JEWELS OF THE DUKE & DUCHESS OF WINDSOR

Jewels formerly the property of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor went on auction  for a second time at Sotheby’s in London as part of the auction house’s Fine Jewels sale. Includes a number of cigarette cases, snuff boxes, cuff links and other   possessions, with personal engravings and messages

Tamara de Lempicka at Sotheby’s New York

On May 5 and 6, 2009, fashion designer Wolfgang Joop will offer ten paintings by Tamara de Lempicka at Sotheby’s New York. . Four paintings will be included in the evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on May 5th and six will be offered the following day

Emmanuel Di-Donna, Vice Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art Worldwide and Head of Sotheby’s Evening Sales, New York, commented, “This group of paintings, all from Lempicka’s prime period, embodies the spirit of the Art Deco era and its sense of style and modernity. These iconic images range from intimate and sensual to bold and monumental. As an artist, Lempicka drew on the avant-garde art and design around her, Cubism in particular, to derive a distinct aesthetic all her own.”


“Tamara’s appeal to me is comparable to that of a blue diamond,” said Wolfgang Joop. “From the first moment I saw her paintings, I was captivated by the unique way in which she presented women, and I have been fortunate to enjoy a long and intimate history with her. In turn, she inspired my work with a distinctive style that embodies the image of a modern woman.”

E.H. Shepard’s original drawings for Winnie-the-Pooh books on auction

Sotheby's London will offer for sale the finest single collection of E.H. Shepard’s original drawings for Winnie-the-Pooh books to come to auction. This important collection includes the original drawing ‘He went on tracking, and Piglet . . . ran after him’ (est. £40,000-60,000). Also to be offered is a selection of significant A.A. Milne books, some of which are extremely limited editions and others that are signed or inscribed by the author.

U2 To Auction Off Artwork

Rock band U2 , will auction a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting on July 1 at Sotheby's London. Untitled (Pecho/Oreja), completed in 1983, is estimated to sell for £4-6 million. U2 bassist Adam Clayton bought it in 1989, a year after Basqiat's death. It has hung in their Dublin studio ever since.

Ferrari Leggenda e Passione Auction

RM Auctions in collaboration with Sotheby’s has announced the “Ferrari Leggenda e Passione” (Ferrari - Legend and Passion) set for June 18. LiveAuctioneers.com has opened bidding online, and will also carry streaming audio/video of the event.

Study for a Woman in Blue makes $39M at auction

The cubist oil painting by Fernand Leger sold in New York for more than $39 million Sotheby’s reports.

The auction house says the 1912-1913 painting, “Study for a Woman in Blue,” sold Wednesday for $39.2 million, a record for the 20th-century French artist. The painting’s pre-auction estimate was $35 million to $45 million. The abstract geometric painting shows a woman in a blue dress seated at a table with her hands in her lap.

Francis Bacon's Vulture Painting

Francis Bacon's painting depicting a man attacked by vultures may fetch a $70 million when it is auctioned in New York in May, Sotheby's said.

Bacon's 1976 triptych, painted while he was living in Paris, is being sold by a European collector who has owned it for more than 30 years,

contemporary art auction breaks records in London

A contemporary art auction raised 95 million pounds in London, Sotheby's tells AP.

Francis Bacon's "Study Of Nude With Figure In A Mirror", was bought by a private European collector for 19.9 million pounds, compared to its pre-sale estimate of at least 18 million pounds.
T
he auction had been expected to raise about 72 million pounds.

Sotheby's to auction seven Picasso paintings

Seven works by Pablo Picasso are up for auction next month at Sotheby’s

One is a portrait of Picasso’s muse, the painter and photographer Dora Maar, famous for her love affair with the Málaga artist. One of his portraits of her, ‘Dora Maar with Cat,’ reached the second highest price of a work of art ever sold at auction in May 2006: 95.2 million dollars in May 2006. His bronze sculpture, ‘Head of a Woman,’ went for 29.1 million in November last year.

His painting ‘Head of a Woman,’ up for auction next month, is a little more reasonable. It’s only expected to reach between 13 and 17 million dollars.

Magna Carta Goes For $21.3 million

The Magna Carta, an 800-year-old English royal manuscript setting out the rights of man, sold at auction at Sotheby's in New York Tuesday for 21.3 million dollars.

The iconic vellum manuscript was bought by David Rubenstein, a US lawyer and founder of Washington-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group.

He said he would loan the royal charter, which is dated 1297 and bears the wax seal of King Edward I, to the US National Archives.

Qing dynasty vase sells for £3m at auction

A rare Chinese vase dating back to the Qing dynasty dismissed as an imitation was hailed as one of the most important examples of Chinese porcelain to have come on to the British market in many years. The vase sold for nearly £3m at Sotheby's auction house.

The newly discovered and extraordinarily rare Chinese dragon vase sold for £2,820,500, establishing a new auction record for a piece of Qing dynasty blue-and-white porcelain. The Swiss collector, who does not want to be named, had stored it away after being told it was merely a clever copy of the real thing.

Rare blue diamond breaks world record

A flawless blue diamond, has sold for US$7.98 million at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong, making it the most expensive gemstone in the world, per carat, sold at auction, Reuters reports


Sotheby's said the buyer was "Moussaieff Jewellers" in London which has a reputation for acquiring extremely rare and costly gemstones. The seller was a private Asian collector.

auction of silver and Russian works of art from the estate of Charles and Yvette Bluhdorn

Sotheby's New York will auction important Silver, Silver-Gilt, and Russian Works of Art from the Estate of Charles and Yvette Bluhdorn on October 13th. The auction will feature the George III Fitzgibbon Marine centerpiece created by James Young, London, 1786. The silver centerpiece is estimated to sell for $800,000 to $1.2 million.

seent at Luxist

Two Picasso works up for auction at Sotheby's

"Tete de femme (Dora Maar)" and "La Lampe" by Pablo Picasso are up for auction at Sotheby's.

"Tete de femme (Dora Maar)" is a 31.5-inch (80-cm) bronze bust made in 1941 that is estimated to sell for $20 million to $30 million.

"La Lampe" from 1931 features the likeness of his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, and should bring in $25 million to $35 million, Sotheby's said.

$30 million for Ross Perot's Magna Carta

Sotheby's will offer the Magna Carta from Billionaire Ross Perot's foundation for as much as $30 million in New York in mid-December, Bloomberg reports.

The document, which laid the foundations for English political and civil liberties in 1215, was on loan to the National Archives in Washington, said Sotheby's spokesman Matthew Weigman, in a telephone interview. The 2,500-word document is the only one in the U.S. and was bought by Perot in 1984 for $1.5 million, the New York Times reported earlier.

Perot's foundation will use the funds for medical research, public education and other programs, the Times said, citing an employee of the foundation.

seen at Luxist.com

20th Century Decorative Arts, selected by Gordon Watson

Sotheby's London will hold an auction: 20th Century Decorative Arts, selected by Gordon Watson, Wallpaper reports

The diverse and eclectic auction includes of over 250 lots spanning eight decades of 20th century design including French Art Deco furniture from masters Pierre Chareau, Paul Dupre-Lafon and Jacques Adnet, Venetian glass by Carlo Scarpa and Fulvio Bianconi, and even contemporary English silver from Paul Belvoir.


Sotheby's
34-35 New Bond Street
London
W1A 2AA
Telephone

+44(0)20.7293.6000
Website

sothebys
The acution will take place at 2pm on Wednesday September 26th.