Auction house’s bold changes that favour buyers could bolster profits—or they could backfire

The monumental canvas is expected to reset the record price at auction for any work from the series

Experts predict few operational changes after Sotheby’s wins fraud trial

The auction house made £82m before fees and set records for Etel Adnan and Takako Yamaguchi

Expectations are measured as sector adapts to new economic landscape

The hip hop legend worked with the record executive Jimmy Iovine and Sotheby’s to put on the event, which also featured performances by the producer Timbaland and the singer Andra Day

Scattered seven-figure highlights failed to make up for dozens of passed lots and multiple key withdrawals

The billionaire had sought at least $190m in damages from Sotheby's related to deals with Yves Bouvier. Instead, he will get nothing

The jury could return a verdict in the closely-watched lawsuit as soon as 30 January

Luxury goods and Millennials are helping buoy the bottom line, though fine art remains at the core of the business

The art market ‘trial of the century’ has transitioned from courtroom drama to bureaucratic headache

As the trial between the Russian billionaire and the auction house is thrashed out, it may be time to consider incorporating blockchain into the art scholarship process

The category’s extraordinary works sell well, but the middle and lower ends of the market are in need of new ideas

Plus, Singapore's art scene and a photograph by Zanele Muholi

Portrait of Isabel de Borbón was due to go on sale on 1 February

Evening sales at Sotheby's and Christie's drew in £19.4m and £21.3m, respectively

The Russian oligarch had accused the Swiss businessman of swindling him out of €1.1bn by overcharging him on art

The painting could more than double the Spanish Old Master's auction record when it hits the block at Sotheby's

Sotheby’s is selling an alabaster piece while Bonhams’ early carving is made from ironstone

Plus, experimental art from the Eastern Bloc and a sculptural installation by Terry Adkins

Both sales persevered through a lukewarm atmosphere to break into the lower reaches of their estimate ranges

The auction, spanning Monet to Miró, made $190.3m—just above its low estimate—and was preceded by the record-breaking sale of a Ferrari car

The evening's total take of $406.4m was a sign of a stability—albeit one under-girded by guarantees and third-party backing—in a jittery market

Results from London’s premier autumn auctions suggest price now matters as much as prestige

Traditionally reserved for an artist’s greatest works, the term “masterpiece” now appears routinely in auction catalogues, and may just mean a work is good, novel—or expensive

"Self Portrait as a Heel (Part Two)" (1982) hasn’t been displayed in public since its last appearance at auction, in 1999

Ai Weiwei’s taxi window crank sculptures will also go on the block at the Sotheby's live sale

There was a certain degree of sleight of hand at play by the auction house to achieve 100% of lots sold

The auction house’s The Now sale of ultra-contemporary art was a success, but its marquee contemporary art sale came up well short of expectations

Despite a slew of records set for Western art in Asia, including new highest prices for Modigliani and Mark Bradford, the Hong Kong sale made below its low estimate