Sotheby's

Mr Cohen used to be a sizeable shareholder of Sotheby's and is still an important provider of liquidity to art buyers.

All the items up for auction Tuesday belonged to a single owner, but Sotheby's in London did not disclose that person's identity.

In which case, the fact that the papers were delivered to Sotheby's cannot be considered illegal.

Gabriel Heaton from Sotheby's, which is auctioning the passport, said the it was being sold by a private owner.

A few weeks later, Sotheby's will offer a 1969 work by Bacon, "Study of a Nude with Figure in a Mirror" .

By comparison with that private world, Sotheby's and Christie's auction business looks like a model of transparency.

Sotheby's said it was clear this was not the finished version and as such would give deep insight when compared with the published work.

A drawing by Lucian Freud valued at more than $100, 000 was accidentally put through a shredder by Sotheby's in London in 2000.

Painted in 1970, "Tres Personajes" was purchased by a Houston collector for $55, 000 as a gift for his wife at a Sotheby's auction in 1977.

Sotheby's noted that the auction had set at least eight other world records for individual Asian artists or categories of work.

In London this week, Sotheby's and Christie's put on solid performances in their new gritty genre.

The Giacometti was not the only work to fetch a high price at Sotheby's on Wednesday evening.

The jewellery and watch categories have taken off as well , with Sotheby's and Christie's reporting record growth in both areas .

The previous record for a Sotheby's sale was its 1990 Impressionist sale - the height of the last art boom.

Sotheby's has opened an office in Qatar which is important for its relationship with the Qatar royal family, one of its biggest clients.

But Sotheby's recently shed staff as part of its plan to focus on the top of the market.

Sotheby's was the first auctioneer to become interested in Russia and remains bigger there than its rival.

Of four works auctioned at Christie's and Sotheby's in New York earlier this month, only two sold well and one failed to sell.

But Sotheby's argued that it would likely have ended up on the mainland even if it went to auction.

Overall, It was Sotheby's highest total ever for an Impressionist and Modern Art auction.

The diamond was later sold to a private buyer for an undisclosed sum, Sotheby's said.

As the art market soared, Mr Dunphy, Mr Hirst and Sotheby's Mr Barker kept returning to the idea of repeating the Pharmacy sale.

Indeed, after Sotheby's failed sale of its prized Qing Dynasty vase in April, the auction house said it sold privately for HK$200 million.

However, both art buyers and investors appeared jittery, as shown by the flat sale of Impressionist works at Sotheby's last week.

Patti Wong, Sotheby's Asia chairman, described the final result as "a remarkable sum given today's market" .

Over the past decade Sotheby's has seen the departure of several senior staff in its Chinese department.

Next week her space, Red October Chocolate Factory, will host highlights from Sotheby's forthcoming spring auctions.

Wall Street bankers participated at a Sotheby's auction of contemporary art earlier this month.

Sotheby's was keen to build its own brand around a celebrity artist rather than the usual assortment of inanimate objects.

'Wine history was made today, ' said Serena Sutcliffe, head of Sotheby's International Wine Department.

During a torrid weekend, Diana Brooks, Sotheby's chief executive, and Alfred Taubman, the chairman, quit.

After being alerted by the French authorities, Sotheby's dropped the painting from the sale.

"Mainland China has clearly become our main land, " says Kevin Ching, chief executive of Sotheby's Asia.

What marks the Sotheby's event as significant is the idea that jewellery could be treated like art.

After Mrs Brody died last November, Christie's and Sotheby's fought to win the mandate for the sale.

A senior Sotheby's specialist admits that the auction was exceedingly high risk.

Sotheby's Impressionist sale had a poor showing last week.

Also on Sept. 14, Sotheby's New York will have its own significant Asian auction.

The two main auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's, fared quite differently last week.

On St Valentine's Day this year Sotheby's held an auction for RED, a third-world charity, in New York.

While auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's report prices paid, they're a secondary market.

However, with only three of their 40 lots failing to find buyers, Sotheby's enjoyed a very strong sell-through rate.

The high level of nervousness about the market was revealed last November, when shares in Sotheby's plummeted 28 per cent in a day.

Sotheby's is a quoted company whereas Christie's, once listed, was taken private in 1999 by its current owner, Mr Pinault.

The number five represents the "five blessings" of old age, wealth, health, virtue and peaceful death, according to Sotheby's.

Sotheby's charm offensive on sellers this year has yielded good results.

Art Website : There is also guidance. Foreign markets mostly sell oil paintings; Sotheby's and Christe's are China's weathervanes.

While the other companies on this list hit zero briefly, Sotheby's went in the other direction.

The Sotheby's auction raked in a total of $8. 4 million more than triple the initial estimate.

Both Christie's and Sotheby's raised the premium paid on art works this month.

A small shop next door to Sotheby's will start selling Hirst prints shortly after the sale on September 15th.

He upturned the art world by selling his work directly through Sotheby's, an auction house.

This would lead to Sotheby's choosing paper, to beat rock, meaning Christie's should opt for scissors.

In 2008 the two main auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's, sold just under $700m worth of Old Master paintings.

Sotheby's points out that five years ago, its buyers who spent more than $500, 000 on an artwork came from 26 countries.

Art sales peaked in 2007, when Sotheby's and its main competitor, Christie's, sold a combined $11. 3 billion worth.

In March, an antique China vase was auctioned off at Sotheby's.

Sotheby's didn't disclose the names or details of the winning bidders.

Mr. Zhang's 'Bloodline: The Big Family No. 3' fetched nearly $6 million at a Sotheby's April auction in 2008.

"All cultures start with their own art, " says Patti Wong, the chairman of Sotheby's Asia.

Sotheby's is selling more than 1, 700 items, mostly of ancient and contemporary Chinese art.

If the guarantee was standard, that would mean Sotheby's took about $700, 000 plus a buyers' premium of $300, 000.

Sotheby's, for its part, sold HK$3. 49 billion during its week of spring sales in April.

'There are no rules, ' says Patti Wong, head of Asia for Sotheby's.

Sotheby's evening sale was much more robust, selling 53 of 55 lots for a total of $134. 4m.

And on October 25th and 26th Sotheby's is selling the entire stock of Ariane Dandois's recently closed Paris gallery.

Sotheby's share price has risen by 60 per cent this year alone.

And Sotheby's has a surprise on offer.

Sotheby's says it hopes to get between $250, 000 and $350, 000 for it this time around.

In early April, at an auction of Meiyintang porcelain, Sotheby's required a $500, 000 deposit to bid.

Ming's speech has already finished when we arrived Sotheby's.

After he purchased the 24. 78 carat diamond for $46. 2 million at Sotheby's in Geneva last month, Mr. Graff named it 'The Graff Pink. '

Earlier in the day, Sotheby's 20th-century Chinese-art auction fetched a total of HK$137 million (US$17. 6 million).

Unfortunately for Sotheby's, that is exactly what happened.

If female, she is a nice girl who had rather hoped to work for Sotheby's.

Sotheby's tried to sell the 412S last year at a special auction held in Italy dedicated to the Ferrari and Maserati marques.

There was frenzied bidding among mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan collectors at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong.

Last year Sotheby's held its first exhibition for the private sale of art specifically for the Asian market.

Worldwide auction sales at Sotheby's rose 5 per cent in 1998 and 16 per cent in 1999 before dropping more than 10 per cent in 2000.

Sotheby's anticipates generating more than $23 million in sales from Asia Week alone (up $4 million from last year).

Current Min Chiu members, all male, include Dr. S. Y. Yip, a Hong Kong dermatologist, as well as Sotheby's Asia Chief Executive Kevin Ching.

Last year, combined global sales of Russian art at Christie's and Sotheby's were up 45 per cent on 2006.

Sotheby's name, both in English and in traditional Chinese characters, has been registered as trademarks in China.

Both cases have been settled. Sotheby's, which said there were delinquent bidders in all markets, sued a watch buyer from Hong Kong in 2007.

Sotheby's has taken the view that business with China is better conducted from the sanctity of Hong Kong.

Sotheby's sales in Hong Kong (April 5th-8th) are also expected to reach record highs.

Last year a 7. 03-carat blue diamond sold at Sotheby's for $9. 5 million, setting the highest price ever for a blue gem.

In October, its rival Sotheby's set its own record of HK$3. 09bn in its Hong Kong auction.

Sotheby's, on the other hand, tried its luck with an auction in Doha last year, but found the market too thin.

Last year, Lau bought a 7. 03-carat blue diamond for $9. 48m at Sotheby's Geneva.

Sotheby's began holding its Hong Kong spring and autumn sales in 1974.

More than 60 per cent of Sotheby's entire wine sales in 2010 were made in Hong Kong.

"It's an insurance policy, " explains Mitchell Zuckerman, president of Sotheby's financial services, of the appeal to consignors

Christie's, Sotheby's, and other auction houses are playing on the patriotism of newly rich emerging-market collectors with works from home

DR. IAIN ROBERTSON , Head of Art Business Studies, Sotheby's Institute

Sotheby's Hong Kong announced Thursday that Stanley Ho paid $8. 84 million for the piece, a record for Qing dynasty sculpture.

Porcelain vs. works of art: London Christie's and Sotheby's Asia week