Stories

On March 1st, Christie’s will resume its relay sales with an event linking the firm’s Shanghai headquarters with London selling works in the 20/21 format with the addition of a traditional London sale focused around the Art of Surrealism.

Five works by Claude Monet are coming to Sotheby’s for their Modern and Contemporary Evening auction in London March 2nd. With the dad-joke title of Monet x Monet | A Distinguished American Collection, the works have a combined estimate around $40 million (£30m).

Among René Magritte’s many famous images expressing the uncanniness of modern life, none is as recognizable as his composition titled L’empire des lumières, of which he made 17 different versions beginning in 1948.

Has the image of Banksy’s Kate Moss surpassed Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe in market value? Banksy’s riff on one of Andy Warhol’s most famous images has become such a sought-after print that Phillips has an example on offer in its Editions sale in London.

The headline numbers for Christie’s in 2021 were very impressive indeed, but the most interesting metrics for the art market come deeper down in the auction house’s $7.1 billion results. Half way through 2021, it was clear that the art market was going to have a very strong year.

The LiveArt Hot 25 shines a light on artists whose work saw the most dynamic bidding in public auctions during 2021. From our comprehensive database of auctions, we isolated the artists whose work was bid the farthest above the low estimates.

Everyone knew 2021 was an extraordinary year simply judging from the first half results six months ago. Now that the final numbers are in at Sotheby’s we can see that the tally is greater than any time in the firm’s previous 277-year history.

From Beeple to Banksy to George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware—these five sales just might be turning points toward the future

Things are going so well for Phillips in Hong Kong—CEO Stephen Brooks says client interaction in Asia is up 30% since the lockdown—that they’re moving to a new location right next to the M+ Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The move will take place in the Fall of 2022.

Phillips pulled off an auction coup for an artist previously known through his friendship with—and influence upon—Matthew Wong

Hong Kong’s HKD 2.68 billion ($344 million) sales at Christie’s and Phillips were a surprising mixture of global, Western and Asian artists. There were a number of breakout sales for artists with relatively brief sales histories and works very recently made.

At the top of the market, records were set for Huang Yuxing, Yayoi Kusama and solid gains realized for Sanyu