ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Auction houses jockey for position in Asia

Straits Times / April 1st, 2010

The battle in Asia among the auction giants is not as much for buyers as it is for the limited supply of quality goods, including classical Chinese art, wine, jewelry, watches, and post-war Western paintings, for which an insatiable demand has arisen in mainland China. In a bold recognition of ...

Weighty provenance, wealthy buyers drive strong Asian art sales

Economist / March 31st, 2010

Chinese jades, imperial porcelain, cloisonné, scholars’ items and furniture were among the most sought-after items at New York's Asian Art Week of events, which ended March 26. Newly affluent mainland Chinese buyers were out in force. In the Chinese works of art category, Christie's had its ...

Jade Buddha, classical painting boost $60 million sale week at Christie's

Paul Fraser Collectibles / March 29th, 2010

A spectacular week of Asian art sales at Christie's in New York, which tallied $60 million, with 1,000 lots offered from March 23 to 26, ended last Friday with the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale. The top lot was a rare large white Jade figure of Buddha, dating from the 18th-19th ...

U.S. record price for Chinese classical art at Sotheby's

AFP / March 24th, 2010

Sales during Asia Week continue strongly in New York. On Tuesday, Sotheby's sold Bada Shanren's "Two Mynas on a Rock" for $2.994 million, the highest US auction price paid for a classical Chinese artwork. The pre-sale estimate was conservative at $400,000-600,000. Chinese calligraphy also ...

Asian art sale total triples low estimate

The Epoch Times / March 22nd, 2010

Asia Week in New York began with a robust $3 million auction at Doyle New York on Monday. The pre-sale expectation for the auction was $946,150-$1,375,950. The top lot was a 6-inch tall Chinese jadeite incense burner which sold for over $1 million to a buyer from China. The estimate was modest ...

Asia Week in New York

New York Times / March 18th, 2010

Lacquered luxuries and dragon thrones are among the gems to be showcased next week in New York. Dealers in Asian art and antiques, mostly located on the Upper East Side, will open their doors to the public for a look at five millenniums' worth of treasures. Many participating galleries are ...

Korean art magnate steps in to revive auction house

Joongang Daily / March 18th, 2010

Lee Ho-jae, 59, is a superstar in the Korean art world. He is chairman of Gana Art Gallery and recently was named co-chief executive officer of Seoul Auction, a company he founded in 1998. Lee hopped aboard to steer the auction house with a new strategy to halt a steady downhill trend in the ...

China ranks #3 in art market

Luxist / March 17th, 2010

In global auction sales, China trailed New York and London, but eclipsed France last year, according to Artprice. Fine art sales in China reached $830 million, 17.33% of the market worldwide, up from 7.83% a year earlier. Poly International, China Guardian and Beijing Council transacted nearly ...

Treasure hunt on in Maastricht

New York Times / March 14th, 2010

The talk of TEFAF, so far, are a pearl-dropping neoclassical clock, a $25 million Giacometti sculpture, and the new works on paper section including such gems as Gainsborough drawings and Irving Penn photographs. Opening night, some collectors grumbled that there were no big-ticket paintings ...

Bonhams eyes Asia for expansion opportunities

Wall Street Journal / March 8th, 2010

Following last week's announcement that Bonhams will open an outpost in Tokyo, Robert Brooks, the London-based chairman of the international auction house, now plans to relaunch a branch in Australia. Bonhams already has a presence in Hong Kong, where rivals Christie's and Sotheby's have also set ...

Imperial Chinese vase soars to €110,000 at Irish country auction

Daily Mail / March 4th, 2010

A Chinese vase sold for 1,000 times its estimate of £130 at Sheppards Irish Auction House. The stunned audience saw the piece hammered down for a staggering €110,000 (£99,990) after an intense bidding war between a dealer and collector who had flown in for the sale. The 12-inch blue and white ...

Phaidon's shunga book may not be for the coffee table

Luxist / March 3rd, 2010

Hokusai, Utamaro, and Kuniyoshi are among the most well-known names sought by collectors of traditional Japanese art of the 17th to early 20th centuries. Woodblock prints of the ukiyo-e period are highly-prized for scenes such as a gentle snowfall around a temple. The same artists depicted much ...

The best of the best lures collectors to Maastricht

Financial Times / March 2nd, 2010

From a newly discovered “Winter Landscape with Skaters” (1611) by Adam van Breen – one of the earliest winter landscapes by any Dutch painter - offered by exhibitor John Mitchell, to a stunning Cycladic marble head from 2500-2400BC from dealer Rupert Wace, word is getting out about the treasures ...

TEFAF aggregates the world's best art for sale

Hello Magazine / February 25th, 2010

Over 30,000 works of art, from antiquities to modern paintings, much of it desirable for pedigree, rarity, and beauty, will descend upon the Dutch town of Maastricht from March 12 to 21. With 263 top-tier exhibitors bringing the best of their blue-chip art, plus special sections for design, works ...

$32 million Bloch collection of snuff bottles on the block

Bloomberg / February 24th, 2010

Bonhams expects to raise at least 20 million pounds ($32 million) in a series of auctions featuring antique Chinese snuff bottles. The late Hong Kong-based businessman, George Bloch, and his wife Mary, known as astute collectors, accumulated 1,720 Qing Dynasty bottles over the course of twenty ...

New Islamic art gallery debuts in Detroit

Crains Detroit / February 21st, 2010

The Detroit Institute of Arts will unveil a new 3,350-square-foot gallery on Feb. 28 with a rotating collection of 168 of the museum's 1,400 Islamic artworks. “This is a phenomenon going on around the world. Almost everyone is getting a new Islamic gallery,” curator Heather Ecker says. Works on ...

“Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals”

Bloomberg / February 21st, 2010

A 430-carat emerald the size of a tangerine, a dagger and scabbard studded with 2,400 rubies, diamonds, emeralds, ivory and agate---these now-unthinkably costly objects are stunning examples in an exhibition that illustrates the wealth and craftsmanship found in Mughal India during its three ...

"Tracing the Past, Drawing the Future: Master Ink Painters in 20th-Century China"

Silicon Valley Mercury News / February 18th, 2010

Stanford University's Cantor Arts Center has mounted an enlightening exhibition that delves into the connection between imperial Chinese art and Western-influenced avant-garde works. On view are 110 images by Wu Changshuo, Zhu Wenyun, Pan Tianshou, Qi Baishi, and Huang ...

Mid-market art stolen from Europe often lands in U.S.

Naples News / February 18th, 2010

Robert Wittman, the de facto head of the FBI’s art theft program from 1988 until 2008, has tracked down stolen Goyas, a Rembrandt, and five Norman Rockwells, among many other multi-million dollar artworks.  Art and antiques originating in theft hotspots like Europe, South America, and ...

ArtDubai aims to sell the best in a dubious situation

Daily Star / February 15th, 2010

Enthusiasm and criticism rule as the countdown begins for the fourth edition of the Emirati entrepot’s yearly art fair. Scheduled for March 17-20, ArtDubai is luring in international exhibitors with price-reduced booths. Among the value-adds for visitors to the show, an unveiling ...