A plum-sized flawless diamond known as the Pink Star has been sold for a staggering $83 million at an auction in London, a record price for a gemstone.
Federal authorities in the United States have seized two valuable artefacts stolen from India valued at about $450,000 (Rs 3 crore) from the premier auction house Christie's, just days before a scheduled auction of the items as part of planned festivities to celebrate Asia week.
The auction house put under the hammer 79 art works at over Rs 102 crore (Rs 1.02 billion), including Rs 23.7 crore (Rs 237 million) for a Vasudeo Gaitonde painting, a record price for a work of an Indian artist.
Seventy-five rare letters that highlight the relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and architect Hermann Kallenbach during their stay in South Africa and the communication between their families went on public display on Wednesday. The letters, two newspapers and journal, which were bought by India for a whopping $1.28 million from a auction house in the United Kingdom, is now part of the Private Paper Collections at the National Archives of India.
Immediately after the auction Alex Branczik, Sotheby's senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe said: "It appears we just got Banksy-ed."
Global auctioneer Christie's is set to hold its first auction in Mumbai this December, a move, the London-based auction house indicates is a reflection of the growing participation of Indian collectors in the world art markteplace.
The first original Apple computer hand-built and signed by the company co-founder Steve Wozniak has sold for more than $387,000 in an online auction.
A rare sketch by John Henry Amshewitz and correspondence to Sarat Chandra Bose will go under the hammer at a Sotheby's auction on July 11.
The rough diamond of 236 carats was found at the jwaneng mine in Botswana and took 21 months to polish.
The auction was watched closely as it comes at a time when other major names like Christie's have pulled out of India.
This one's for all the shoe lovers out there in the world! A collection of sneakers has sold at auction for $850,000 (Rs 5.85 crore) to Canadian entrepreneur Miles Nadal. Sotheby's put 100 pairs of the rarest sneakers ever from Nike, Adidas and Air Jordan on sale in New York. All but one of the pairs went to Nadal, with the 1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat Moon Shoe still for sale during the week-long auction.
Let's take a look at some of the most expensive cars sold at auctions in 2012.
These images prove we live in a wonderfully weird world.
Edvard Munch's iconic painting 'The Scream', considered one of the most recognisable in art world, was sold for over $119 million (Rs 630 crore), creating a new record for the highest price ever paid for a work of art at any auction.
Sotheby's said six telephone and online bidders sought the document and it was eventually bought by Cisneros Corp chief executive Eduardo Cisneros.
A prominent businessman from Mumbai on Friday revealed that he has acquired 29 items of Mahatma Gandhi memorabilia at a recent auction in the United Kingdom. "I am delighted to acquire the items, which are of national interest. I would have been happier had the government acquired them," said Kamal Morarka, former Union minister and publisher.
The sale lot of 61 pieces of art, which was spread across a variety of categories such as modern and contemporary South Asian art, prints, and photographs, realised an estimated sale price of Rs 23.8 crore. Pre-auction estimates had expected the sale to range between Rs 37 crore and Rs 52 crore. Around 11 pieces of art remained unsold on Day One, reports Pavan Lall.
This is the largest single-owner sale of Indian modern art, but it is for reasons other than this historicity that it will be remembered, says Kishore Singh.
Auctioneers have said its Evening Sales, however will not be included in the partnership.
The sale offered art collectors and dealers access to a range of contemporary paintings, sculptures and photographs, and was accompanied by online and mobile catalogues according to information released by the auction house on Tuesday.
'A trip to the banks of the Hooghly without which there wouldn't be a Calcutta/Kolkata is one for the bucket list,' says Kishore Singh.
The scion of a royal family in Rajkot paid a whopping sum of Rs 3.22 crore (Rs 32.2 million) to an auction house in Canada, to bring back the sold-off vintage Rolls Royce car, customised to order of his grandfather 76 years ago.
An audio recording of the Beatles from 1966, in which John Lennon is asked about his comment that the band was more popular than Jesus, is expected to sell for about 13,400 pounds at auction.
The blazer worn by Australian cricketing great Donald Bradman during his first series as Test captain sold for A$132,000 ($91,410.00) on Monday, local media reported.
The online auction house had expected the item to be sold for $8,000 (Rs 5.2 lakh).
If you're starting out as an investor, bidding at an auction could prove to be the smart way to start off an iconic collection.
Mahatma Gandhi's iconic round eye glasses and other personal belongings, sold for $1.8 million (Rs 9.3 crore) at an auction, fetched a whopping $296,000 (RS 1.53 crore) in commission, according to Antiquorum Auctioneers.
Mahatma Gandhi's items, including his pocket watch, a pair of sandals, a plate, a bowl and his rimmed glasses, were sold at an auction by New York-based Antiquorum Auctioneers on Thursday. UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya reportedly bought the items for $1.8 million.Preliminary reports suggested that Mallya may hand over the items to the Indian government.
Keen to ensure that the five priceless personal belongings of Mahatma Gandhi do not fall into the hands of a foreigner, the government worked on various options, one of which bore fruit as the bid was won through business tycoon Vijay Mallya.
"Vijay wanted to know if I was going to bid and I said I would," Chatwal said. "As I chatted with him it was clear to me that he too wanted to donate the items to the Navjivan Trust. I then decided I would not bid.
Fine arts auction house Christie's on Thursday sold artist MF Husain's paintings, including one for a hammer price of $ 1.4 million. Outside the Christie's building in New York, up to 30 supporters of the Indian American Intellectual Forum staged a two-hour protest chanting 'Shame, shame, MF Husain' and 'Boycott Christie's!'. At least 12 of Husain's paintings were auctioned, where the theme was South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art.
Leading international art auction house Christie's has rejected a demand to withdraw from an upcoming auction the works of noted artiste M F Husain who is accused of painting Hindu gods and goddesses in a "derogatory and vulgar" form. In a letter to Christie's, Indian American Intellectual Forum President Narain Kataria had threatened to hold a demonstration unless it stops the scheduled auction of Husain's paintings on March 20.
French tycoon Francois-Henri Pinault was held hostage in his car by staff angered over 1,200 job cuts at two of his stores.
James Otis, a tall, curly man with a bewildered look, stood outside a building on New York's Madison Avenue Thursday afternoon around 2 pm announcing, with his pro-bono lawyer Ravi Batra by his side, that he had asked the Antiquorum auctioning house not to go ahead with the sale of the seven items belonging to Mahatma.
James Otis, who owns the personal belongings of Mahatma Gandhi including the iconic round glasses that are being put on auction on Thursday, has said that he is prepared to reach a financial settlement with the Indian government and take the items off the auction block. "But if the (Indian) government announces some major scheme for the poor, I will even donate these items," he added.
Whistle-blowers allege the brothers violated court orders by selling assets like art and real estate worth crores bought by funds from their companies.
Pictures of supermodels Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen baring their bottoms are expected to fetch about 1.5million pounds when they go under the hammer.
Auction house Christie's had scheduled the auction for July 3.
Tagged with hefty sums, the paintings of a host of Indian artists would be auctioned in Hong Kong on May 24-25. Among others, top-tier works by Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Anju Dodiya, and Atul Dodiya will be up for grabs on the opening day. The auction would also feature a selection of significant works by many Pakistani artists besides the ones drawn by their counterparts from China, Japan and Korea.
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