Qi Baishi’s 1946 triptych, Eagle Standing on Pine Tree with Four Character Couplets in Seal Script, sold for 425.5 RMB ($65 million) at China Guardian Auction House in Beijing, a record for a modern Chinese artwork. The sale totaled 1.04 billion RMB ($159 million) across 32 lots during Guardian's spring 2011 sale on May 22, with bidding starting at 80 million RMB. The work was consigned by Liu Yiqian, who is planning to open a private museum in 2012.
Musician Jeff Thayer, concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony, discusses the Stradivarius violin known as the Burstein, Bagshawe or Sir Bagshawe. The instrument, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1708 and on loan to Thayer from Joan and Irwin Jacobs, is valued at about $3 million.
The Globe and Mail reports that E. J. Hughes's Coastal Boats Near Sidney, BC (1948) sold for over $1.1 million, setting a new record for Hughes. Jean Paul Lemieux’s 1964 Les Moniales sold for just over $1 million, breaking Lemieux’s prior record; Jean-Paul Riopelle’s Sans titre (1955) sold for $1.08 million. The two Lemieux works came from the estate of Edgar and Dorothy Davidson, and the cumulative post-war sale revenue exceeded the Fine Canadian Art sale.
Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Works discussed: Liz #5 by Andy Warhol, Third Eye by Warhol and Basquiat, Flowers by Warhol. Phillips de Pury & Company (New York) with $99 million contemporary art sale; Warhol sale results include Liz #5 sold for $27 million and Third Eye fetched $7 million including commission; Phillips is described as the number-three auction house behind Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
The New York Times reports on a tense bidding war at Christie’s in Rockefeller Center over a 1963-64 Warhol self-portrait, with bidders including Brett Gorvy and Philippe Ségalot. The winning bid was $38.4 million, well above the $30 million high estimate.
The Leopold Museum Privatstiftung reaches a settlement with the sole granddaughter of Jenny Steiner over the painting Hausser am Meer by Egon Schiele, agreeing to pay five million dollars (3.48 million euros) to her for a one-third share. The restitution discussion concerns a work seized by the Nazis in 1938 and associated provenance; the settlement includes a contextual label about the painting and Steiner’s history.
Francis Bacon is the artist of the masterwork Crouching Nude, offered by Sotheby’s in its summer Contemporary Art Evening Auction, with an estimated value of £7-9 million ($10-15 million). The painting, a 1961 oil on canvas measuring 198 cm by 145 cm, has not been previously offered at auction and follows Sotheby’s recent notable sale of Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud for £23 million.
Leonardo DiCaprio appeared at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art auction, described as the evening’s hottest accessory alongside dealer Helly Nahmad. The May 4 sale totaled $156 million, below the presale projection of $162–$231 million and far short of the previous year’s $335.5 million, largely due to lack of marquee estate property.
Maurice de Vlaminck’s landscape Paysage de Banglieue sold for $22,482,500 at Christie’s New York, setting a new world auction record for the artist. The work, a 1905 Fauvist landscape, previously had a pre-sale low estimate of $18 million and beat the previous record of $10,756,419 for Les Pecheurs a Nanterre (1905-1906).
The Leopold Museum plans to auction a Egon Schiele painting, Houses with colorful laundry (Suburb II) from 1914, at Sotheby’s to fund a restitution payout related to the 1912 Portrait of Wally by Egon Schiele, after paying more than £12 million to Lea Bondi Jaray's descendants for looted artwork.
The Lady Blunt Stradivari violin, dated 1721 and made for Lady Anne Blunt, granddaughter of Lord Byron, will go to auction on June 20 by the Nipponica Foundation. Proceeds from the sale are intended to aid tsunami victims and are estimated to be around 10 million euros.
The article reports that a man stole a rare $23,000 Caressa & Francais violin from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and fled on a MUNI Metro streetcar. Police later recovered the violin and arrested 27-year-old Scott Sylvester after he dropped the instrument at Saint Mary’s Cathedral.
The article discusses the Stradivarius known as Lady Blunt, dated 1721, put up for auction in Japan to benefit victims of the Japan earthquake; Nippon Music Foundation owns it and previously paid $10 million in 2008. It includes quotes from Christopher Reuning of Reuning & Son Violins and remarks from Kazuko Shiomi of the foundation via BBC reporting.
The Lady Blunt, a 1721 Stradivarius violin, is to be auctioned by the Nippon Music Foundation to raise funds for the Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. Auctioneers Tarisio will sell it online on 20 June; the instrument has a history of record-setting sale prices and notable previous owners.
Béatrice Coppens reports that the Château Fombrauge, owned by Bernard Magrez, has acquired one of the few Stradivarius violins, dating from the gold age of Stradivari’s production (1700-1720). The instrument, nicknamed Château Fombrauge, is described as having a deeper, fuller tone and features a beautifully flame maple back; it has belonged to the same European family since the early 19th century and will be used to support resident artists and high-level violonists. The article highlights Magrez’s cultural patronage and the château’s role as an cultural institute.
The Lady Blunt Stradivarius of 1721, one of the most pristine Stradivari violins, is being auctioned to raise funds for Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief. Nippon Music Foundation purchased the instrument privately in 2008 for more than $10 million US and it will be sold on June 20 through Tarisio.
The Lady Blunt, a 1721 Stradivarius violin, is to be auctioned by the Nippon Music Foundation to fund the Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund, with proceeds to go to charity. Tarisio will sell the instrument online on 20 June; the violin has a history of record-setting prices and notable previous owners.
Maurice de Vlaminck, Paysage de Banlieue, 1905 (est. $18-25 million, realized $22.5 million) and Claude Monet, Les Peupliers, 1891 (est. $20-30 million, realized $22.5 million) were the top lots in Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale in New York on May 4, 2011, which realized $156 million. Monet’s Iris Mauves (1914-1917) did not sell, while Monet’s Les Peupliers last sold in 2000 for $7 million. Pablo Picasso, Les … (text truncated in provided page) is mentioned among other works.