Auction houses

New York City removes rules governing auction houses in bid to stimulate business

But firms say they will continue to operate policies and practices that promote transparency

'In a guaranteed market, buyers and sellers crave the unpredictable'

The recent London auctions suggested a market of extremes, with some seeking the safety of guarantees and others speculating on works by young stars on the rise

With a $20m estimate, this Louise Bourgeois spider is the most expensive sculpture offered at auction in Asia

Spider IV will be offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong contemporary evening sale later this month

'I’ve done my duty on spreadsheets': senior staff reshuffles at Christie's and Sotheby's

A number of new appointments are announced today at the auction houses, with a different EMEA president for Christie's and new managing director in the Middle East at Sotheby's

Sotheby’s and Ketterer Kunst among auction houses to ban some Russian buyers

The move comes as the art market steps up its due diligence

Riah Pryor. With additional reporting by Sophia Kishkovsky and Anna Brady

Bonhams continues acquisitions spree with purchase of Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen

The firm bags a second Scandinavian auction house as sector consolidation continues

Bonhams's big buying spree continue with acquisition of US auction house Skinner

Just two months after buying the Nordic firm Bukowskis, the private-equity-owned auction house is bolstering its presence across the Pond

Christie’s Middle East chairman Michael Jeha is stepping down after 23 years at the end of this month

Jeha began his career at the auction house as an intern in the Impressionism department

'How canny auction houses and advisory firms are turning a generation of Amazon shoppers into art collectors'

The middle market, traditionally the art world’s unloved child, offers treats galore

Rubens could become most expensive work of art ever sold in Poland

Portrait of a Lady by the artist and his workshop is expected to sell for up to £4m at DesaUnicum in Warsaw next month

Art marketinterview

From Taiwanese white goods entrepreneurs to the Nanking shipwreck cargo: Colin Sheaf on the meteoric growth of the Asian auction world

As the Chinese art specialist steps back at Bonhams, he reflects on 50 years in the auction world as it went from provincial to global

Pensioners revolt: Patrick Drahi winds up Sotheby’s ‘defined benefit’ pension plan, and former employees are not happy

Ex-staff are now considering legal action, claiming they were not kept informed of changes to the scheme

How auction houses became the big winners of the pandemic

With the forced shift to online sales due to Covid-19 restrictions, global sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips boomed in 2021, with an increased focus on luxury goods as the rich get richer

Four years since companies in the UK began revealing salary data, the art world’s gender pay gap remains

Auction houses continue to show little sign of progress and lag behind public sector institutions

Bonhams buys Nordic auction house Bukowskis

The private-equity-owned auction house's acquisition of the Swedish firm is a first move in its bid to extend its global network

Shots fired: South Korea's galleries plan sale to 'warn' auction houses against speculation and 'extreme capitalist logic'

Seoul's biggest auction houses have allegedly violated an agreement made with Galleries Association Korea to ensure "healthy balance" within the art market

Christie’s 2021 sales total $7.1bn, with $150m from NFTs and $103.4m from the most expensive work sold this year, a Picasso

Results are the highest since 2015 and come in just behind Sotheby’s $7.3bn. Hong Kong expansion plan will continue despite Beijing crackdown, as auction house "separates what is political and what is business"

Sotheby’s sales for 2021 surpass $7.3bn, the highest total in company history

The firm’s sales were bolstered by a sharp increase in online bidders, who accounted for 92% of all bids this year

Art smuggled from junta-controlled Myanmar to be auctioned in New York this week

Proceeds from Artists Against Tyranny auction at Jane Lombard Gallery will support pro-democracy movement in junta-controlled Myanmar

Robert Bociaga

Art advisors Gurr Johns buys (another) auction house, 'catering to an under-loved sector of the market for works of art under $100,000'

The firm is buying the London-based books and works on paper specialist Forum Auctions—it previously bought Dreweatts and Bloomsbury for £1.25m in 2017

Art marketanalysis

Can an art market wild about young 'red-chip' artists and NFTs still value blue-chip, white male masters? Answer: Yes, for now

New York's "gigafortnight" sales of the Cox and Macklowe collections showed there is still a market for classics—even while a Beeple sells for $29m to a tweeting tech entrepreneur

Strong prices for female painters and young artists—but Francis Bacon's Pope sells to the guarantor—at Phillips's $137.9m auction in New York

The 20th century and contemporary art evening sale saw stiff competition for works by Shara Hughes, Joan Mitchell, Amy Sherald and Cecily Brown

New app artpass ID promises art market due diligence in one click—but does it really work?

Artpass ID has been created by Dutch tech entrepreneurs David Dehaeck and Nathalie Haveman, and has Rakhi Talwar, former global compliance head at Christie’s, on the team

Crypto wallets at the ready: Sotheby's to accept live bidding in ethereum on two Banksy works

The auction house made Banksy's world record for the pre-shredded work Love is in the Bin

Former Bonhams owner Robert Brooks dies

The ambitious auctioneer started out in car racing before going into art and antiques, eventually retiring to his farm near Exmoor to rear a herd of beef cattle

Art marketinterview

Need a 100-year-old Inuit parka made from seal guts? Dealer Peter Petrou to sell collection at Sotheby's

The London-based dealer of four decades is downsizing and having a 200-lot sale of contemporary art, Modern furniture, ethnographic art and antiquities

Art marketanalysis

Connoisseurship: is it time for a comeback?

When prices and cultural value are so easily confused, there is a case for the return of critical evaluation—in updated form