art collector Archives

Christie’s Longest Bidding Battle

Christie’s auctioneer Christopher Burge usually rules the saleroom with an iron gavel. But in May, amid a rousing $301.7 million contemporary art sale, he lost control. For nearly 16 minutes, the auction was hijacked by a pair of dueling collectors, competing for a Andy Warhol, Self Portrait blue 1963–64 Warhol Self-Portrait, tagged at $20 million to […]

Texas artist’s work hurtling through space with Atlantis

It’s a rare person who can say that her artwork is hurtling through space with Atlantis. But Rachel Hobson, a self-proclaimed space geek and crafts blogger, can certainly claim those bragging rights about Atlantis. As millions watched the launch of the final U.S. shuttle mission, Atlantis, Hobson had theadded thrill of knowing that a photo […]

Maurice Bennett: Toast of the Town

Artists are often the toast of the town. But Maurice Bennett, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists, is known as the “toast man” of the town because he creates vast mosaics from thousands of slices of toast. An exhibition of his rugby player portraits, made out of toast, opens at the New Zealand Academy […]

Christie’s chairman steps down after 27 years

Edward J. Dolman, a 27-year Christie’s veteran, has quit the auction business to become executive director of the Qatar Museums Authority. He will be working for the emir’s daughter, chairperson H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, according to a statement from Christie’s. Dolman was named Christie’s chairman in 2010 after a […]

Sotheby’s art handlers in strike threat

Sotheby’s may be notching up colossal profits worldwide, but a group of its art handlers – the people who package and carry around the multi-million-dollar works going under the auction house’s hammer – are threatening to go on strike. A group of US art handlers claims the auction house is planning to reduce the number […]

Rolling Stones photos found after 40 years

For a little known photographer to have snapped the Rolling Stones at the height of their fame is quite something. But to have lost the negatives, the only record that the photos existed besides one grainy image published on the inside cover of the band’s Sticky Fingers record sleeve, must have been utterly gutting. Peter […]

A Prayer for Lucian Freud

Even at the very beginning of his long career as a painter of the human figure, Lucian Freud, who died in 2011, displayed the characteristic features of his looking. He was an obsessive, from beginning to end, and in his earliest works he was principally interested in eviscerating – yes, that’s exactly what it felt […]

Secrets to Understanding the NYC Art World: Beware the Vanity Gallery