Sotheby's – News Stories About Sotheby's - Page 3

It Was the 'Largest
Crowdfunding Initiative'
Ever. And It Failed

Nov 19, 2021 11:18 AM CST

It Was the 'Largest Crowdfunding Initiative' Ever. And It Failed

DAO with $46M in donations fails to purchase copy of US Constitution at auction

(Newser) - A group of cryptocurrency investors has failed to win a rare copy of the US Constitution despite pooling $46 million toward that goal in what Artnet News calls "the largest crowdfunding initiative of all time." An anonymous private collector purchased the first-edition copy of the Constitution, one of...

Frida Kahlo's Legend Grows
With Record Auction Sale

Nov 17, 2021 9:35 AM CST

Frida Kahlo's Legend Grows With Record Auction Sale

'Diego and I' self-portrait sets $34.9M record for Latin American artist

(Newser) - A self-portrait of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, also featuring her husband, has become the most valuable work by a Latin American artist ever to sell at auction. Kahlo's "Diego and I"—a close-up of the artist's face with a miniature portrait of her husband, Mexican muralist...

$40M Sale Tops
Picasso Auction

photos

Oct 24, 2021 12:10 PM CDT

$40M Sale Tops Picasso Auction

The 11 artworks had been displayed at the Bellagio in Las Vegas

(Newser) - Eleven Pablo Picasso artworks have been sold for a combined $109 million in a Las Vegas auction coinciding with the artist's 140th birthday. The nine paintings and two ceramic pieces had been displayed inside the Picasso restaurant at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art for more than two decades...

Back at Auction, Shredded Banksy Won't Come Cheap

Shredded Banksy Sells
Way Higher Than Expected

UPDATED

Oct 14, 2021 3:36 PM CDT

Shredded Banksy Sells Way Higher Than Expected

Fetches $25.4M at Sotheby's, compared to $1.4M for un-shredded price

(Newser) - Update: How much for a shredded Banksy? Try $25.4 million. A piece that was deliberately shredded in a prank sold to an anonymous Asian buyer for that amount at Sotheby's in London on Thursday, reports the Wall Street Journal . That is way higher than expected. Our original story ...

One of Only 11 Early Copies
of Constitution Up for Auction

Sep 17, 2021 10:58 AM CDT

One of Only 11 Early Copies of Constitution Up for Auction

Sotheby's says it may fetch $20M

(Newser) - A very special birth certificate will be auctioned off later this year—a rare copy of the US Constitution. Sotheby's announced Friday (appropriately on Constitution Day) that in November it will put up for auction one of just 11 surviving copies of the Constitution from the official first printing...

Behold,
the Most
Expensive
Sneakers

Apr 26, 2021 11:03 AM CDT

Behold, the Most Expensive Sneakers

A pair worn by Kanye West just sold for nearly $2M at Sotheby's

(Newser) - A pair of prototype Nikes worn by Kanye West during his performances of “Hey Mama” and “Stronger” at the Grammy Awards in 2008 has shattered the record for a pair of sneakers ever sold. Sotheby's announced Monday that West's so-called “Grammy Worn” Nike Air Yeezy...

These Old Sneakers Are About
to Break a Sotheby's Record

Apr 17, 2021 6:30 AM CDT

These Old Sneakers Are About to Break a Sotheby's Record

Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototypes worn by Kanye West at 2008 Grammys set to sell for $1 million

(Newser) - If you saw them thrown in the corner of a bedroom, you'd think these black size 12 sneakers were just any old pair of Nikes. Instead, they've just become Sotheby's most expensive shoe listing ever, set to be auctioned off this month for more than $1 million,...

$35 Bowl Found at Yard Sale
Sells for Eye-Popping Amount

Mar 17, 2021 1:53 PM CDT

$35 Bowl Found at Yard Sale Sells for Eye-Popping Amount

It's more than the $500K Sotheby's valued it at

(Newser) - It was eye-popping enough that an old bowl picked up for $35 at a Connecticut yard sale last year ended up dating to China's Ming dynasty of the 15th century. Ditto that Sotheby's valued the bowl at up to $500,000. But things got crazier on Wednesday when...

Yard Sale Price: $35.
Sotheby's Wants $500K

Yard Sale Price: $35. Sotheby's Wants $500K

Someone picked up 15th-century bowl at a Connecticut yard sale

(Newser) - It might be better if the poor soul near New Haven, Conn., who sold an old bowl for $35 at a yard sale last year never finds out about this. It turns out the porcelain bowl dates back to China's Ming dynasty of the 15th century and is expected...

Isaac Newton's Secret
Occult Papers Sell for $502K

Dec 10, 2020 12:44 PM CST

Isaac Newton's Secret Occult Papers Sell for $502K

They were scorched when his dog knocked over a candle

(Newser) - Scorched notes from Sir Isaac Newton's secret research into ancient Egyptian mysteries appeared Wednesday not in a Da Vinci Code sequel, but at a Sotheby's auction, where they sold for $502,000. The British scientist and mathematician is considered the father of modern physics but the notes show...

This Could
be a $100M
Painting

Sep 24, 2020 4:30 PM CDT

This Could be a $100M Painting

Sandro Botticelli's work goes to auction in January

(Newser) - An enigmatic painting from Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli will go on auction in January, and art watchers will be seeing if it fetches more than its eye-watering $80 million estimate, despite the pandemic. Botticelli's 15th-century portrait of a nobleman in Young Man Holding a Roundel is the highlight of...

Biggie's Crown
Smashes Auction Estimates

Sep 16, 2020 3:02 AM CDT

Biggie's Crown Smashes Auction Estimates

Sells for nearly 100K times what the photographer paid

(Newser) - The crown that the Notorious B.I.G. wore in his last photo shoot, three days before his death, cost $6 in 1997. On Tuesday night, it sold for nearly 100,000 times that amount, the New York Post reports. The plastic crown, purchased by photographer Barron Claiborne, was auctioned...

Crown Biggie Wore 3 Days
Before His Death Is for Sale

Aug 26, 2020 12:42 PM CDT

Crown Biggie Wore 3 Days Before His Death Is for Sale

Sotheby's sale also includes a teen Tupac's love letters

(Newser) - Letters from a lovestruck 16-year-old Tupac Shakur will be auctioned off at Sotheby's first-ever sale devoted to hip-hop history. The 22 letters to Kathy Loy, one of the rapper's classmates at the Baltimore School for the Arts in the 1980s, are expected to fetch up to $80,000,...

'Next to Miraculous' $9M Vase
Found in Old Woman's Cupboard

'Next to Miraculous' $9M Vase Found in Old Woman's Cupboard

Rediscovered Chinese porcelain dating back 275 years kept in open cupboard near cats, dogs

(Newser) - A delicate Chinese porcelain vase believed to have been crafted for an emperor 275 years ago has sold for more than $9 million after turning up in a cupboard in a country home in central Europe. The rare find—actually two vases in one, with a pierced outer layer of...

A Classic Fictional Name
Was a Last-Minute Switch

Jul 24, 2020 5:30 PM CDT

A Classic Fictional Name Was a Last-Minute Switch

Truman Capote made it 'Holly Golightly' in manuscript, which is now up for auction

(Newser) - Even those who haven't read Breakfast at Tiffany's or seen the movie starring Audrey Hepburn might be familiar with her character's name of Holly Golightly. But what only diehard fans might know is that author Truman Capote originally named the character Connie Gustafson—only to scratch the...

Someone Just Paid
$560K for These Sneakers

May 18, 2020 3:33 AM CDT

Someone Just Paid $560K for These Sneakers

They were Air Jordan 1s from way back in 1985

(Newser) - Hurting for cash and hating the rich? Then really, don't read this—because someone just snagged a pair of Michael Jordan game-worn sneakers for $560,000, CNN reports. Sotheby's auctioned off the 1985 mid-tops Sunday, more than tripling the $150,000 estimate and dethroning the Nike 1972 "...

Hockney Painting
Makes Splash
at Auction

Feb 12, 2020 1:53 AM CST

Hockney Painting Makes Splash at Auction

1966 work sells for $30M

(Newser) - David Hockney’s exuberant painting "The Splash" sold at auction at Sotheby's in London on Tuesday for almost $30 million. Its pre-sale estimate had been $26 million to $39 million, the AP reports. Painted in 1966, Hockney’s bold canvas shows a California swimming pool in the moment...

His $217 Auction Find
Sells for $1.8M

Jul 23, 2019 12:23 PM CDT

His $217 Auction Find Sells for $1.8M

Gary George says farewell to original moon landing tapes

(Newser) - Gary George was an intern at NASA's Johnson Space Center when he bought 1,150 reels of magnetic tape belonging to the agency at a government surplus auction in 1976. The $217.77 purchase certainly paid off. Included were three tapes representing the "earliest, sharpest, and most accurate...

99% of Sneakers Auction
at Sotheby's Goes to 1 Buyer

Jul 19, 2019 4:52 PM CDT

99% of Sneakers Auction at Sotheby's Goes to 1 Buyer

Canadian entrepreneur had bid on all 100 pairs

(Newser) - On Thursday, 100 pairs of the rarest sneakers—labeled Nike, Adidas, and Air Jordan, for starters—went up for auction. By Friday, they were all sold to a single bidder, except for one lone, expensive pair: the 1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat Moon Shoe. Bill Bowerman, a cofounder of Nike,...

Chess Piece in a
Drawer for 55
Years May Sell
for $1.3M

Jun 3, 2019 9:05 AM CDT

Chess Piece in a Drawer for 55 Years May Sell for $1.3M

Piece has been identified as one of the famous Lewis Chessmen from the Viking era

(Newser) - A chess piece purchased for $7.50 by an antiques dealer in Scotland in 1964 has been identified as one of the 900-year-old Lewis Chessmen, among the greatest artifacts of the Viking era. Sotheby's auction house said Monday the chess piece is expected to bring between $670,000 and...