Leonardo’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder was recovered on 4 October after a theft four years earlier from Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. The ninth Duke of Buccleuch died on 5 September, shortly before the recovery. Four men were charged in Dumfries in connection with the theft, including two solicitors. The artwork’s attribution is questioned by some scholars, but if accepted it could be worth over £50m; an insurance payment of £3.2m was made and is expected to be returned in exchange for full title to the painting.
Matisse painting titled L’Odalisque, Harmonie Bleue (1937) sold for $33.6 million at Christie’s, setting a new auction record for the artist. The buyer was unidentified and bids were relayed by telephone to Guy Bennett, head of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art department. The prior record for a Matisse was $21.7 million.
The Matisse painting L’Odalisque, Harmonie Bleue (1937) sold for $33.6 million at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale at Rockefeller Center, a record price for Matisse at auction. The buyer’s identity was not disclosed. The overall sale totaled $394.9 million.
The New York Times reports that on opening night of Christie’s fall auction, the Matisse painting L’Odalisque, Harmonie Bleue sold for $33.6 million, a record price at auction for Matisse, with bidding between Guy Bennett and Franck Giraud and Christie’s buyer’s premium included; the sale occurred at Christie’s Rockefeller Center and drew competition among collectors, dealers, and bidders.
Charles Saatchi has agreed to create a “Saatchi Room” in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, providing a changing selection of contemporary art for a room in the General Staff Building. The move follows the October 24 opening of Saatchi’s exhibition “USA Today,” tying into the Hermitage 20/21 project to extend post-1917 art display. Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull was reportedly possible for loan next spring, though arrangements were not finalized.
The article reports that Christie’s in New York offered seventy-one lots from Allan Stone’s collection, with prices reaching record levels for Willem de Kooning and other artists. The auction totaled $52.4 million with seven unsold lots, and notable records included Nix on Nixon by Alfred Leslie selling for $385,000.
Francis Bacon paintings Study For Bullfight No 1, 2nd Version and Self Portrait are expected to sell for more than €35m at Sotheby’s in London. The works come from a private European collection and follow the recent Bacon sale of Study From Innocent X for €37.7m in New York.
No artist or artwork details provided beyond the CBC News article title. The page discusses sales by Jeff Koons and Francis Bacon, including Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) by Koons and Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 by Bacon, with prices $46 million US and $23.6 million US respectively, as part of Sotheby’s contemporary and postwar auction in New York.
The article reports that a white sculpture titled Smoking Woman by Fernando Botero sold for US$1.6 million at a Christie’s Latin American art auction, setting a record for Botero’s sculpture. The auction overall fetched US$21.7 million, with other record prices for Remedios Varo and Amelia Peláez, and notes about notable Oaxacan artists like Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, and Rodolfo Morales.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, owner of a Pablo Picasso painting, faced a court ruling about restitution claims related to a forced sale by a German collector’s relative; Christie’s had valued Portrait de Angel Fernandez de Soto, 1903, at forty to sixty million dollars.
Carol Vogel reports on the Met’s refurbished Art Nouveau Wisteria Dining Room, created 1910–1914 for a Paris apartment and designed by Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and unveiled with expanded galleries.
Sotheby’s conducted a Part One contemporary auction that brought in $316 million, the house's highest total in any category, with Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons leading the sale. Warhol followed as the next top artist, with several records set across 65 lots offered and 17 records achieved.
The Christie’s Part One contemporary sale totaled $325 million, led by Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange), 1955, which sold for $34.2 million. Other notable results included Thomas Struth, Yoshitomo Nara, Rudolf Stingel, Fred Tomaselli, and Richard Prince breaking records or achieving significant gains; Zhang Xiaogang and Lucian Freud also posted notable prices, while several lots failed to meet estimates. The sale featured multiple records and showcased strong demand despite broader market concerns.
The Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale totaled $269.7 million, its third-highest total, but Vincent van Gogh’s The Fields (Wheat Fields), 1890 failed to sell after an opening bid of $20 million. The auction had 76 lots offered with 56 sold (74%), by value 68% sold, and Sotheby’s later reported a $14.6 million loss.
The Phillips auction in New York raised 8.2 million for a New Museum benefit, followed by a 42.3 million Part One sale of 81 lots, with 69 sold. Top results included Jeff Koons’s Bikini (Dots) selling for 1.05 million and Richard Prince’s Untitled (Nurse) at 1.9 million; Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XVI sold for 5.9 million, and Prince’s Registered Nurse brought 4.3 million. Record prices were set for Jules de Balincourt, Mark Grotjahn, Steven Parrino, Rudolf Stingel, Carroll Dunham, Wim Delvoye, and others, with notable participation from Charles Saatchi as a seller.