Warhol painting among $2.8 million Irish bad bank auction

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DUBLIN | Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:18am EDT

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's state-run "bad bank" will auction works of art by the likes of Andy Warhol and Alex Katz after it put global auction house Christies in charge of a 14-painting collection valued at up $2.8 million on Monday.

Created to purge Irish banks of their risky real estate loans, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is selling helicopters and private jets as well as skyscrapers and five-star hotels to try and claw back the 31 billion euros ($42.7 billion) it has shelled out for the loans.

NAMA's chief executive said in July that the agency was getting tough on the lavish lifestyles of some of its debtors, many of whom became household names before a property crash brought Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" economy to an abrupt end.

Christie's said the collection -- which includes Warhol's "Dollar Sign" painting that it values at between $400,000 and $600,000 -- belonged to one NAMA debtor and was being offered with the debtor's co-operation.

The Irish Times newspaper reported last month that the collection was formerly owned by Derek Quinlan, an ex-tax inspector who went on to buy several of London's top hotels, including the Savoy.

NAMA has seized control of a number a buildings belonging to Quinlan who also owned part of the Citigroup Tower in London's Canary Wharf business district, which was put on the market earlier this year for more than 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion).

A spokesman for NAMA said it would not comment on the identity of the debtor.

U.S. pop art painter Alex Katz's "Ace Airport" will go under the hammer along with Warhol's Dollar Sign in Christie's New York auction room on November 9 and is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000.

Works by William Scott, Roderic O'Connor and Jack Butler Yeats -- brother of Irish author and poet W.B. Yeats -- will be auctioned in London a week later.

($1 = 0.725 Euros)

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Anna Willard and Paul Casciato)

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Warhol's self-portrait could sell for $40 million

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Andy Warhol's 1986 'Self-Portrait'.

Credit: Reuters/Christie's

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Andy Warhol self-portrait completed shortly before his death is expected to sell for as much as $40 million at auction next month, Christie's said on Wednesday.

"Self-Portrait," a large haunting depiction of Warhol rendered in deep red and black, was done in 1986 and displayed in a widely praised gallery show in London just months before he died after routine surgery in New York.

"It is a rare event that a work of this grandeur and stature comes to market," said Amy Cappellazzo, Christie's international co-head and deputy chairman of post-war and contemporary art.

"With all the other examples in museums, it will be the last chance that buyers will have to bid on a work that shifted art history," she added about the sale on May 11.

The record price for a Warhol self-portrait is $32.6 million set last May at Sotheby's in New York. "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," which Christie's sold for a whopping $71.7 million in 2007, is the record for any Warhol sold at auction.

Two weeks ago Christie's announced it would sell the pop artist's very first self portrait, a 1963 four-panel acrylic silkscreen depicting him in a trench coat and sunglasses being sold by the family of Detroit collector Florence Barron, who commissioned it for $1,600. It is expected to fetch $30 million or more.

At the time of the 1986 exhibition, art historian Robert Rosenblum observed that Warhol was addressing one of art's great themes of an aging master looking at himself with "melancholy introspection," not unlike the self-portraits of Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

Of the large self-portraits Warhol painted in 1986, the other six are all in museums, including the New York's Guggenheim and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, or in foundation collections.

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Andy Warhol's 1986 'Self-Portrait'.

Credit: Reuters/Christie's

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Andy Warhol self-portrait completed shortly before his death is expected to sell for as much as $40 million at auction next month, Christie's said on Wednesday.

"Self-Portrait," a large haunting depiction of Warhol rendered in deep red and black, was done in 1986 and displayed in a widely praised gallery show in London just months before he died after routine surgery in New York.

"It is a rare event that a work of this grandeur and stature comes to market," said Amy Cappellazzo, Christie's international co-head and deputy chairman of post-war and contemporary art.

"With all the other examples in museums, it will be the last chance that buyers will have to bid on a work that shifted art history," she added about the sale on May 11.

The record price for a Warhol self-portrait is $32.6 million set last May at Sotheby's in New York. "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," which Christie's sold for a whopping $71.7 million in 2007, is the record for any Warhol sold at auction.

Two weeks ago Christie's announced it would sell the pop artist's very first self portrait, a 1963 four-panel acrylic silkscreen depicting him in a trench coat and sunglasses being sold by the family of Detroit collector Florence Barron, who commissioned it for $1,600. It is expected to fetch $30 million or more.

At the time of the 1986 exhibition, art historian Robert Rosenblum observed that Warhol was addressing one of art's great themes of an aging master looking at himself with "melancholy introspection," not unlike the self-portraits of Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

Of the large self-portraits Warhol painted in 1986, the other six are all in museums, including the New York's Guggenheim and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, or in foundation collections.

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Warhol bought for $1,600 could fetch $30 million

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A portrait of actress Elizabeth Taylor by Andy Warhol is seen at the Phillips de Pury gallery in New York, March 28, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Fri Apr 8, 2011 1:57pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Andy Warhol self-portrait purchased in 1963 for $1,600 on an installment plan is poised to fetch $30 million or more when it hits the auction block at Christie's in May.

"Self-Portrait," a four-panel acrylic silkscreen depicting the pop artist wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, is being sold by the family of Detroit collector Florence Barron.

Barron first commissioned Warhol to paint her portrait, but changed her mind and suggested the young artist depict himself, telling him, "Nobody knows me ... They want to see you."

The result was Warhol's first self portrait, four images taken in a coin-operated photo booth rendered in hues of blue.

"My mother didn't look at collecting in terms of 'is this important or not important,'" Guy Barron told Reuters.

"She looked at it from the standpoint of what resonated with her, and of 'I want to live with it.' It was not done as some people do today, as wall power."

The portrait graced the living room wall of the family home in Detroit. It also went on public display, serving as the cover image for catalogs from major Warhol exhibitions and retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

Brett Gorvy, Christie's international co-head and deputy chairman for post-war and contemporary art, said the work marked the beginning of Warhol's own stardom.

"With dark sunglasses an oblivious gaze, Warhol was ahead of his time in creating a new archetype of glamour," Gorvy said.

"The painting is remarkable not only for its visual impact and the introduction of the photo booth genre, but for marking a key moment in the history of art, when Warhol takes his place in the pantheon of celebrity alongside Marilyn, Elizabeth and Elvis."

Barron, whose family includes two married sons and several grandchildren, said they were auctioning the work because "dividing is not possible, so selling makes the most sense."

"I feel that Andy Warhol himself would appreciate this, because he always talked about everyone in their lifetime having their turn in the spotlight for 15 minutes. Who'd have thought that his self-portrait would play such a role in our lives?"

The record for a Warhol self-portrait is $32.6 million set last May at Sotheby's in New York. The record price for any Warhol sold at auction is "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," which Christie's sold for a whopping $71.7 million in 2007.

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A portrait of actress Elizabeth Taylor by Andy Warhol is seen at the Phillips de Pury gallery in New York, March 28, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Fri Apr 8, 2011 1:57pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Andy Warhol self-portrait purchased in 1963 for $1,600 on an installment plan is poised to fetch $30 million or more when it hits the auction block at Christie's in May.

"Self-Portrait," a four-panel acrylic silkscreen depicting the pop artist wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, is being sold by the family of Detroit collector Florence Barron.

Barron first commissioned Warhol to paint her portrait, but changed her mind and suggested the young artist depict himself, telling him, "Nobody knows me ... They want to see you."

The result was Warhol's first self portrait, four images taken in a coin-operated photo booth rendered in hues of blue.

"My mother didn't look at collecting in terms of 'is this important or not important,'" Guy Barron told Reuters.

"She looked at it from the standpoint of what resonated with her, and of 'I want to live with it.' It was not done as some people do today, as wall power."

The portrait graced the living room wall of the family home in Detroit. It also went on public display, serving as the cover image for catalogs from major Warhol exhibitions and retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

Brett Gorvy, Christie's international co-head and deputy chairman for post-war and contemporary art, said the work marked the beginning of Warhol's own stardom.

"With dark sunglasses an oblivious gaze, Warhol was ahead of his time in creating a new archetype of glamour," Gorvy said.

"The painting is remarkable not only for its visual impact and the introduction of the photo booth genre, but for marking a key moment in the history of art, when Warhol takes his place in the pantheon of celebrity alongside Marilyn, Elizabeth and Elvis."

Barron, whose family includes two married sons and several grandchildren, said they were auctioning the work because "dividing is not possible, so selling makes the most sense."

"I feel that Andy Warhol himself would appreciate this, because he always talked about everyone in their lifetime having their turn in the spotlight for 15 minutes. Who'd have thought that his self-portrait would play such a role in our lives?"

The record for a Warhol self-portrait is $32.6 million set last May at Sotheby's in New York. The record price for any Warhol sold at auction is "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," which Christie's sold for a whopping $71.7 million in 2007.

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Mayan relic sold for $4 million is a fake?

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A sculpture of a Mayan warrior, released March 23, 2011 by auctioneer company Binoche et Giquello, that sold for more than $4 million at a Paris auction house on Monday March 21, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Handout/Pierre-Yves Dhinaut/Binoche et Giquello SVV

MEXICO CITY | Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:25am EDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A sculpture of a Mayan warrior that sold for more than $4 million at a Paris auction house this week is a fake, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said.

The masked, stone figure, sold by a private collector, was billed as an impressive piece of Pre-Columbian art and was believed to be a unique work dating from around 550 to 950 A.D. It sold for 2.9 million euros ($4.1 million) on Monday.

But Mexican experts at the institute who studied the auction catalog said the piece, a warrior holding a shield and weapon and wearing a turban-like hat, had been made recently and was carefully carved to give an ancient appearance. Another 66 pieces in the auction also were fakes, they said.

"The figure tries to recreate the Pre-Columbian features of the Maya region in southeastern Mexico but the height, the posture of the flexed legs and the boot straps are not characteristic of this culture," the institute said in a statement.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it had contacted the French government prior to the auction to alert it to the fraud.

(Reporting by Armando Tovar and Robin Emmott; Editing by Bill Trott)

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A sculpture of a Mayan warrior, released March 23, 2011 by auctioneer company Binoche et Giquello, that sold for more than $4 million at a Paris auction house on Monday March 21, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Handout/Pierre-Yves Dhinaut/Binoche et Giquello SVV

MEXICO CITY | Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:25am EDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A sculpture of a Mayan warrior that sold for more than $4 million at a Paris auction house this week is a fake, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said.

The masked, stone figure, sold by a private collector, was billed as an impressive piece of Pre-Columbian art and was believed to be a unique work dating from around 550 to 950 A.D. It sold for 2.9 million euros ($4.1 million) on Monday.

But Mexican experts at the institute who studied the auction catalog said the piece, a warrior holding a shield and weapon and wearing a turban-like hat, had been made recently and was carefully carved to give an ancient appearance. Another 66 pieces in the auction also were fakes, they said.

"The figure tries to recreate the Pre-Columbian features of the Maya region in southeastern Mexico but the height, the posture of the flexed legs and the boot straps are not characteristic of this culture," the institute said in a statement.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it had contacted the French government prior to the auction to alert it to the fraud.

(Reporting by Armando Tovar and Robin Emmott; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Monet "Poplar" set to fetch $25 million at auction

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By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:42am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A pristine Monet masterpiece from the artist's celebrated "Poplars" series will be featured at Christie's in May, when it is expected to sell for as much as $30 million, the auction house said on Friday.

"Les Peupliers," the largest from Monet's famed paintings depicting poplar trees executed during his years in Giverny, is being sold by an Asian collector who purchased it at auction in 2000 for just over $7 million.

After a precipitous decline following the financial crisis that hit in late 2008, the art market came roaring back last year with works breaking the $100 million mark, artists' records being broken and auction houses raking in cash once again.

"The appearance of this masterpiece quality work marks the first time in over a decade that a major 1890s series painting has come to auction," said Conor Jordan, Christie's head of Impressionist and modern art.

"We anticipate great enthusiasm from many collectors, dealers and museum directors who have been eager for a quintessential Monet scene such as this," Jordan added.

Prices for top-quality works by Monet have soared in recent seasons, Christie's noted. An increasingly limited supply of masterpieces, recovering markets that have freed up liquidity and increasing confidence in fine art as an investment, have all helped drive levels ever higher.

The auction record for a Monet is $80.4 million set in May 2008 by "Le Bassin aux Nympheas" from the artist's renowned Waterlilies series, which was about twice the pre-sale estimate.

The majority of the 24 works from the Poplars series hang in major art museums including London's Tate Gallery, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Tokyo's National Museum of Art.

"Les Peupliers" will be sold in New York on May 4 after touring in Moscow and London in April.

Monet painted it during the summer of 1891 after striking a deal with a wood cutter not to cut down a stand of poplar trees on the river near his home until he could finish painting them.

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By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:42am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A pristine Monet masterpiece from the artist's celebrated "Poplars" series will be featured at Christie's in May, when it is expected to sell for as much as $30 million, the auction house said on Friday.

"Les Peupliers," the largest from Monet's famed paintings depicting poplar trees executed during his years in Giverny, is being sold by an Asian collector who purchased it at auction in 2000 for just over $7 million.

After a precipitous decline following the financial crisis that hit in late 2008, the art market came roaring back last year with works breaking the $100 million mark, artists' records being broken and auction houses raking in cash once again.

"The appearance of this masterpiece quality work marks the first time in over a decade that a major 1890s series painting has come to auction," said Conor Jordan, Christie's head of Impressionist and modern art.

"We anticipate great enthusiasm from many collectors, dealers and museum directors who have been eager for a quintessential Monet scene such as this," Jordan added.

Prices for top-quality works by Monet have soared in recent seasons, Christie's noted. An increasingly limited supply of masterpieces, recovering markets that have freed up liquidity and increasing confidence in fine art as an investment, have all helped drive levels ever higher.

The auction record for a Monet is $80.4 million set in May 2008 by "Le Bassin aux Nympheas" from the artist's renowned Waterlilies series, which was about twice the pre-sale estimate.

The majority of the 24 works from the Poplars series hang in major art museums including London's Tate Gallery, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Tokyo's National Museum of Art.

"Les Peupliers" will be sold in New York on May 4 after touring in Moscow and London in April.

Monet painted it during the summer of 1891 after striking a deal with a wood cutter not to cut down a stand of poplar trees on the river near his home until he could finish painting them.

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Monet "Poplar" set to fetch $25 million at auction

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By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:42am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A pristine Monet masterpiece from the artist's celebrated "Poplars" series will be featured at Christie's in May, when it is expected to sell for as much as $30 million, the auction house said on Friday.

"Les Peupliers," the largest from Monet's famed paintings depicting poplar trees executed during his years in Giverny, is being sold by an Asian collector who purchased it at auction in 2000 for just over $7 million.

After a precipitous decline following the financial crisis that hit in late 2008, the art market came roaring back last year with works breaking the $100 million mark, artists' records being broken and auction houses raking in cash once again.

"The appearance of this masterpiece quality work marks the first time in over a decade that a major 1890s series painting has come to auction," said Conor Jordan, Christie's head of Impressionist and modern art.

"We anticipate great enthusiasm from many collectors, dealers and museum directors who have been eager for a quintessential Monet scene such as this," Jordan added.

Prices for top-quality works by Monet have soared in recent seasons, Christie's noted. An increasingly limited supply of masterpieces, recovering markets that have freed up liquidity and increasing confidence in fine art as an investment, have all helped drive levels ever higher.

The auction record for a Monet is $80.4 million set in May 2008 by "Le Bassin aux Nympheas" from the artist's renowned Waterlilies series, which was about twice the pre-sale estimate.

The majority of the 24 works from the Poplars series hang in major art museums including London's Tate Gallery, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Tokyo's National Museum of Art.

"Les Peupliers" will be sold in New York on May 4 after touring in Moscow and London in April.

Monet painted it during the summer of 1891 after striking a deal with a wood cutter not to cut down a stand of poplar trees on the river near his home until he could finish painting them.

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Mayan relic sold for $4 million is a fake?

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A sculpture of a Mayan warrior, released March 23, 2011 by auctioneer company Binoche et Giquello, that sold for more than $4 million at a Paris auction house on Monday March 21, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Handout/Pierre-Yves Dhinaut/Binoche et Giquello SVV

MEXICO CITY | Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:25am EDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A sculpture of a Mayan warrior that sold for more than $4 million at a Paris auction house this week is a fake, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said.

The masked, stone figure, sold by a private collector, was billed as an impressive piece of Pre-Columbian art and was believed to be a unique work dating from around 550 to 950 A.D. It sold for 2.9 million euros ($4.1 million) on Monday.

But Mexican experts at the institute who studied the auction catalog said the piece, a warrior holding a shield and weapon and wearing a turban-like hat, had been made recently and was carefully carved to give an ancient appearance. Another 66 pieces in the auction also were fakes, they said.

"The figure tries to recreate the Pre-Columbian features of the Maya region in southeastern Mexico but the height, the posture of the flexed legs and the boot straps are not characteristic of this culture," the institute said in a statement.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it had contacted the French government prior to the auction to alert it to the fraud.

(Reporting by Armando Tovar and Robin Emmott; Editing by Bill Trott)

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