vast difference between their estimated costs. 

Few museum curators have had as big an impact on a city’s cultural life as William A. Fagaly. The internationally renowned scholar, who died last year aged 83, built up important museum collections of Outsider, African and contemporary art during his 50 years at the New Orleans Museum of Art. He also made a substantial contribution to the understanding of southern Outsider art. Fagaly — universally known as Bill — was known for seeking out and championing self-taught African American artists from the surrounding region, including David Butler and Sister Gertrude Morgan, bringing them to national and international attention. The New Orleans curator pioneered mainstream acceptance of work by self-taught artists.

Although Sotheby’s sale of Sandro Botticelli’s The Man of Sorrows was proceeded by considerable hype and still managed to close with an impressive bid, the sale was not as grand, nor the painting as ultimately expensive, as pre-sale estimates had led many to expect.

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.

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.

Discover two ultra-rare Swiss automata, made for the Chinese market in the 19th century. The magnificent McCullough automaton box is the last and greatest musical magician box to remain in private hands. Last offered at Sotheby’s in 1964, it has remained in an important private collection ever since. The musical automaton ‘necessaire’ with watch was formerly in the collection of John Asprey and is one of only two known examples of this size, the other being kept in the Hans Wilsdorf Collection at Rolex.

  Get film poster expert Bruce Marchant’s top tips on starting a collection and discover some of the gems he’d recommend to more established collectors from our upcoming sale Original Film Posters (27 August – 7 September). Demonstrating over 100 years of cinematic history, discover iconic film posters from Alfred Hitchcock thrillers to the ever-popular James Bond titles. Highlights include classics such as Gone with the Wind, The Italian Job and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

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.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, his pioneering debut album that forever changed Hip Hop, the legendary artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist has commissioned multi-disciplinary artist Derrick Adams to create a one-of-one animated digital artwork that comments on and recontextualizes the album’s iconic cover, which will be sold by Sotheby’s as an NFT in a special single-lot auction. In this video, join Derrick Adams at his studio in Brooklyn as he reflects on the importance of Reasonable Doubt, recontextualizing the cover and his greater artistic practice.