Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the two most important auction houses in the world, really seem to want to ignore the great financial crisis that is hitting the global economy, to challenge each other with their masterpieces. Which of the two will sell the most, gaining the title of “queen of the autumn auctions”? All we can do is wait for the following dates: the 19th October at Christie’s London with the auction “Post War & Contemporary Art” and the sale at Sotheby’s New York, “Impressionist & Modern Art” organized for the 3rd November 2008.

Academy award-winning director Oliver Stone is selling five Chinese contemporary-art paintings by top artists such as Zhang Xiaogang and Tang Zhigang worth a combined HK$40 million ($5.1 million) in Hong Kong.
The lots will be offered at Christie’s International’s auction of Asian contemporary art on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, the London-based company said in a statement. Stone has won three Oscars, including one for directing “Born on the Fourth of July” starring Tom Cruise.
The highlight of Stone’s pieces is Zhang’s 1995 “Bloodline: Big Family No. 2″, which shows a pursed-lipped couple with a tuft-haired toddler painted yellow. Works by Liu Wei, Gu Wenda will also be offered, according to the statement. (Bloomberg)

Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi broke his two-day-old auction record for contemporary Southeast Asian art with a painting of bloodied boxers that sold for HK$7.8 million ($1 million) at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.
Masriadi’s 2000 triptych “The Man from Bantul (The Final Round)”, measuring 2.5 meters by 4.35 meters, had a presale top estimate of HK$1.5 million, according to Sotheby’s catalog. On Oct. 4, a smaller painting by the artist, “Sorry Hero, Saya Lupa”, showing a morose Batman and Superman sitting on adjacent toilets, fetched HK$4.8 million at the same five-day auction.
Sotheby’s sold 92 of the 96 pieces of contemporary Southeast Asian art offered this morning, totaling HK$40.6 million. Today is the third day of the event, which is offering 1,700 items that Sotheby’s expects to fetch a combined HK$2 billion. This afternoon, modern Southeast Asian works and Chinese ink paintings come under the hammer.
The auction gives the first glimpse of art buyers’ sentiment before sales by Sotheby’s and Christie’s International in London and New York, starting this month. Global stock markets had their worst month in a decade in September, after the Sept. 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and on concern the U.S. is headed toward a recession. (Bloomberg)

Fourteen stolen portrait miniatures were inadvertently sold in Christie’s King Street saleroom on 10 June, because their loss from a UK public gallery had not been publicised. The works were part of a private collection on display at Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal, Cumbria, two years ago.Abbot Hall is a grand house built in 1759 which was converted into an art gallery in 1962 to display British art from the 18th century to the present. The theft took place on the evening of 31 August 2006, when thieves broke into the museum and smashed an 18th-century glass-fronted cabinet, stealing 69 English portrait miniatures. The works were on loan from a distinguished local collector, whose family had collected them a century ago.
The theft was not publicised in the press, and the loss was not recorded with the Art Loss Register, which routinely checks catalogues of the major auction houses, including Christie’s. It was, however, registered with Trace, the other main computerised database of stolen art (Trace was bought in 2006 by the company MyThings), but without images. It is not known why neither Abbot Hall nor the police supplied images.
A Christie’s spokesman said: “This catalogue, like all our catalogues, was sent to both the Art Loss Register and Trace, but the stolen items were not picked up.” A Trace spokesman agreed that the miniatures had been registered and the catalogue searched, saying that the matter “is now under investigation with Christie’s”. He suggested that the lack of images from Abbot Hall had caused difficulties.
Fourteen of the 69 miniatures were offered in the Christie’s sale. These included works by John Smart, £25,000 and £30,000 ($45,000 and $54,000); Richard Cosway, £17,500 ($31,500); and Horace Hone, £15,000 ($27,000). It was only after the sale that it was realised the works were stolen.
The Art Newspaper understands that the vendor acquired and offered the works through Christie’s in good faith. The police have traced the miniatures through a chain of several buyers in the intervening two years.
Abbot Hall’s chairman Dr Adam Nailor has told us that they are “optimistic” that all 69 miniatures will now be recovered. This suggests that the others have remained with the Christie’s vendor and that only a small proportion had been put up for sale.
The whole collection had been insured when it was put on display at Abbot Hall. It is expected that the private lender will return the insurance money in exchange for the recovered miniatures.(THE ART NEWSPAPER)

Only an extraordinary item would convince Chinese antique collector Cai Mingchao to buy at Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale this week as global financial markets decline. The auction house has just the thing.
Cai, who paid a record HK$117 million ($10.3 million) in 2006 for a Ming Buddha, said he may bid for the top lot, a 15.5- meter (51-foot) Qing scroll of Emperor Qianlong leading 16,000 troops. The 18th-century work, with a high estimate of HK$80 million, is one of four the ruler commissioned — two are missing and the other is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, said Sotheby’s.
“This item is beyond rare — it’s not just an antique, it’s a national treasure,” said Cai, 44. “I may buy it, but the risks are huge in this climate when sentiments are so bad.”
The scroll is among 1,700 lots that Sotheby’s estimates will fetch about HK$2 billion in a five-day auction starting Oct. 4. That may be a tough target as budget-conscious bidders pass on lesser items, said Cai.
The Sept. 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sparked a confidence crisis in banks, curbing credit and causing stocks to plunge. U.S. lawmakers’ failure to agree on a $700 billion bailout on Tuesday sparked the biggest global equity sell-off in 21 years.
Hong Kong, the third-largest art market after New York and London, hosts biannual auctions by Sotheby’s and rival Christie’s International that are considered barometers of industry sentiment. (Bloomberg)

If the auction prices for works of contemporary art have risen enormously, the sector of photography  has certainly not been left behind, given that lately we have been witnessing actual exploits of photograph sales. Many photographers now reach very high prices It is certainly a difficult market compared to the market of more “traditional” arts, but it is slowly emerging and attracting a great number of people who are passionate about  it.