At a June 4 sale from “The Library of a Distinguished American Book Collector,” Sotheby’s New York will have seven books from George Washington’s Mount Vernon Library, each signed by the president. Read More
Christie’s has planned a major philanthropic auction with the actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation that is estimated to raise between $15 and $20 million to benefit what a leaked promotional item called “compelling environmental projects selected by [the foundation] and Christie’s.” Early talks had the auction scheduled for May 8 and a source close to the auction said it will reportedly feature work by Mark Grotjahn, Carol Bove, John Currin and Elizabeth Peyton, among others. (Visitors to Ms. Peyton’s recently opened exhibition at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise may have noticed a portrait of Mr. DiCaprio in the show.) Read More
On June 11, Sotheby’s will auction “Property from the Descendants of William Faulkner,” a selection of the author’s letters, manuscripts and drawings. Included among them are an unpublished short story, Faulkner’s hand-written acceptance speech for the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as an assortment of correspondence to friends and family. Read More
At its Magnificent Jewels sale, Sotheby’s Geneva is auctioning off pieces from the collection of actress and artist Gina Lollobrigida. She appeared in such films as Beat the Devil, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the aptly titled The World’s Most Beautiful Woman. Read More
Portions of the archive of Roy Cohn, Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel and the main character in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, will hit the block at Swann Auction Galleries on April 16. Read More
The Mexican government has demanded that Sotheby’s in Paris cancel an auction of Pre-Columbian Mexican artifacts that is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday, claiming “they are protected national historical pieces,” according to the Associated Press. Read More
In her Financial Times column this week, Georgina Adam solicited some art world opinions on Christie’s decision to raise the price points at which buyer’s premiums begins to decrease (it’s now 25 percent up to $75,000, up from $50,000, with other similar changes at other levels). Read More
Christie’s has raised the buyer’s premium at its auctions for the first time since 2008, according to Carol Vogel in The New York Times. Read More
