Have a Happy Holidays and Prosperous 2008

The Adoration of the Shepherds by the Le Nain brothers. The painting shows the shepherds, represented by the bare-footed old peasant and two boys behind, adoring the Christ child.

A beautiful painting from the The National Gallery, London.

UM FELIZ NATAL e um PRÓSPERO ANO NOVO.
Um 2008 repleto de saúde, paz, amor, alegrias...from RegiaArt.com

ll Trovatore by de Chirico Sold 528,042 Euros at Bonhams

This oil on canvas painting by Greek-born Italian surrealist painter and sculptor, Giorgio de Chirico (1891-1978), went for a record price of 528,042 Euros. [from interfree]

Il_trovatore_de_chiricoQuesto olio su tela, figlio del grande Giorgio de Chirico (1891-1978), è stato battuto a Londra da Bonhams, durante un’asta sull’impressionismo, per la significativa cifra di 528.042 euro.

Il trovatore de de Chirico foi vendido por 528 milhoes de euros em leilao da Bonhams de pinturas impressionistas em Londres.

Bonhams. Impressionist and Modern Art, 19 Dec 2007. New Bond Street

Picasso Sold at Sotheby's Paris Week of Art Sales

Dec 14th Sotheby’s art sale included Pablo Picasso’s work on paper entitled Un matin au harem, 1954, which achieved €1,555,450 against a pre-sale estimate of €500,000-700,000 and established an auction record for a Post-War work on paper by the artist.

Pablo Picasso, Un Matin au Harem, 1954, Crayon gras sur papier, 500 000 – 700 000 €. Vendu : 1 555 450 €. Record pour une œuvre sur papier d’Après-Guerre de l’artiste.
[from artdaily.com]

Um desenho de Pablo Picasso "Un matin au harem", 1954, vendeu por preco recorde no leilao da Sotheby's esta semana em Paris.

Winston Churchill painting Marrakech sold for $1 Million

A painting by Winston Churchill, which U.S. President Harry Truman called one of his "most valued possessions" after receiving it as a gift from the British prime minister in 1951.

Winston Churchill painted Marrakech in about 1948. It's an oil on canvas depicting a view of the Atlas mountains as a backdrop to one of the city gates into the Moroccan city of Marrakech.

The painting was sold to an unidentified telephone bidder at Sotheby's sale of 20th Century British Art, for 468,500 pounds (US$955,645, €651,915).

Acquavella Galleries sold Warhol MAO with a $12.5 Million price tag at Miami Basel

New York's Acquavella Galleries sold a 1973 brown and red Andy Warhol ``Mao'' painting with a $12.5 million price tag.
Total attendance at the Miami Basel fair was 43,000, up from 40,000 last year, fair organizers said. [from Bloomberg]

Bamborough Castle Without Regia Art Grafitti for $5.3 Million

The watercolor painting ''Bamborough Castle'' by J.M.W. Turner, sold for 2.6 million pounds ($5.3 million) at a Sotheby's auction in London tonight by the Vanderbilt family, which built a shipping and railroad fortune. The auction was part of a week of Old Master sales in the U.K.
Art Grafitti on Turner by R. Marinho.

Russian Art Sold Without a 2007 Drawing of a Tree

Konstantin Andreevich Somov (1869-1939)
The stroller's rest
Oil on canvas
49.5 x 64.5 cm
Estimate: £300,000-500,000
Price £972,500

Russian art is one of the fastest growing areas of the international art market. [from telegraph]
The 2007 Tree is a digital draw by RegiaArt...to make the painting more...

Russian Art Auctions In London And No Price Tag

Lot 12. Peter Konchalovsky, Malvy
SOLD For 1,036,000 pounds, a world record

The top lot was Petr Konchalovsky's ``Malvy'' (1921), a floral still life (above) that sold for 1 million pounds, more than twice its top estimate and a record for the artist at auction, at the MacDougall Arts Ltd., a London auction house specializing in Russian art.

Sellers: All 454 lots, most of which came from American and European collections.
Buyers: 90 percent of the buyers were born in the former Soviet Union, and half are Moscow-based.

What about this contemporary floral? no price tag.

Painting Found in the Garbage Sells for $1 Million

Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo's ``Tres Personajes,'' an abstract 1970 image of three people, was bought by a U.S. collector for 1 million at Sotheby's auction.

- The sellers of Tres Personajes were a Houston couple
- They bought the painting at Sotheby's in 1977 for $50,000
- The painting was stolen 20 years ago
- Dumped on New York's West 72nd Street in 2003
- Found by Upper West Side resident Elizabeth Gibson
- She traced its owner.
- Gibson had a $15,000 reward from the owner
- Elizabeth Gibson also gets an undisclosed fee from Sotheby's

Regia Art drawing over included.
So, have a great Thanksgiving. And thanks.

Hanging Heart sold for $23.5 million to dealer Larry Gagosian

Hanging Heart by Jeff Koons which went for $23.4 million setting a auction record for an artist. The sculpture is done in high chromium stainless steel weighs over 3,500 pounds and is almost nine feet tall. It sold for $23.5 million (above its $20 million high estimate) to dealer Larry Gagosian.



Video: REGIA Art Show Love Forever KOONS Hanging Heart.
Drawing over the New York Times Ads ongoing project by artist Regia M. Queen.
Video made at Starbucks location, sounds included.
2:25 min message from regia art to you.

Sotheby’s and Christie’s Finish Fall Art Auctions $1.67 billion

Sotheby’s and Christie’s, brought in about $1.67 billion combined over the past two weeks, up from $1.3 billion last November and $764 million the November before. At least 75 artist records were broken, and more than 258 works sold for $1 million or more.

And The Koons’s Diamond Blue Goes to...Larry

A 7-foot-tall stainless- steel sculpture (on the top) resembling a faceted stone in a setting, sold for $11.8 million. It was a record for the artist even though the price didn't reach the $12 million-$20 million presale estimate.
Diamond Blue is packing up today hours after sold at Christie's auction.
Tonight moving trucks will drive to its buyer, art dealer Larry Gagosian.

Colored Lollipops, Seven Suckers, set a record of $4.5 million at Christie's

Wayne Thiebaud
Seven Suckers
oil on canvas
19 x 23 in. (48.3 x 58.4 cm.)
Painted in 1970.
Estimate 1,400,000 - 1,800,000 U.S. dollars
SOLD for 4.5 Million

Wayne Thiebaud retired from full-time teaching in 1990. He lives in Northern California and continues to paint.
Thiebaud's brightly colored lollipops, Seven Suckers, set a record of $4.5 million for the artist tonight at a Christie's International auction in New York.
The sale of works from the collection of the late New York dealer Allan Stone tallied $52.4 million, under the $59.7 million high estimate. Of 71 lots offered, just seven didn't sell. [from Bloomberg]

Christie’s Tuesday and What are you doing about choice?

Mark Rothko (just one on the top right)
Untitled (black and gray)
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: 10 to 15 million.

Christie’s Tuesday post-war and contemporary art evening sale is estimated at between $271 million and $373 million. Highlights include Warhol’s “Liz,” estimated at up to $35 million; a pair of Rothko abstracts, estimated at up to $30 million apiece; and Lucian Freud’s portrait of his sleeping daughter, “Ib and Her Husband,” estimated at $15 million or more.

I'm talking about art buyers and choice they have to buy artworks now.

Pablo Picasso Painting Femme Nue Sold for 6 Million

Pablo Picasso
Femme nue
1965
$6,089,000
Christie’s New York
Nov. 6, 2007

Matisse Sells for $33.6 Million at Christie's Tonight

The U.S. art market passed its first major test amid the subprime mortgage meltdown, as Christie's International sold $395 million of Impressionist and modern works tonight in New York. [from bloomberg]
The first big sale at Christie’s Impressionist and modern art auction, Matisse’s “L’Odalisque, harmonie bleue,” which sold after an extended bidding war between a telephone bidder and a male bidder in the room. It was estimated to sell for $15-$20 million.

New York's Fall Art Auctions Begin this Week

Will Sotheby’s get $60 million for its Gauguin?

The world’s top collectors, dealers and curators are all in the city for the fall season’s big art auctions, two weeks of sales.
Sotheby's Session 1: Wed, 7 Nov 07, 7:00 PM
You still have time to see the artworks at,
1334 York Avenue at 72nd St
New York
Tue, 6 Nov 07, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wed, 7 Nov 07, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Art Sold for 360K at Swann Galleries

Charles White
General Moses (Harriet Tubman)
1965
$360,000
Swann Galleries
Oct. 4, 2007

ART MARKET PRICES FOR SEPTEMBER

Despite growing economic ills, notably in the real-estate sector, plenty of dough seems to be sloshing around in the art market this September 2007.

Sotheby’s New York’s "Asia Week" sales, Sept. 18-21, 2007, totaled $61,931,226. The super-hot property continues to be Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958), maker of the haunting "Bloodline" portraits of communist cadres, whose auction record now stands at $3,065,000, paid for the admittedly hyper-historical Chapter of a New Century -- Birth of the People’s Republic of China (1992). from artnet.com

Faberge Desk Clock sold four times the expected price

Faberge Desk Clock sold for $123,900 four times the expected price at the Sloans and Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers.
What: Faberge Desk Clock, Dated 1896-1908, Yellow guilloche enamel With a silver mounting, 4 1/2 inches in diameter, Lot 1488
Where: Sloans and Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers Chevy Chase, Md. September Estate Auction Sept. 16, 2007
How Much: Pre-Sale Estimate: $30,000 to $50,000
Final Selling Price: $123,900
[from forbes.com]

Francis Bacon Self-Portrait Expected to Fetch in Excess of $15 Million

"Self-Portrait" by Francis Bacon, a 1969 oil on canvas painting measuring 14 x 12 inches (35.5 x 40.5 centimeters). The work is expected to fetch in excess of $15 million during the Sotheby's New York.
Contemporary Art Evening sale on Nov. 14, 2007. Source: Sotheby's via Bloomberg News.


And, a Self-Portrait by Regia Marinho a 2004 acrylic on canvas painting measuring 24 x 24 inches (60.9 x 60.9 centimeters). The work is expected to fetch...

Portrait Of A Lady by Alice Neel sold for $445,000 at Christie's, New York

What: Alice Neel (1901-1984)
'Portrait of Roberta Johnson Roensch'
Oil on canvas
30 x 22 inches
Painted circa 1943-1946

Where: Christie's, New York
First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art
September 10, 2007

How Much: Pre-auction estimate: $50,000-$70,000
Final selling price: $445,000

The painting, on the auction block for the first time since it was created in the '40s, sold to a private U.S. collector after strong bidding for $445,000. It was expected to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000. It also set a new record for any Alice Neel painting at auction. The previous record, for the portrait "Peter B. Kaplan" was $216,000, sold at Sotheby's in 2006. [from forbes.com]

Art Auction Christie’s New York Sept.10

Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
1982
$1,161,000
Christie’s New York
Sept. 10, 2007

The top lot, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s untitled 1982 acrylic and oil stick on canvas, featuring a skull-like face with a crown on a turbulent background of blues, whites and burgundies. With a presale estimate of $1,200,000-$1,800,000, the painting ultimately sold for $1,160,000, presumably close to its undisclosed reserve. Still, $1,000,000-plus is a good price for a work that some observers thought marginal and haphazard. [from artnet]

"Most of the art press is writing about the sky falling," wrote Josh Baer, "but the art business is very strong. Demand is strong." [from Josh Baer, publisher of the Baer Faxt art-market newsletter]

Rostropovich art collection to be sold off at Sotheby's in London

A detail from Faces of Russia, by Boris Grigoriev, hailed as the most important Russian painting since the 1917 revolution. Photograph: Sotheby's

The art collection of 22 pieces, worth about twenty-six million to forty million dollars, is to be sold off September 18 and 19 at Sotheby's in London.

Yesterday Jo Vickery, the head of Sotheby's Russian department in London, said that Rostropovich and his wife bought their most significant works at a time when there was little interest in Russian art, unlike today, when Russian masterpieces routinely fetch millions. [from Guardian]

Francis Bacon Rent Cheque to Make £9 Million in Auction

Study from the Human Body, Man Turning on the Light (detail) by Francis Bacon (1909-1992).

A painting by renowned artist Francis Bacon, given to London's Royal College of Art in return for rent, is expected to fetch up to £9m at auction.

Study from the Human Body, Man Turning on the Light goes under the hammer at Christie's in London on 14 October. from BBC

Sotheby's Earnings Jump 48% on Higher Art Prices

Tobias Meyer auctions a Mark Rothko painting.[from Bloomberg.com]

The ArtNews Top Art Collectors

ARTNews' list of the Top 200 Art Collectors for 2007 is out.
“We clearly have an audience with unlimited finances,” said Arne Glimcher, chairman of PaceWildenstein. “This is the offer-you-can’t-refuse market.”

The Latest Developments In The Art Market

(picture)
Among the more valuable paintings to be sold on September 19 is Ivan Bilibin's oil painting The Hunt, which is estimated at £120,000 to £180,000.

London is running neck and neck with New York, traditionally the dominant center of the art market, according to figures just released by Christie's. For the first six months of this year, Christie's has achieved sales of £1.63 billion, including auction and private sales - an increase of 31 per cent over the same period last year.
from the telegraph.

China's Red Hot Art Market

RED contemporary abstract painting by R.Marinho regiaart

China's Red Hot Art Market
Stock prices may fluctuate, but prices for art are going straight up.
from businessweek

London Art Auction at Sotheby's Realizes $22,107,745

Together, 29 works from the collection of Antonio and Priscilla Carluccio from the Neal Street Restaurant realised £166,740 against a pre-sale estimate of £77,000-111,000.
David Hockney’s design for the restaurant menu more than doubled its top estimate, selling for £48,000 to an anonymous collector. from Artdaily.

Dealer Paid $325 for a Dirty Raphael that Sold for $37.3 Million

Art dealer Ira Spanierman in his gallery in New York.
Dealer paid $325 for a Raphael artwork. from Bloomberg

... ``There aren't that many buyers for old masters at these prices,'' New York dealer Richard Feigen said in an interview last week. ``The hedge funds pay a lot more for contemporary pictures, but they aren't buying old masters.''

The week's most-expensive picture was New York art dealer Ira Spanierman's Raphael painting of the Florentine ruler Lorenzo de' Medici, sold for 18.5 million pounds at Christie's, or more than 100,000 times the price he paid for it. Unsold lots included a Fragonard oil study with a top estimate of 8 million pounds and two Turner watercolors valued at as much as 3 million pounds each, all at Sotheby's. from Bloomberg

Damien Hirst skull solo show takes $250 million in sales

British artist Damien Hirst's latest solo show "Beyond Belief" at London's White Cube gallery, which closes this weekend, has taken $250 million in sales in just five weeks, the gallery said on Friday. read more (Reuters).

Raphael - Portrait Sells For $37.3 Million

A masterpiece by Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael (1483-1520) sold at yesterday evening’s auction of Important Old Master and British Pictures at Christie’s in London for £18,500,000 ($37,277,500 / €27,343,000), a world record price for the artist at auction and a world record price for an Italian Old Master Picture (by US$). One of only a handful of paintings by the artist to remain in private hands, the work portrays Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence from 1513 to 1519. The most important Renaissance portrait to be offered at auction for a generation, and the most important work by the artist to be offered at auction in recent decades, it was bought after a ten minute bidding battle by a private collector biding on the telephone.
from artdaily.org

For the Love of God

Damien Hirst
For the Love of God
2007
White Cube
I've spoken to who have actually seen it say Damien Hirst's $100-million diamond-encrusted skull is a wonder to behold.