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Auctions

Auctions
Reporting on the latest auctions of luxury goods, including watches, handbags, high jewellery and fine art
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Sotheby’s workers hold what is said to be the oldest known inscribed stone tablet of the Ten Commandments during a press preview in New York on December 9. Photo: AFP
Archaeology and palaeontology

Ancient stone tablet engraved with Ten Commandments sells for US$5 million

The high figure was notched despite questions around the slab’s authenticity, with some experts expressing doubts about its origins.

History

Rare Roman coin sells for US$2.09 million at Geneva auction

Fame and celebrity

Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz sell for US$28 million

Art

Exclusive | Hong Kong art photography fair cancelled months before its debut

Photofairs Hong Kong, slated for March 2025, scrapped by UK-based organiser because of unspecified ‘logistical constraints’.

Visitors attend the 2018 edition of Photofairs Shanghai, the city where the photographic art fair began in 2014 and where it will again be held in 2025. Plans for a Hong Kong edition of the fair in 2025 have been scrapped. Photo: Handout
Formula One (F1)

Ex-Formula 1 chief Ecclestone selling Schumacher Ferrari in £300m car auction

Former Formula 1 boss is said to have world’s greatest collection of motor-racing machines, including cars driven by several world champions.

Art

Scott Kahn was down and out. Then fellow artist Matthew Wong bought a work

When Matthew Wong revealed he had bought one of Kahn’s paintings, Hong Kong collectors took an interest. At 78, Kahn has first show in Asia.

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Hong Kong property

Art houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s show off flashy new Hong Kong showrooms

The auction houses’ glammed up spaces are a reflection of their desire to change the way they conduct business.

A view of Sotheby’s new space in Hong Kong. Photo: Facebook
Art

Duct-taped banana artist says US$6.2 million work a ‘provocation’

‘It invites us to reflect on the value of art’, Maurizio Cattelan says after Chinese entrepreneur buys work for US$6.2 million at auction.

Special Report - Jewellery

Bidders set the bar high at Hong Kong’s buoyant autumn auctions

Results highlight the enduring appeal of exceptional pieces by iconic high jewellery maisons such as Cartier, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Art

Chinese crypto entrepreneur pays US$6.2 million for banana taped to wall

Sotheby’s confirmed that Justin Sun was the buyer of artist Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian sculpture at its auction yesterday.

FILE - Artist Maurizio Cattelan’s piece of art “Comedian” hangs on display during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in New York, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)
Art

Hopes Magritte and Monet masterpieces can shake up stale auction market

Christie’s and Sotheby’s New York auctions this week also include works by Ed Ruscha and Keith Haring and one of Maurizio Cattelan’s bananas.

One of Rene Magritte’s Empire of Light paintings from 1954 is displayed during a preview for a November 19 Christie’s auction in New York. Photo: AFP
Art

Mark Rothko painting goes for 30% less than in 2015 in Hong Kong sale

Untitled (Yellow and Blue) by Mark Rothko, once owned by fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, fetches US$33 million at Sotheby’s auction.

Books and literature

Copy of The Little Prince worth US$1.25 million for sale at art fair

For sale in the UAE, the typescript, one of only three known to exist, contains handwritten corrections by author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Art

Humanoid robot’s artwork of Alan Turing sells for US$1.3 million

Portrait by the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist smashed presale expectations of US$180,000.

Ai-Da in front of the portrait of Alan Turing. Photo: Sotheby’s via EPA-EFE
Hong Kong

Why scientists have a bone to pick with dinosaur fossil in Hong Kong

Hector the Deinonychus highlights how, like works of art, fossils too can be sold to the highest bidder. That has palaeontologists worried.

“Hector” the Deinonychus is a dinosaur fossil that was sold in 2022 by Christie’s auction house for US$12.4 million. The skeleton is currently on display in a permanent exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Museum. Photo: Christie’s
Timepieces

Meet the co-founder and CEO of Jay-Z-backed Wristcheck, Austen Chu

Comedian Kevin Hart also used the marketplace to find the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Sonnerie he recently wore on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

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Music

Michael Jackson jacket, Noel Gallagher guitar in music-themed auction

Beatle John Lennon’s first Vox amp, a Michael Jackson jacket, handwritten lyrics and a synthesiser Prince used are among lots in UK auction.

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Art

Why you should invest in alternative assets – experts share their insights

Rise Art, Cask Trade and Wristcheck founders describe the benefits of betting on secondary luxury investments, while investors seek transparency and meaningful connections.

Fine watches like this Richard Mille are one example of the sorts of alternative assets now receiving greater attention as more conventional options fail to deliver expected returns. Photos: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Portrait by robot Ai-Da to sell at auction in art world first

The ‘haunting’ piece depicts Alan Turing, one of the fathers of modern computing, who had warned about the use of artificial intelligence.

TV shows and streaming video

US$1.5m plastic replica Iron Throne tops Game of Thrones auction

Replica throne from HBO series among more than 30 lots that sold for in excess of US$100,000 at three-day auction in Dallas, Texas.

Hong Kong culture

Editorial | Auction promotes Hong Kong’s art hub status

The results of a Christie’s sale should be an incentive for the sector to focus on recovery after years of economic malaise.

Bids are taken on “Les canots amarrés” by Vincent Van Gogh from 1887, which recently sold at auction at Christie’s Hong Kong headquarters for HK$215,000,000 (US$27.7 million) in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP
Music

Guitar George Harrison played as a teen could sell for US$1m

Futurama guitar, which Harrison’s mum paid for in instalments and which he played at hundreds of Beatles gigs, could fetch over US$1 million.

The Beatles (clockwise from top left) John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in London in 1964. Photo: AP
Hong Kong society

Hong Kong singer Kelly Chen’s Hermes bags bring in over HK$3 million for charity

Part of proceeds from 10 bags will be donated to actress’ Kelly Chen Children Education Fund, founded to help students from low-income families.

Hong Kong society

Opinion | More pandas are great, but let’s also grow Hong Kong as a city of art

While Hong Kong remains one of the world’s leading auction capitals, the worth of having a healthy arts scene must also be recognised.

Art

Christie’s CEO on Asia expansion and hopes for rebound in Europe

Guillaume Cerutti explains Christie’s move to year-round sales at new Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, and challenges facing European market.

Christie’s chief executive Guillaume Cerutti in Venice. While in Hong Kong for the inauguration of the auction house’s new Asia headquarters, he expressed excitement, but said the company will now have to “think in a more holistic way” about sales scheduling. Photo: Getty Images
Art

This artist is using AI to put ‘Asian aunties’ in seriously surreal situations

The Singaporean artist was an architect before getting into AI-driven art which has since led to a Ted talk, a Christie’s 3.0 charity auction, and billboards in New York’s Times Square and now Hollywood

Niceaunties’ surreal AI antics featuring Asia’s beloved aunties make it to auctions – and to Hollywood. Photos: Handout
Art

Low Van Gogh price sets tone for debut Christie’s sale at new Asia HQ

US$27.6 million for early Van Gogh work a good price, observer says as Christie’s talks up results of auction where most bidding was low.

Major League Baseball (MLB)

Shohei Ohtani 50th homer ball goes to auction – or yours for just US$4.5 million

Japanese star’s performance against Miami Marlins set him apart from any player in the history of the game.

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