Christie's

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Magritte Painting Expected to Sell for More Than $95M

Smashing the record for a Magritte sale at auction

(Newser) - A rare painting by Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte may set a record for the highest price ever paid for one of his works at auction. The painting is one from Magritte's series "L'empire des lumières" that he produced in 1954 (see it at Christie's...

Masterpiece Found at Bus Stop Sets Auction Record

Titian's 'Rest on the Flight to Egypt' fetches $22.1M, a new high for the artist

(Newser) - A small Titian masterpiece once recovered from a London bus stop sold at auction Tuesday for $22.1 million, a new record for the artist dubbed "the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice." Orlando Rock, chairman of Christie's UK, said the price for Rest on the Flight to ...

Einstein Came to Regret Letter That Could Now Fetch $4M

Christie's plans to auction 1939 note urging FDR to invest in atomic energy research

(Newser) - A signed copy of the letter Albert Einstein sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to fund the atomic energy research that would lead to the atomic bomb, will soon hit the auction block and set a new record if it sells, the Wall Street Journal reports. In September,...

The Most Famous Rock, Paper, Scissors Game

As Artnet recounts, it once decided which auction house would get $20M auction

(Newser) - Everyone knows the rules: Rock beats scissors, paper beats rock, and scissors beats paper. But if millions of dollars were at stake, which would you choose? As Artnet recounts, that very scenario once played out in Tokyo in the art world—and it turns out that "scissors" was the...

Inspiration for Clapton's 'Layla' Sells the Goods —for Millions

Pattie Boyd's auction at Christie's brings in $3.6M, way above expectations

(Newser) - The online auction of a trove of letters, photos, and other items that Pattie Boyd—ex of Eric Clapton and George Harrison—concluded Friday and surpassed all expectations, per the AP . Christie's said the auction brought in about $3.6 million, roughly seven times more than expected. The most...

Blue Diamond Smashes Pre-Auction Estimate

'Bleu Royal' sells for $44M in Christie's auction

(Newser) - The largest fancy vivid blue diamond to ever come to auction sold Tuesday for more than $44 million, far outstripping the pre-sale estimate, Christie's said. The "Bleu Royal"—a ring featuring a fancy vivid blue pear-shaped diamond of 17.61 carats—was one of the standout pieces...

This Rare Gem Could Sell for $50M
This Rare Gem
Could Sell for $50M
Nov 4, 2023 11:30 AM CDT

This Rare Gem Could Sell for $50M

'Bleu Royal' blue diamond is on the Christie's auction block next week

(Newser) - Tuesday's the day for the "Bleu Royal," the biggest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond ever to go on the auction block. That's when the rare 17.6-carat gem, currently set in a ring, will be up for grabs in Geneva via Christie's , where it'...

'Impossibly Rare' Books Are Now on the Auction Block

First editions from Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, and more currently on offer at Christie's New York

(Newser) - Calling all book lovers: Christie's New York is teasing the sale of "the best collection of early American literature to come to market in a generation," per the Wall Street Journal . On offer is the nation's first spy novel, as well as its first bestseller written...

These Rembrandts Have Been Concealed for 200 Years

Artist's last known portraits held in private collection to be sold at auction in July

(Newser) - For the first time in 200 years, the public is getting a look at two "extraordinary" portraits painted by the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn. British auctioneer Henry Pettifer rediscovered the small 1635 portraits—depicting a wealthy couple from the artist's hometown of Leiden, whose son had married...

Amid Controversy, 'Collector's Dream' Goes for $196M

Jewish groups slam sale of late billionaire Heidi Horten's gems, citing husband's Nazi-era dealings

(Newser) - What's been billed as an "unparalleled collection of jewelry" and a "collector's dream" has now fetched an unparalleled price. A sale series featuring more than 700 gems of the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten—a collection described by Christie's as holding everything from "showstopping...

Christie's Sale of Heiress' Jewels Stirs Criticism

The auction includes a 26-carat 'Sunrise Ruby'

(Newser) - Christie’s is auctioning a staggering 700 pieces of jewelry from the collection of the late Heidi Horten, an Austrian heiress whose German husband built a retail empire starting in the 1930s—in part from department stores and other assets sold by desperate Jews as they fled Nazi Germany. The...

Christie's Abruptly Axes T. Rex Auction

US firm noticed skeleton, which Christie's was to auction off in Hong Kong, borrowed a lot from 'Stan'

(Newser) - A 15-foot-tall T. rex skeleton that was unearthed in Montana had been set to be put on the auction block later this month. Now, Christie's has yanked the bone set nicknamed Shen from the Hong Kong sale, after an American fossil firm questioned some of the skeleton's parts....

Sale of Microsoft Co-Founder's Art Smashes Records

It's the most valuable private collection ever auctioned at $1.5B—with 95 lots still to go

(Newser) - Christie's $1 billion estimate of the value of Paul Allen's art collection turned out to be just a bit off. Sixty pieces sold for a combined $1.5 billion on Wednesday in the first of a two-day auction in New York—smashing the $922 million record for the...

An Art Auction Like No Other Is Coming

Christie's says auction of Paul Allen's collection will be the biggest art auction in history

(Newser) - Microsoft co-founder and former Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen collected artworks as well as sport teams—and Christie's says the sale of his collection will be the biggest art auction in history. The November sale will include 150 works of art spanning a 500-year period,...

Got $250K? A Rare Harry Potter Book Beckons

Christie's is selling first edition of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' in London

(Newser) - A rare first edition of the very first book in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series is about to go on the auction block. Reuters reports that Christie's of London will be holding a private sale this month for the copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,...

This Is About to Become Most Expensive Photo Ever
This Nude Is Now 
Most Expensive Photo Ever
UPDATED
May 15, 2022 6:01 AM CDT

This Nude Is Now Most Expensive Photo Ever

Man Ray's 'Le Violon d'Ingres' sells for more than $12M

(Newser) - Updated: A Man Ray photograph didn't just break the record for the most expensive photo sold at auction, it obliterated it. "Le Violon d’Ingres" sold for $12.4 million at Christie's on Saturday, well above estimates of $5 million to $7 million and nearly triple the...

Remains of 'Hector' Just Sold for Really Big Bucks

Skeleton of dino that inspired velociraptors in 'Jurassic Park' was bought for $12.4M at auction

(Newser) - "Hector" has been sold. The skeleton of the Deinonychus antirrhopus dinosaur species, said to be the inspiration for the velociraptors in 1993's Jurassic Park, was auctioned off by Christie's on Thursday to an undisclosed buyer for $12.4 million, more than double the price the auction house...

'Buyer Got a Deal' on Warhol's $195M 'Marilyn'

But the painting still broke records at auction

(Newser) - In less than four minutes on Monday night, Andy Warhol's iconic "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" set a new record for the highest price any American artwork has ever fetched at auction. It's also now the most expensive 20th-century artwork ever auctioned. The 1964 silk-screen close-up of Marilyn...

Thanks to Hole in Roof, This Doghouse Could Sell for $300K

The hole was caused by a meteorite

(Newser) - A ramshackle doghouse with a 7-inch hole in its roof doesn't sound like it would be worth as much as $300,000. But that hole changes things. The structure, formerly home to a Costa Rican German shepherd named Roky, was hit by a meteorite on April 23, 2019, at...

Marie Antoinette's Bracelets Sell for Astronomical Amount

They went for $8.34M at auction

(Newser) - A pair of diamond bracelets that once belonged to Marie Antoinette, the famed wife of French King Louis XVI who met her fate at the revolutionary guillotine, sold for $8.34 million on Tuesday, the AP reports. The opulent bracelets, among the rare pieces of jewelry from the ill-fated French...

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