Latest Christie's Stories

By Chris Michaud NEW YORK (Reuters) - British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's foundation will sell a Picasso portrait that is expected to fetch over $40 million at auction, with the proceeds being donated to charity, Christie's said on Friday. The 1903 work from the artist's Blue Period, "Angel Fernandez de Soto," will be sold at Christie's fall auction of Impressionist and modern art on November 8. The haunting portrait of Picasso's close friend, who he met in 1899 in Barcelona and...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - His paintings sell for millions but fans of Andy Warhol picked up some bargains at an auction of memorabilia on Thursday, including one of the artist's trademark silver wigs that sold for $10,800. Auction house Christie's said the wig was part of sale of film and entertainment memorabilia that raised a total of $839,670, with 231 of the 283 lots on offer sold at the auction in New York. A pair of the late artist's paint-splattered Ferragamo shoes went for $7,800...

By Mike Collett-White LONDON (Reuters) - The recent sale of a Gustav Klimt portrait for a record $135 million finally confirmed that the art market was back to the giddy heights of the late 1980s. What experts cannot agree on is whether this time around values are destined to mirror the dramatic collapse that began in 1990. Leading auction houses are confident the conditions are in place for sustained growth, unlike 16 years ago when speculative money, much of it Japanese, left the...

By Mike Collett-WhiteLONDON -- The recent sale of a Gustav Klimt portrait for a record $135 million finally confirmed that the art market was back to the giddy heights of the late 1980s.What experts cannot agree on is whether this time around values are destined to mirror the dramatic collapse that began in 1990.Leading auction houses are confident the conditions are in place for sustained growth, unlike 16 years ago when speculative money, much of it Japanese, left the market vulnerable to...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 4000-year-old Egyptian alabaster container shaped like a duck and used for a funeral offering has been withdrawn from auction because it may be stolen property, Christie's auction house said on Monday. The Old Kingdom alabaster offering vessel dating from 2575 to 2134 BC was expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000 before it was withdrawn from the sale, according to the Christie's online catalog for its June 16 sale of antiquities in New York. "Upon receiving...

By Chris Michaud NEW YORK (Reuters) - Don't have $10 million for an Andy Warhol Campbell's soup can painting? A mere $1,000 could buy the late artist's paintbrush or paint-splattered shoes when an array of his possessions hit the auction block next month. The items, included in a sale of celebrity memorabilia announced by Christie's on Monday, were culled from gifts that Warhol bestowed on Jeffrey Warhola and his other nephews when they visited their famous uncle from the late 1960s...

By Chris Michaud NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trekkies will be setting their phasers to "bid" this fall when Christie's holds the first official studio auction of memorabilia from all five "Star Trek" television series and 10 movie spinoffs. CBS Paramount Television Studios is cleaning out its vaults for the sale, comprising more than 1,000 lots totaling some 4,000 items, to be held from October 5 to 7 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the original "Star Trek" series, Christie's...

By Chris Michaud NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trekkies will be setting their phasers to "bid" this fall when Christie's holds the first official studio auction of memorabilia from all five "Star Trek" television series and 10 movie spin-offs. CBS Paramount Television Studios is cleaning out its vaults for the sale, comprising more than 1,000 lots totaling some 4,000 items, to be held from October 5 to 7 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the original "Star Trek" series, Christie's...

By Christopher Michaud NEW YORK (Reuters) - Works by Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning each sold for more than $10 million at Christie's on Tuesday, signaling a healthy, if not runaway, market for post-war and contemporary art. Damien Hirst broke his own record with a sheep-in-formaldehyde sculpture in the monumental auction which placed 91 lots on the block, including a group of 26 works by Donald Judd. Only eight failed to sell. The auction house took in $143,187,200 including...

By Haitham Haddadin KUWAIT (Reuters) - Auction house Christie's said on Thursday it would hold its inaugural Middle East auction this month in Dubai, with contemporary and modern Arab, Asian and Western art, including work by icons like Andy Warhol. Christie's officials told a news conference in Kuwait that this was to be the first sale of its kind in the region and aims to make the Middle East a key part of the international art market. "The auction offers an unparalleled opportunity...