‘Bigger Is Better’: At a Time of Unprecedented Competition, Smaller Auction Houses Are Merging to Stay in the Game

Auctions

‘Bigger Is Better’: At a Time of Unprecedented Competition, Smaller Auction Houses Are Merging to Stay in the Game

The mergers of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and Cowan's Auctions, as well as Rago and Wright, offer a hint of what's in store for the industry.

By Daniel Grant, Jul 2, 2019

Auctions

Works by Women Artists Spark Excitement at Phillips’s Star-Studded $45.5 Million Contemporary Sale in London

The sale, which came in toward the low side of its overall estimate, included two Basquiats from the collection of ex-Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez.

By Colin Gleadell, Jun 27, 2019

Auctions

A $21 Million Francis Bacon Portrait and a Bevy of Middle Eastern Bidding Fuel Sotheby’s $88.4 Million Postwar London Sale

New records were set this evening for Pascale Marthine Tayou and Toyin Ojih Odutola, but the overall results were moderate.

By Colin Gleadell, Jun 26, 2019

Auctions

Christie’s Jumps Back Into the London Summer Postwar Evening Auction Calendar With a Steady $57 Million Sale

The auction house is trying to find its way after dropping the sale from its calendar the past two seasons.

By Colin Gleadell, Jun 25, 2019

Auctions

A Long-Lost (and Disputed) Caravaggio Due to Fetch as Much as $171 Million at Auction Was Just Sold in a Mysterious Private Sale

The painting, Judith Beheading Holofernes, was discovered in an attic in 2014.

By Sarah Cascone, Jun 25, 2019

Auctions

A Swiss Family Used This Chinese Emperor’s Bronze Vessel to Store Their Tennis Balls. It Just Sold at Auction for $4.9 Million

A specialist spotted the 17th-century incense burner on an unrelated visit to the family's home.

By Caroline Goldstein, Jun 20, 2019

Auctions

A Serene Monet and Several Restituted Treasures Reassure the Market at Sotheby’s $124 Million Impressionist and Modern Sale

The action assuaged market jitters after a rocky performance at Christie's Impressionist and Modern sale on Tuesday.

By Colin Gleadell, Jun 19, 2019

Auctions

The Gun That Vincent van Gogh Is Believed to Have Used to Kill Himself Just Sold for $182,000 at Auction

The more than 100-year-old weapon doubled its estimate at a Paris auction today.

By Eileen Kinsella, Jun 19, 2019

Auctions

What the Sotheby’s Sale Means for the Future of the Art Industry—and How It Reflects a Broader Shift in Global Economics

Patrick Drahi's acquisition of Sotheby's is the latest in a long line of public companies-gone-private. Here's what it means.

By Eileen Kinsella & Tim Schneider, Jun 19, 2019

Auctions

Late Picasso Works Save an Otherwise Lackluster $46 Million Impressionist and Modern Art Sale at Christie’s London

Meanwhile, Barbara Hepworth and Frank Bowling headlined the auction house's lively Modern British art sale.

By Colin Gleadell, Jun 18, 2019

Auctions

French Media Tycoon Patrick Drahi Has Acquired Sotheby’s for $3.7 Billion, Taking the Publicly Traded Auction House Private

Sotheby's will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

By Eileen Kinsella, Jun 17, 2019

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