Posted on October 31, 2011 by Daniel Schnapp

New York Fall Auction Season Begins

Sotheby’s and Christie’s are set to begin the New York Fall auction season with their Impressionist and Modern sales. 

The current issues of Art and Auction discusses some of the highlights in this preview. Among them, Christie’s will feature sculptures by artists such as Degas and Brancusi estimated at $25-35 million and $8-10 million respectively. They will also present two Picasso paintings, both estimated at $12-18 million, and works by Ernst, Delvaux, Wasserman and Matisse, to name a few of their heavy-hitters. 

Sotheby’s “has Impressionist gems as well” such as Monet’s Antibes seascape, estimated at $5-7 million, as well as works by Caillebotte and Magritte. Works by Klimt and Picasso are at the top of their sale, both with estimates around $25 million. 

[Nicole Dornbusch assisted in drafting this entry].

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Posted on October 31, 2011 by Daniel Schnapp

Italian Art Earns 39.5 Million Pounds at Sotheby's

This article describes the success of Italian art at Sotheby’s this month – the auction house sold 39.5 million pounds worth of art at its evening auction on October 13. 

Another big ticket work by the late Lucian Freud “Boy’s Head” sold that night for 3.2 million pounds. Of 105 lots on offer at that evening's Italian and Contemporary Art sales, 23 went unsold.

[Nicole Dornbusch assisted in drafting this entry].

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Posted on October 31, 2011 by Daniel Schnapp

100 Most Powerful List Published

ArtReview magazine has published their 2011 list of the 100 most powerful people in the art world. 

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist best known for his Contemporary artwork and criticism of the Chinese authorities tops the list. 

BBC News lists the top ten here.

[Nicole Dornbusch assisted in drafting this entry].

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Posted on October 31, 2011 by Daniel Schnapp

$40 Million Art Loan Made to Hedge Fund Manager

According to this article, former hedge-find manager, Michael Steinhardt, is pledging 20 paintings and drawings from his $200 million art collection as collateral for a loan estimated at $40-50 million from JPMorgan related to an investment in the former Stock Exchange building. 

The group of 20 paintings and drawings includes five by Pablo Picasso and one Jackson Pollock. 

Art-based loans to hedge fund managers are becoming increasingly common – for example, hedge-fund managers Steven A. Cohen and Nelson Peltz have recently taken out art-based loans as well.

[Nicole Dornbusch assisted in drafting this entry].

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