LaurenceGraff

Christie's Auction Pumped by Yves, Keeps Art Market Recovery Going

The 51 lots that Christie's sent under the gavel last night were chosen carefully. The auction was designed to succeed ... which is what you would have thought of every auction until the middle of 2008, right? Nonetheless, the auction house made some bold moves in an effort to push up prices, but only offered lots that would justify putting the necks of its constituent decision-makers on the chopping block.

With a final tally of more than $61 million in line with the high end of the presale estimate, it would appear that Christie's made some smart calls. Forty-six of the lots achieved sale, with one clearing £5 million, nine surpassing £1 million and 16 beating $1 million. Compared to last year's sale, when only 29 lots were offered, the total take surged 3.7X. I tend to be pretty skeptical, but even that sort of result is enough to make me admit that the art market's recovering.

Buyers in Europe and Britain were most active, picking up 41 percent and 33 percent of the sales, respectively. Collectors in the United States followed with 22 percent and Asia at 4 percent.

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Laurence Graff Buying and Selling at Tefaf

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Another year of The European Fine Art Fair (better known as Tefaf) in the Netherlands and diamond kingpin Laurence Graff is already buying and selling. Bloomberg reports that he sold an emerald-cut white diamond, of about 30 carats for $5 million to a U.S. client. Not bad, although last year bang Graff sold a 70-carat yellow diamond out of their booth for around $11 million. Graff also spent some money at Tefaf picking up one of Jean-Michel Basquiat's boxer paintings for 3.5 million euros ($4.5 million).

This year there are a record 239 dealers offering over $1 billion worth of art ranging from Old Master paintings to silver, ceramics and contemporary art. The sale runs from March 13 to March 22. All the works are of the highest quality, Art Daily reveals that there are 25 committees made up of 155 experts who ensure quality, condition and authenticity. The entrance hall in the exhibition is decorated with thousands of flowers for an impressive display. Many are hoping that after the huge results earned by the Yves St. Laurent sale in Paris, collectors are once again in a spending mood.

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Tags: basquiat, diamonds, laurence graff, LaurenceGraff, tefaf

Laurence Graff's Spendy Week

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Auctions, Celebrity Shopping, Art

Renowned jeweler Laurence Graff has a habit of spending big at the big jewel and art auctions but this week Graff really went overboard spending $40 million this week on rare red and blue diamonds in Geneva and scooping up contemporary art in New York. Bloomberg reports that Graff paid $8.4 million for a Warhol soup-can picture, $15.7 million for Warhol's double image of Elvis Presley. as well as Warhol pictures of Jackie Kennedy and Truman Capote and Jean-Michel Basquiat's portrait of Sugar Ray Robinson. In an interview Graff was quoted as saying that what he bought he mostly got at low estimates and that he thinks they will go higher (this even as a prominent art dealer named Warhol and Basquiat as two of the most overpriced artists). Graff wasn't just buying, he also sold $10 million of art at this week's auctions.

Also on Graff's shopping list this week on the business side was the 493 carat Letseng Legacy, the world's 18th largest known diamond. Graff and manufacturing partner SAFDICO beat out 10 other diamantaires, eventually paying $10.4 million.

[Thanks, Lana]

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Tags: art, basquiat, diamonds, expire-images:2008-11-16, laurence graff, LaurenceGraff, letseng legacy, warhol