| $1.4B in Art Expected To Sell At May Auctions
Sotheby's and Christie's International may auction almost $1.4 billion of art in New York next month as collectors including David Rockefeller and the Israel Museum sell to take advantage of soaring prices. The world's two largest auction houses are stepping up marketing of impressionist, modern, and contemporary art for the May sales, which could match their record auctions in November, based on high estimates from the companies. Christie's shows works in Seoul this week, then in New York starting May 4. Sotheby's unveils highlights of its offerings in London tomorrow. New buyers from as far as Russia and China are driving up prices. Rockefeller paid $10,000 in 1960 for a Mark Rothko painting that's now valued at more than $40 million, said Sotheby's. Andy Warhol's "Lemon Marilyn" may fetch "more than $18 million" at Christie's, 72,000 times the cost of the finished work in 1962.
Sanders’ tougher rules will help Jackson County
Katheryn Shields' mishandling of professional services contracts attracted lots of negative attention for the former Jackson County executive. The contracts also undermined the credibility of county government. Now Mike Sanders, her successor, says he'll sign an executive order establishing tougher rules for issuing contracts to consultants, lawyers and others. Sanders will discuss his sound plan, which does not need the County Legislature's approval, with lawmakers today. Under the county charter, the contracts can be issued only by the county executive. The charter does not require competitive bids or notification of the Legislature. When Shields gave out dozens of contracts over her 12 years in office, she didn't call for competitive bids. So no one could tell whether the county was getting good deals.
The Danger of Charity Auctions
I have a weakness that I'd like to confess. I generally lose my mind at charity auctions. If you're not familiar with charity auctions, they often work as follows. First, there will be a silent auction, in which you make bids by writing your name or a number that represents you on sheets of paper next to items you'd like to bid on. For example, I often bid on sports tickets to get good seats to a particular game. My wife bids on handmade jewelry. The silent auction will end at a certain time---whoever has bid the most wins. It's the eBay model. The second part of the auction is usually a live auction, in which bigger items are auctioned off with a real live auctioneer. If you want to bid on something, you do so, but in this auction the bid goes on until there's only one man or woman standing.
Auctions offer lounge lizards with a difference
THE dinosaur skull was advertised as "perfect for a New York City apartment", though with a starting bid of $US100,000 ($A124,000), it was clear that the apartment in question was not a small studio. What the I.M. Chait Gallery billed as its "natural history" auction held on Sunday at its showroom on Fifth Avenue at 29th Street, as well as by telephone and on eBay was a child's dream, a wealthy person's playground and a curator's nightmare. The showroom resembled miniature versions of the rooms at the American Museum of Natural History. Fossils were displayed all around and meteorites lined the shelves. Nearly all 345 items were available to touch. They included an Egyptian mummy's hand; lion, hyena and warthog skulls; a gold nugget; and (behind glass, but touchable on request) crystals, minerals and a meteorite from Mars.
|
