As if a Jean Baptiste Camille Corot painting would have required any more reasons than coming from the renowned artist’s studio to be sold at a whopping price. But then a little exciting history has always been helpful. Ask the folks at Sotheby’s and they will confirm for the “Jeune femme a la fontaine” is expected to fetch a price of $1.8 million at an auction to be held on June 2 this year.

Created in the 19th century, this gorgeous work of art has a very interesting past. Apprently, it was owned by a patron of Claude Monet and Hamburg banker Eduard Ludwig Behrens only to be stolen by the Nazis. The Behrens family got it back in 2008 on the advice of the Dutch Restitutions Committee. Just so you know, Georg Behrens was arrested in 1938 and sent to a concentration camp. As of now the heirs request complete anonymity.

We are told that Adolf Hitler had seized 650,000 pieces during the 12 years he was in power. And this particular painting once belonged the much respected Behrens collection which was held with high regard all over Europe. For the past 66 years, the painting was hung in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo.

Via luxist

There have been many auctions for Michael Jackson’s belongings held before but none of them were even a teeny weeny bit of the one that’s scheduled to be held on June 25. And the venue is the place where all the action happens, yep, you have got it right for Las Vegas it is. The items to go under the hammer have been carefully chosen from the pop legend’s rather lavish and outlandish furniture collection. Just so you know, MJ had purchased these for his planned residence in Kent, England during the ‘This Is It’ concert series that sadly did not happen due to the star’s untimely death.

The most skilled among the Colombostile Artisans have worked on the brilliant artefacts that have a very functional use around the house as well. There will be some 22 pieces of custom-made furniture that you can pick yours from. A pair of red velvet armchairs embroidered with eagles  is being celebrated as the expected higlight. Though we feel that the rather opulent 17th century style parcel gilt ebonized wood wirting desk might just give it a tough competition at that title.

The organisers of the auction have estimated price varying between $16,500 and $150,000. But it’s not just furniture that they have limited the event too for there will be dozens of other items from Jackson’s life like a signed jacket of his, signature white crystal gloves (we wonder just how many did he own?) and paintings from Neverland. The auction will run through three days. An MJ fan? Book a seat to LV rightaway!

Via juliensacutions

The Eastern Block or the countries that were controlled by the Soviet Union were known for their blockades, military power, paranoia and communist hegemony. These countries, along with the Soviet Union amassed military equipments, aircrafts and other devices which made the democratic and free West shiver in fear.

Their aircrafts were especially scary and even to this day, planes like the 1983 Aero Vodochody L39 brings back memories from Yugoslavia, East Germany and Russia. St. Louis Car Museum may just be about cars but sometimes you get to see a few flights and aircrafts as well, just like the 1983 Aero Vodochody L39. They are now offering the 1983 Aero Vodochody L39 which comes with a turbofan.

It could be used for basic, advanced and operational pilot training and also for light attack missions. The L39 is refurnished in Ferrari Red and comes with black ejection seats. With gloomy grey ejection seats, you would be literally transported back to the scary and violent days of Soviet and Communist torture. The 1983 Aero Vodochody L39 costs $212,495. So go ahead and grab it if you can!

Fancy Vivid Blue gem is a 5.16 carat, pear-shaped internally flawless diamond that would be auctioned off by De Beers. A private collector is putting it up for sale at Sotheby’s Hong Kong jewels. It is expected to fetch £3.8 million ($5.8 million).

It is surprising that the auction is being held at Hong Kong which clearly reveals that China is one of the largest diamond markets in the world. It is because of this fact that lot of people try to sell their diamonds in that red country of the East. It would be interesting to know how much this diamond is going to fetch. It is a lovely piece of diamond that is flawless and beautiful to the extent of being unbelievable.

It would be a great family heirloom if you can manage to purchase it. Blue diamonds have been associated with Saturn and even death, but that should not stop you from buying this piece of stone for a million lives are waiting for just to own this piece of diamond for a day or two even! I am sure it would be an amazing way to reveal your aristocracy to your children.

Via: Telegraph

Silvano Vecchiato (a student of Annigoni) is well known for the painting “Madonna with Child and Landscape” of Vicenza and is one of the classics that you could come across. Now, Roberto Coin, the Italian jeweller who is called the Midas for he uses gold so much has used thousands of carats of sapphires blacks, diamonds, pearls, rubies, aquamarine, and other precious stones in order to create the painting.

It was unveiled at the Verona luxury fair and there is no information about the price whatsoever. You must not even wonder about the price for it certainly is going to be more expensive than a private jet or a yacht. With so much of sapphires blacks, diamonds, pearls, rubies, aquamarine, and other precious stones you can only imagine how much it might cost.

Oh of course, the proceedings from the sale would go to Haiti earthquake survivors and thus it could be called as luxury for charity. It shows Madonna holding baby Jesus in her lap and is a great Christian symbol of motherhood and love. If you are religious it may mean a lot to you, if not there is always the thousands of precious stones in it.

Courtesy Press

When you have enough money inherited from decades of oil business and weapon dealings, what would you do? You would go ahead and spend all that money in the most ridiculous manner possible. Such patterns of spending is usually seen in the Middle Eastern countries where every other guy is a sheik who could afford to buy yachts and helicopters.

While we fret and crib about the robed man’s richness, one of the Arab businessmen has purchased a number plate bearing “7″, for $4.6 million. Whoever would have known that the number 7 could be so expensive? In fact, this is the third most expensive license plate in the world and was sold at a government auction in Abu Dhabi.

The second most expensive number plate is number “5″ which was sold in Abu Dhabi too (Why do I even repeat the city’s name) for $6.86 million. No prizes for guessing who bought the world’s most expensive plate, which happens to be number 1. “1″ was sold to an Emirati businessman too, in 2008 and that cost a whopping $14.3 million. Are these people crazy, or what?

Via: Arab News

If you were wondering which is the latest vehicle to hit the news, it is the Puffin by NASA. NASA does not manufacture vehicles but they do provide technologies which could be used by manufacturers in order to develop new products. This time around, they have designed the Puffin, which is a vehicle that stands somewhere midway between a car and an aircraft.

It was developed in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Aerospace and M-DOT Aerospace. It holds one man and is powered electronically. It weighs about 136 kilos and another 45 kilos of battery. It would also travel at a speed of 241 kilometres/hour which is much faster than a car but slower than an aircraft.

I guess the person who flies this would always have to lie on his tummy, and would never be able to sit in an upright position, if we were to believe the pictures. I am not sure how safe this vehicle is, or even how practical it would be for we do not want Puffins crashing into each other above our roofs.

Via: Luxury Insider

Do you love anything ale? And love to collect all things wine? Including wine of course! If wine is your thing and if you mind not a bit about through some precious cash to grab a collectible, here is a large bottle of it you can take home.
Large meaning, a bottle that holds 18 full liters of wine, a significantly more quantity than the normal 750 ml that people are used to buying.

It is expected to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s next week. And is part of the Finest and Rarest Wines and Vintage Port auction that will happen there.The bottle weighs 25 kilograms, is 75 cm high and has a circumference of 70 cm. Looking at it is one thing, and holding it another different challenge. The phenomenally rare wine bottle, as Sotheby’s officials put it, can pour into 144 glasses.

Wednesday is when the wine among other rare and fine wines, will go up for bidding. What is not clear, is once you acquire this exquisite piece of innovation, what could exactly be the degree of difficulty in tilting it in the perfect angle to pour into a glass? It would probably take a bar-tender with superb skills to take on that uphill task!

Via: dailymail uk

homme-qui-marche

There has been a new world record. A month ago we reported right here how an Alberto Giacometti art scultpure will be going under the hammer. Well, the “L’Homme Qui Marche” did and went on to make headlines as the most expensive piece of art ever sold by auction.

Let us remind you that this being much celebrated as the SWiss artist’s characteristic sculpture of an elongated figure in bronze went on to make a record selling price of $104.3 million. There was a lot of excitement indeed at Sotheby’s London.

The last record of the most expensive piece of art ever sold by auction was held by Spanish cubist Pablo Picasso for his 1906 portrait Garçon à la pipe (”Boy With a Pipe”) that sold for $104.1 million in 2004. Might we add that “L’Homme Qui Marche” also pulverized the previously held record for any modern sculpture sold at auction. This title was last achieved by Constantin Brancusi’s “Madame L.R. ( Portrait de Mme L.R.)” from circa 1914-17 that sold for $37.7 million. An Arteconomics expert was heard saying that this is a sign that buyers are getting more confident. And we could not have agreed more.

Via straitstimes

Giroux Daguerréotype may sound like a weird foreign name, but it happens to be the world’s oldest camera. Of course, being the world’s oldest camera, it is also the world’s most expensive camera. It is now gonna be auctioned off and is expected to fetch astronomical amounts of money. It is expected to fetch €500,000 to €700,000 and was made in Paris in 1839.

It was built by Alphones Giroux and is 170 years old. The camera is still in working condition and the 24 page instruction booklet, a plaque signed by Daguerre and even the ground glass screen are intact in their original splendour. Don’t expect that the process of taking a picture is easy on this camera.

It is one of the most laborious things to do, and you would have to read the instruction booklet back and forth before attempting to take pictures. If you are the kind of person who would spend loads of money on antiques, this certainly is what you should be buying. I would say, go ahead and get yourself this camera if you are an avid photographer and if you have the money.

Via: Wired