This September, Sotheby’s will lift the veil on the extraordinary personal collection of legendary patron and aesthete Pauline Karpidas, showcasing the masterpieces of Surrealist art and furniture design that adorned her one-of-a-kind home in London. At the core of the offering is the greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history, born from an encounter with Alexander Iolas which sparked a flame in Pauline and brought the pioneering gallerist out of retirement. Decades of...
Sotheby’s is pleased to partner with the family of the late Roy Lichtenstein to offer an expanded trove of more than 40 works by the American Pop icon at auction this May. Coming to auction for the first time after remaining in their personal collection for decades, the group of works charts four decades of Lichtenstein’s practice, following his shift from abstract expressionism to Pop art in the 60s, to his exploration of modern art...
Today, January 24th 2025, international auction house Sotheby’s released its financial results for 2024. In a market where lot volume was reduced, Sotheby’s increased its sell-through rate and had standout years in Private Sales, Luxury and Financial divisions. In the statement, Charles F. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s (@charlesfstewart), said: “Dear clients and friends, Today we released our 2024 financial results. We’d like to share those with you now and give you some insight into our...
No other artwork from the twenty-first century has provoked scandal, sparked imagination, and upended the very definition of contemporary art like Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, whose debut at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019 captivated the world. Comprised of a banana fastened to a wall with duct tape, hung exactly 160 centimetres from the floor, Comedian belongs to the rare league of artworks that need no introduction, having quickly erupted into a viral global sensation that drew record...
International auction house Sotheby’s today (October 30th 2024) confirmed its investment of $1b from Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund ADQ. A statement from Charles F. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s, read: “We are delighted to announce that we’ve just closed our $1 billion investment from the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund ADQ, who joins us as a minority shareholder alongside majority owner Patrick Drahi. “This represents the largest investment in the global art industry in...
The highly anticipated 2024 Golden Vines Online Auction in partnership with Sotheby’s, renowned for its exceptional offerings in the world of fine wines, is set to commence on Sunday, October 6ht, 2024, at 9am BST running through to Sunday, October 27th, 2024, concluding at 23.59pm CET, inviting fine wine enthusiasts worldwide to participate. A distinguishing feature of this year’s auction is the exclusive collection of large formats (magnums, jeroboams and upwards) from the cellars of...
A large dinosaur skeleton has fetched $44.6m (£34m) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York City, the most ever paid for a fossil. The plant-eating stegosaurus, nicknamed Apex, is 11ft (3.4m) tall and 27ft long from nose to tail. Sotheby’s said it “ranks high among the most complete skeletons ever found”. The skeleton sold to an anonymous buyer, who said: “Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America”, in what is...
Sotheby’s New York is pleased to present The World of Tamara: A Celebration of Lempicka and Art Deco, a selling exhibition dedicated to the true pioneer and decisive arbiter of Art Deco painting. Tamara de Lempicka’s cosmopolitan portraits are imbued with the opulence and liberated boldness of the années folles: the golden age that overtook Europe in the 1920s and 30s. Tamara Łempicka, born Tamara Rozalia Gurwik-Górska on16th May 1898, better known as Tamara de Lempicka, was a...
Sotheby’s has previewed Frieze Los Angeles, which takes place from February 29th – March 3rd, 2024 at Santa Monica Airport. The fair returns to Santa Monica Airport for its fifth edition with new public spaces, a new Focus curator, and new local and international exhibitors. A Letter from Sotheby’s Elizabeth Beaman, Senior Vice President, Head of Southern California, said: “Los Angeles has truly become the other art world capital of the United States. While L.A....
This January, Sotheby’s has announced Visions of America, a celebration of American craftsmanship and culture filled with auctions, events, and experiences. Spanning three floors of gallery space at its New York headquarters, Visions of America presents “unparalleled examples of American art and objects spanning the 17th century to today”. The auctions include a diverse array of superlative fine art, furniture, fashion, decorative arts, folk art, historic maps, books, whiskey, manuscripts, and more. Thom Browne, the...
