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Type 57 SC Atlantic disappeared back in 1938The upcoming auction of a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Recreation by RM Sotheby's in Dubai has sparked immense interest due to its ties to an elusive piece of automotive history. This particular model pays homage to the original Type 57 SC Atlantic, one of the rarest and most iconic cars ever produced. Ettore Bugatti crafted only four of these masterpieces between 1936 and 1938, each embodying the pinnacle of automotive engineering and design at the time. The body of the original Atlantic was the brainchild of Jean Bugatti, Ettore's son, featuring revolutionary 'Art...

A Diego Velázquez portrait of Spanish Queen Isabel de Borbón, which was expected to break the artist’s previous records, was quietly withdrawn from auction by Sotheby’s in New York. The court painting, which has been owned by a private family trust in the US since 1978, was pulled due to “ongoing discussions” on behalf of the sellers. The painting did not appear in the auction house’s digital sales catalogue released on December 21. There is speculation that a US museum may have put in an offer, however, Sotheby’s declined to comment, the Art Newspaper reported Friday. The 1620s painting was...

Sometimes, additional provenance information about a painting can significantly increase its perceived value. In the case of a small nocturne showing a Biblical scene, a shift in attribution from the Circle of Rembrandt to the actual Dutch master himself has increased its auction estimate by several hundred-fold. When The Adoration of the Kings was last auctioned by Christie’s in Amsterdam in 2021, it had an estimate of €10,000 to €15,000. Sotheby’s is now listing the oil on oak panel with an estimate of £10 million to £15 million ($12.2 million to $18.4 million) as part of its OId Masters and...

Sotheby’s will auction the last portrait by Gustav Klimt, the 1917 painting Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), with the expectation that it will sell for over £65 million ($80 million), a record estimate for a painting in the United Kingdom and Europe. The auction house is promoting the painting, which previously sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 1994 for $11.6 million with fees, as “the star of the summer auction season in London” as well as “one of the finest and most valuable works of art ever to be offered in Europe.” It will head to sale...

The Codex Sassoon, believed to date from the late 9th or early 10th century, was bought at Sotheby’s by the American Friends of the ANU — Museum of the Jewish People.The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sold at Sotheby’s for $38.1 million on Wednesday, one of the highest prices for a book or historical document ever sold at auction.The volume, known as the Codex Sassoon, includes all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, minus about eight leaves, including the first 10 chapters of Genesis. Researchers have dated it to the late ninth or early 10th century, making it the oldest near-complete...

JERUSALEM (AP) — One of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts, a nearly complete 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible, could soon be yours — for a cool $30 million. The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment tome containing almost the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, is set to go on the block at Sotheby’s in New York in May. Its anticipated sale speaks to the still bullish market for art, antiquities and ancient manuscripts even in a worldwide bear economy. Sotheby’s is drumming up interest in hopes of enticing institutions and collectors to bite. It has put the price tag at an eye-watering...

World’s Oldest Near-Complete Hebrew Bible Goes to Auction The Codex Sassoon could break auction records, becoming the most valuable historical document ever sold Sarah Kuta Daily Correspondent February 17, 2023 Bible open to a page in the middle, set against a black backdrop The Codex Sassoon, which measures 12 by 14 inches, dates to the late ninth or early tenth century. At more than 1,000 years old, the Codex Sassoon is the world’s earliest near-complete Hebrew Bible. Soon, it could also become the “most valuable historical document ever sold at auction,” according to a statement from Sotheby’s. The auction house...

A Hebrew Bible more than 1,000 years old and described as "one of the most important and singular texts in human history" will go on show later this month, before going under the hammer. The Codex Sassoon, dating to the late 9th to early 10th, is believed to be the earliest and most complete Hebrew Bible. It will be on show at Sotheby's in London from February 22-28, followed by an exhibition tour to Israel and the US. It will go up for auction in New York in May, where it is expected to fetch between $30 million and $50...

On Wednesday evening in between two contemporary art evening sales, a painting by Andy Warhol from his famed 1963 “Death and Disasters” series sold for $85 million at Sotheby’s New York. The result makes it one of the most expensive works by the Pop artist ever to be sold at auction. [Who was Andy Warhol, and why is he important?] Related Articles Large black and white painting in gallery. Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Auction Brings in $314.9 M., Buoyed by $85 M. Warhol and Records for Women Artists Banksy Comes Out On Top in EU Trademark Challenge, Allowing Him To Stay...

The fossilized skeleton of a T. rex relative that roamed the earth about 76 million years ago will be auctioned in New York this month, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday. The Gorgosaurus skeleton will highlight Sotheby’s natural history auction on July 28, the auction house said. The Gorgosaurus was an apex carnivore that lived in what is now the western United States and Canada during the late Cretaceous Period. It predated its relative the Tyrannosaurus rex by 10 million years. The specimen being sold was discovered in 2018 in the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana, Sotheby’s said. It measures nearly 10...

On Wednesday evening in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s modern and contemporary art evening sales brought in a combined $164.2 million with premium, landing within the presale estimate of HK$ 927 million–1.4 billion ($118 million–$178 million). Despite a tense political climate in the region amid strict pandemic-related measures in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the sale performed well, with high sell-through rates and records set for 14 artists. Among those artists were Anna Weyant, Louise Bonnet, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Robert Alice, Chris Huen Sin Kan, Michael Lau, Atsushi Kaga, and Peter McDonald. Ahead of Wednesday night’s sale, Sotheby’s was forced to postpone the event...

The largest cut diamond in the world is about to go up for auction. The extraordinary jewel, nicknamed "The Enigma" is a billions-year-old Fancy Black diamond that is rumored to originate from space. According to the auction house, the stone is a carbonado black diamond, which are extremely rare, occur naturally, and usually date from 2.6 to 3.8 billion years old. It contains nitrogen and hydrogen but also a mineral called osbornite usually found in meteorites, which suggests an outer space connection. What that connection is exactly is unclear, however. Extraterrestrial diamonds from meteorites are tiny, usually nano-sized. This diamond...

Five works by Claude Monet from the same collection could fetch a collective £35 million ($50 million) during a modern and contemporary art evening sale at Sotheby’s that will take place in London on March 2. All five of the works are being offered with a guarantee. They are coming to market from a private American collection. In a statement, Sotheby’s European chairman and worldwide head of Impressionist and modern art, Helena Newman, said that recent interest in works by Monet “has taken on an even more renewed vigor.” Asian collectors, in particular, have fueled the rise in the artist’s...

Thursday’s long-awaited Old Masters sale at Sotheby’s New York had been billed as potentially being the biggest sale of its kind ever with a pre-sale estimate, not including buyers’ premium, of $121.9 million–$142.8 million. But after three lots were withdrawn, including a highly rated $20 million–$30 million Rembrandt from the collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art trustee Mark Fisch, that estimate was reduced to $100 million–$110 million. Nonetheless, the sale continued Sotheby’s New York winter Old Master sales steady upward trajectory, arguably at the expense of the London equivalents. Since 2017, totals from these sales have risen from $35.8 million...

I just realized one of Edvard Munch's "Screams" is being offered at auction at Sotheby's in NYC on May 2. I'm not much of a fan of this sort of "art" but this is a BIG deal. According to Wikipedia, there are four versions of The Scream. The one being offered is the pastel version. The image below is one copied from the Sotheby's catalog and differs slightly from others available I might have linked to. The Sotheby's catalog indicates that the estimated price for this piece is available on request. The Wikipedia article notes that this item is expected...

Sotheby's might want to send a bidding paddle to Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown. In its July 7 London manuscripts sale, the auction house is offering a 1,500-year-old biblical document that includes layers of text and meaning--in three languages. Known as the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, the piece was written over the span of three centuries and stowed in a sacred monastery until landing in the hands of a pair of British twins by way of local Egyptian dealers. Now an English college is cannibalizing its library and cashing out, to pay for some building renovations. The ancient manuscript could...

...Sotheby’s will offer the document for sale Thursday, along with two others: the scribbled notes for a speech King planned to deliver in Memphis, Tenn., three days after he was assassinated, and a letter of condolence from former president Lyndon B. Johnson to King’s widow. The auction house put the overall presale estimate for the three documents at US$750,000 to $1.13 million, with the Vietnam speech alone valued at $500,000 to $800,000. ...“I am at the end of my life — I will be 82 shortly — and there are a lot of causes I believe in for which resources...

NEW YORK -- A 3 1/4-inch limestone lion from ancient Mesopotamia fetched the highest price ever paid at an auction for a sculpture - $57 million. Sotheby's had estimated that the Guennol Lioness would bring up to $18 million. The tiny figure, found at a site near Baghdad, had been on loan from Alastair and Edith Martin to the Brooklyn Museum of Art for nearly 60 years. It is thought to be at least 5,000 years old. The family decided to sell the lion for financial planning reasons, the auction house said. It was sold through a charitable trust set...

The Medici Go-Round: Sotheby's & The Signed Euphronios Proceedings resume December 5 in the trial of the dean of ancient art dealers -- Bob Hecht -- and former Getty museum antiquities curator Marion True. Will Sotheby's be called to answer questions about some of the items listed by Italian prosecutors as looted from Italy -- particularly the Euphronios pieces? The priceless Euphronios cup -- painted with the image of the fallen Trojan war hero Sarpedon -- is the earliest known work painted by the Athenian master, last seen intact publicly in New York in 1990 on the Sotheby's block as...

In its boldest collection-culling since 1982, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will sell off 42 artworks in November, including paintings by Amedeo Modigliani, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Max Beckmann, sculptures by Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore, and works on paper by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Edgar Degas. Sotheby's in New York will offer the works at auction Nov. 2 and 3 and expects them to bring in $10 million to $14 million. The headliner is a Modigliani, "Portrait of Manuel Humbert Esteve," that is expected to fetch $4 million to $6 million. The idea, said LACMA...