Sotheby's

Following the announcement in August of a newly-discovered 1938 fairground scene by Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976) scheduled to appear at Sotheby’s on December 13, it has emerged that the scene depicted is not, in fact, Beswick Fair, near Manchester, as had been mooted.

Some of the heat may have left the Jack Vettriano (b.1951) market since his Singing Butler made £660,000 in April 2004, but Sotheby’s nevertheless posted the second highest price ever paid for the artist at auction when they sold Bluebird at Bonneville for £400,000 (plus premium) – the top lot of the firm’s annual sale at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire on the evening of August 29.

Sotheby’s match Christie’s with 25% premium on lots sold below £10,000

BOOMING art auctions and a massive growth in private sales have helped Sotheby’s to another set of record totals – this time for the first six months of 2007.

Sotheby’s are strongly opposing proposed legislation in New York that aims to outlaw the ‘chandelier’ bid.

This summer the annual staff-exhibition at Sotheby’s is entitled No Limits and includes 40 paintings, photographs, pieces of sculpture and jewellery by members of Sotheby’s staff.

Bonhams are to take advantage of Sotheby’s decision to end Japanese sales by recruiting their top specialist and consultant.

Sotheby’s have opened an office in Moscow and appointed Mikhail Kamensky, a former director and presidential advisor to the Bank of Moscow, as managing director.

SOTHEBY’S are celebrating a rarity – a profit in the first quarter of the year, when a seasonal dip in sales activity usually means making a loss.

Rumours are currently rife both inside and outside Sotheby’s that the company’s strategic business plan not only includes the stopping of sales at Olympia but also, even more controversially, the closure of their Amsterdam operation.

Sotheby’s will launch a premium credit card later this spring. The Sotheby’s World and Sotheby’s World Elite cards are the product of a partnership between Mastercard and American finance house GE Money who hope to use Sotheby’s status as a luxury brand to attract high-net worth cardholders.

The Asian art juggernaut thunders on with little sign of any slowdown in the market. If anything, the pace seems to be intensifying.

The subject matter of this mid-14th century gold ground may be unfamiliar to many, but that is no surprise – the treatment is thought to be unique in early Italian painting.

Sotheby’s – who were outsold by Christie’s in Paris last year three to one – have announced a series of moves designed to reposition their Paris branch as “one of the pillars of the group’s global strategy”.

MORE details have emerged of how Sotheby’s are repositioning themselves to compete at the top end of the art market.

Buyers and sellers in collusion case set for $93.5m pay day

Lure of top-end art proves too tempting

SOTHEBY’s are attempting to gain a lead over their competitors in the crucial area of client services by announcing major enhancements to their website. It follows the decision by rivals Christie’s to bring in new online features such as live bidding last year.

THE changing tastes of collectors and the great 21st century art boom have been widely reported in recent times. And a timely case in point arrives with the news that the Belgian collector and food magnate Baron Guy Ullens has chosen to sell his collection of 14 Turner watercolours to focus his collecting energies and resources on Chinese Contemporary art.

Sotheby’s may be some distance away from holding sales in the Gulf – as Christie’s have now done three times – but they have taken measures to firm up their presence in the region by appointing a director for the Middle East and Gulf.