Auction

Notorious B.I.G. plastic crown sells for $600K at Sotheby's hip-hop auction

The signed crown was a plastic prop from a party shop that was worn by the rapper Notorious B.I.G. in the iconic 1997 "King of New York" photograph, three days before his death.

In photos: The works of Ara Guler to be auctioned in Istanbul

An auction, organised by Istanbul Muzayede, will take place online at 8pm Turkish time on July 12, 2020. The job lot will comprise forty six prints of the legendary photojournalist, who died in 2018 at the age of 90.

Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror’s last portrait in private hands: sold!

A portrait of Mehmed II, known as Fatih Sultan Mehmet to Turks, surpasses previous estimates selling for over a million dollars. The oil painting has been purchased by Istanbul Municipality,

How the pandemic made the flower business wilt across the world

The flower industry has already lost an estimated $8.5 billion due to the coronavirus.

Lempicka's portrait expected to fetch up to $16M at London auction

“Portrait de Marjorie Ferry” was commissioned in 1932 by the husband of British-born cabaret star Marjorie Ferry at the height of Tamara de Lempicka’s fame in Paris.

'Grease' jacket regifted to Olivia Newton-John after auction

The jacket and the figure-hugging black pants worn by singer Olivia Newton-John for her duet with John Travolta in the 1978 movie were sold to separate buyers at a Beverly Hills auction last month, fetching more than double the expected price.

Tahitian Gauguin sold for 9.5 million euros

“Te Bourao II” was the only artwork from Paul Gauguin still in private hands and one of a series of nine paintings produced by the artist while working on a much larger project later titled “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”

Banksy's 'Devolved Parliament' sells for over $12 million

Despite being painted in 2009, many commentators had drawn comparisons to current-day politics, namely the increasingly brutish exchanges in the House of Commons over Britain’s pending departure from the European Union, or Brexit.

Tutankhamen head fetches millions at UK auction despite Egypt's protest

The over 3,000-year-old sculpture was sold at Christie's London auction house for around $6 million despite protests from the Egyptian government.

Revolver believed used by Van Gogh sold at Paris auction

Billed as "the most famous weapon in the history of art," the rusty 7mm Lefaucheux revolver was bought by a private collector with a telephone bid.

Portrait of Suleiman the Magnificent sells in London for $6.9M

The portrait of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, thought to have been made by one of the followers of the Italian painter Gentile Bellini, was sold for 5.3 million pounds ($6.9 million). The sale price was well above the reserve.

Missing Rubens sketch goes for $1.4m at auction

The work which depicts Saint Margaret dressed in a red and white dress holding a cross in her hand and crushing a dragon dates from 1620, according to the Mercier auction house in Lille in northern France.