ArchiveArt market
Economically tough times lead to backroom deals and distress selling
Now that auction houses are no longer offering guarantees, an increasing number of purchases are likely to take placeas discreet transactions brokered by art dealers
ArchiveArt market
Buyer of Warhol’s Green Car Crash revealed?
The large-scale “disaster painting” is the most expensive Andy Warhol ever to sell at auction
ArchiveFrancis Bacon
Bacon show for Zhukova and Abramovich's CCC Moscow
Having set a record for the artist at auction, the collectors put the art to work
ArchiveFrancis Bacon
Francis Bacon claims his place at the top of the market
As Tate Britain opens a major travelling retrospective, we examine the factors underpinning the meteoric rise in prices for the artist’s work and reveal the identity of his biggest collectors
ArchiveCollectors
Roman Abramovich brings home the $86.3m Bacon and the $33.6m Freud
The London-based Russian billionaire has bought the record-breaking works; he has not previously been known to collect art
ArchiveRoyalty
Revealed: Royal family of Qatar is buyer of world’s most expensive Hirst
The ruling Al-Thanis bought the artist’s Lullaby Spring at Sotheby’s last year for £9.7m and are also believed to have purchased the Rockefeller Rothko for $72.8m