In Brief
A Skull Carved from a Meteorite Lands on the Auction Block
The skull is a universal symbol of mortality, appearing in artworks by everyone from Hans Holbein the Younger and Albrecht Dürer to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Auctions
Opinion
Move Over, Modigliani: Some Slightly More Altruistic Ways to Spend $170.4 Million
On Monday, Amadeo Modigliani's "Nu couché" (Reclining Nude), a 1917 painting of a woman sprawled naked on red bedding, fetched $170.4 million at Christie's.
News
Four Centuries of Cat Art Go Up for Auction
As works by artists from Balthus to Théophile Steinlen reveal, the cat has long been a popular subject for depiction.
Art
An Illustrated Guide to Auction House Terminology
What is “chandelier bidding?” How do third-party guarantees work? And what are the “three D’s?”
Art
Highlights from Maya Angelou's Art Collection Head to Auction
Works from the private art collection of renowned poet and author Maya Angelou will soon go on public display.
Art
Silhouette Portraits from the Days Before Photography
Before photography, the silhouette was a popular form of portraiture more affordable than oil painting, where the outline of a face in profile was cut in black.
Art
Political Cartoons from a Golden Age of British Satire
In late 18th-century Britain, etched cartoons and caricatures abounded, poking fun at kings, noblemen, society ladies, French revolutionaries, the institution of marriage, and countless other people and things.
In Brief
Newly Discovered Photo Offers a Glimpse of van Gogh, Gauguin, and Other Drunk Artists
While Vincent van Gogh's self-portraits were a significant part of his painting career, no confirmed photographs of the artist as an adult are known to exist.
News
Hopi Tribe Fights to Halt French Sales of Sacred Artifacts for Good
Wednesday morning, Paris's Drouot auction house proceeded with a contentious sale of objects sacred to the Hopi Tribe of northern Arizona.
Opinion
What Else Could $180 Million Buy?
The record price paid for Pablo Picasso’s “‘Les femmes d’Alger (Version 'O')" (1955) made us wonder what else could $180M buy?
News
Mysterious Engravings Question Authorship of Shakespeare's Works
William Shakespeare was a commoner who wrote witty plays attended by Queen Elizabeth. Sir Francis Bacon was a noble who served as her Attorney General. Right?
In Brief
$44M O'Keeffe Painting More Than Triples Auction Record for Woman Artist
Hot on the heels of a $1.5 billion art auction week, a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe broke the record for the most expensive work by a female artist sold at auction this morning.