What is the great painter Rembrandt best known for? Well, his gorgeous “Portrait of a Man” is no less than the Mona Lisa that Da Vinci painted. And now it seems that the half length image of a 1658 man with arms akimbo as etched out with Rembrandt’s brush will be going up for auction in December this year. This time too it is brand Christie’s which will be associating itself with this historical auction. The painting, we are told, has been offered by a private collector. History tells that Rembrandt first sold this one as part of personal antiquities to avoid bankruptcy.

The portait has not been seen in public since 1970. It measures 42 inches and 34 inches framing a man that faces the viewer in a very defiant pose with his hands on his hips. This one is the second of the only two paintings by Rembrandt dating to 1658.

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Every industrious watchmaker has laid its eyes on the Only Watch auction, as if it’s a new standard of the finest craftsmanship. Well, they could not be more correct. And the latest brand after Corum to enter the celebrated event is none other than Bovet with a stunningly designed timepiece. Kudos to all these fellas for doing so much in the name of charity.

Dubbed as the Bovet Trilogy watch, this timepiece is a unique one as it recreates the famous Mona Lisa portrait by Leonardo Da Vinci in miniature. The case is 42mm wide and has been made in 18K rose gold. The hand-craved Feurisanne engraving on the flanks, the lugs and on the signature Bovet curved bow is picturesque.

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The trace of Michael Jackson will never fade out from this world. Well, millions of his fans have pulled up their socks to find ways to celebrate his memory. And money is the least thing on their minds, even during the financial hard times. If you too fall in this category we are talking about then you should perhaps visit the auction in New York that has a unique portrait of the megastar.

Painted by Andy Warhol, this portrait is a green-hued homahe to the Thriller-era of the famous singer. And before this work of art can fetch the destined millions, it must sit pretty on display from 6th August at London’s British Music Experience, which was the venue of MJ’s famous comback that unfortunately never happened.

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It will be no surprise for you to learn that even the art market has not been spared in the economic hard times. Reports suggest that art prices have dropped as low as 34 percent this year. However the Art Basel, an exhibition of fine paintings in Switzerland, has pepped up things a little bit. Well, it sure has earned some good bucks as well as some mileage from the media owing to the big names in its list of clients.

Actor Brad Pitt has been believed to splash some close to $1 million bucks on a rainbow-colored racetrack painting called Etappe by Neo Rauch. The purchase was made at the booth of New York dealer David Zwirner.

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There is a lot of buzz being generated at Christie’s. Well, their Latin American Sale in New York set for May 28 and 29 has a rare masterpiece from 17th century. It is none other than a self-portrait by famous muralist Diego Rivera. Called ‘The Firestone Self-Portrait’ this one is expected to sell for a price between $1.2 million and $1.8 million.

Little bit of research on history tells us that this self portrait was made on request by American engineer and art collector Sigmund Firestone from Rochester. Apparently, he met Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo when on a business trip to Mexico in 1939. The painting was commissioned in 1940 and took a year to be completed.

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Setting a new record for the category of world’s most expensive living female artist is a South African born artist Marlene Dumas. And this is made possible via her painting, popularly known as The Visitor, that generated sales of �3.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction. The painting was picked up by the New York private dealer Nancy Whyte during Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale scheduled on 1 July. The sales figure overshadowed Dumas’ preceding testimony of £1.8 million marked in February 2005.

The illustration is defined by Sotheby’s as an expressively demanding and noticeably beautiful. Spread over a canvas of 180cm x 300cm, the Visitor portrays a group of six-female sex-workers eyeing towards an illuminated door. The standing position of the women implies that they are contending for their deal while expecting the looming entrance of a punter. More than anything, Dumas work has invited criticism evoking issues like birth, death, sex, life, race, identity, motherhood and feminism.
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Masterpieces and artworks by artists who have passed away are eternal and invaluable. It is one arena that keeps its doors open even for deceased one’s to make their entry into the Guinness book of world records. And lately, this has been exemplified by a celebrated artist Lucian Freud. His depiction of an overweight nude woman (Sue Tilley, 51, Supervisor of Jobcenter) snoozing has summoned more than a few dough notes to be exhausted. The lady masquerade for this 85-year-old painter for long four-years and to say the utmost she tagged herself his muse. She was christened as “Big Sue” and got introduced to Freud by Mr. Leigh Bowery.

The painting overshadowed the earlier mark of $19.3 million and got sold off for $33.6 million.

Via BBC

One can’t assist but speculate number of nattily decent citizens sitting countless nights at International auction houses viz. Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips de Pury in coming next two weeks. A good percentage could be of serious bidders and others would be voyeurs eager to observe an implosion of $$$$ art market. It’s now being years that collectors and media have been waiting for the day when prices would finally top. But this time auction houses are hopeful that time will take a toll and things will play out well as they did three months ago in London, when, in spite of global economic nausea, a Francis Bacon triptych painting fetched $51.6 million.

Some highlights of the upcoming auctions:

Artist: Francis Bacon

Artwork: “Three Studies for Self-Portrait,’’ Triptych 1976
Auction House: Christie’s
Ballpark Figure: $25 million and $35 million

Artist: Jeff Koons

Artwork: “New Hoover convertibles, New Shelton Wet/Drys 5-Gallon, Double Decker”
Auction House: Christie’s
Sales: Christie’s post-war and contemporary sales
Ballpark Figure: $10 million
Date: 13 May

Artist: Monet

Artwork: “Le Pont du Cheminde Fer � Argenteuil,” 1873

Auction House: Christie’s
Ballpark Figure:$35 million
Date: 6 May

Artist: Edvard Munch

Artwork: “Girls on a Bridge,” a 1902 oil canvas painting
Auction House: Sothey’s New York Impressionist and Modern Art – Part I auction
Ballpark Figure: $28 million
Date: 7 May
Artist: Alberto Giacometti

Artwork: “Grande Femme Debout II,” 1959-60
Auction House: Christie’s
Ballpark Figure: $18 million
Date: 13 May
Artist: Henri Matisse, French painter

Artwork: “Portrait au mateau bleu”
Auction House: Christie’s Spring Impressionist and Modern sales
Ballpark Figure: $17 million
Date: 6 May
Artist: Pierre Patel the Elder

Artwork: ‘A landscape at Evening with Travelers’ and a Hunter Near Classical Ruins’ painted around 1640
Auction House: Sotheby’s London
Ballpark Figure: $800,000-$1.2 million
Date: 9 July

Via NYT

“Sunset over the Atlas Mountains,” a circa 1935 oil painting by Winston Churchill is all set to go under hammer during Bonhams New York auction in 23 April. This is one painting that Winston adored so much that he invited President Franklin D. Roosevelt to see it even after years later. This vivacious countryside depicting Churchill’s balcony at the Mamounia Hotel in Marrakech is anticipated to fetch $600,000. Churchill invited Roosevelt to travel with him to Marrakech after a conference in Casablanca in 1943 so he could experience the beautiful view for himself.

Via MSNBC

An elite painting by 20th Century French artist Fernand Leger is all set to undergo a hammer for $45 million at New York based Sotheby’s impressionist sale scheduled for 7 May. “Etude pour La Femme en Bleu” (1912-13) is a brew of arithmetical shapes hued in blue and white with intonations of pale yellow, red and black. The canvas dates back to the family compilation of German collector Hermann Lange, who purchased it from Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf in Berlin in 1920s. If this painting happened to fall near the expected sale i.e. $35-$45 million, then it would top the lot of the evening sale that would in total count to be $284 million. Leger’s earlier record was set in 2003 when his 1914 painting fetched him $22.4 million at Christie’s International in New York.

Via Bloomberg