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Results of the Sopranos Auction


Last month we reported that there was to be an auction of apparel from The Sopranos. The results from the June 25 event are in: Twenty-five outfits worn by James Gandolfini's alter ego raised $187,750 and benefited the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that aids wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gandolfini attended part of the Christie's auction with a soldier from the project.

The highest bid was for a faux-bloodstained outfit that Gandolfini wore in a scene when Tony is shot by a demented Uncle Junior: the black and beige short-sleeve polo shirt, a tank top and black pants brought in $43,750. The next highest bid was $21,250 for a four-piece costume that included a blue, red and yellow striped robe and boxer shorts that the actor wore in numerous episodes. Other top-selling outfits included a tan cotton bathrobe with lavender trim and 'S' insignia on the breast pocket that was featured in the pilot when Tony fetched the morning paper and fed the ducks in his pool, which raised $13,750.

All of the outfits were authenticated by Gandolfini, and many had the original production tags attached. See a sampling of the auctioned items in the gallery. See the entire lot and prices realized here.

Gallery: Results of the Sopranos Auction

Monet Painting Sells For Over $80 Million


I'm no art critic, which is perhaps why I'm a little mystified by the astronomical sale of Le Bassin aux Nympheas by Claude Monet for £40,921,250, ($80,451,178) at a recent sale at Christie's London. This new sale obliterates the record set at Christie's New York in May by Monet's "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" which went for $41.181 million.

Le Bassin aux Nymphéas was fought for by three bidders, two on the telephone and one woman at the front of the room. The Guardian reports that at one point the woman bidder asked for more time but she eventually had the winning bid. The painting is one of Monet's large-scale Nymphéas which led to his Grandes décorations, the frieze now in the Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris. Dated 1919, when Monet signed the picture and sold it with three sister-works, Le bassin aux nymphéas is one of the tiny handful of pictures from this period that he sold.

As the Guardian article mentioned, quoting art expert Charles Dupplin, right now the art market is an interesting spot. Records are being smashed all over the place while the middle section of the market appears to be sagging. This mimics in some ways the state of the entire luxury market which has remained robust at the ultra high end but has shown serious weakness in the lower and middle ranges.

Rare Never Exhibited Bacon on Offer at Christie's


A rare Francis Bacon triptych that has never before been seen in public and has never been offered at auction is expected to fetch over $20 million during Christie's Contemporary Art Sales in London at the end of the month. Painted in Paris in 1975, Three Studies for a Self Portrait (above) is similar in character to the Bacon triptych that sold for $28 million at Christie's last month. Also starring in the sales on June 30 through July 1: Lucian Freud's Naked Potrait with Reflection, one of the most important works by the artist ever to be offered at auction, est. $20 million - $30 million; Jeff Koons' Balloon Flower (Magenta), 1995-2000, the most important Koons work ever offered at auction in Europe, est. about $25 million; Andy Warhol's Nine Multicolored Marilyns, est. $5 million - $7 million; and Jean-Michel Basquiat's Trunk, painted in 1982, est. $2 - $3 million.

Gallery: Christie's Summer Sale

Basquiat's TrunkKoons' BalloonFreud's NakedWarhol's MarilynsWarhol's Skull

Yves St. Laurent Pieces To Be Auctioned Off

With the recent passing of Yves St. Laurent, the fashion icon's belongings are quite valuable and will be desired by many fans to be sure. Christie's will be assisting with an auction on July 2nd of seven lots of clothing and jewelry representing almost every decade of the French designer's career. These collectible pieces are relatively inexpensive since they are not new designs and have been worn. Check out the auction ahead of time on Christie's website and be ready to bid come July 2nd -- what a great way to celebrate fashion and the incomparable YSL.

Gallery: YSL Auction at Christie's

Results of the Onassis Jewelry Sale


Last week Athina Onassis auctioned off a large collection of her mother's jewelry through Christie's in London, with the most noteworthy piece being a diamond necklace featuring a 38-carat pear-shaped diamond pendant.

Athina's mother was Christina Onassis, daughter of famous Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, and she died at the young age of only 37 back in 1987. The diamond necklace was a fitting example of the great jewelry and art the Onassis family was known for collecting. It sold for $7.1 million.

Over 100 Carat Diamond Sells At Auction


While in Las Vegas the last few days I've seen some big diamonds but nothing even close to this gobstopper. The largest diamond ever auctioned off in Asia , a 101.27 carat stone we first mentioned back in February, sold for $6.21 million to a private buyer at Christie's in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The stone was originally cut from a 460-carat rough. The stone is an F color (D is the highest) and only a slight surface imperfection brought this remarkable stone's clarity value down to VVS1. Only three colorless diamonds of more than 100 carats have appeared at auction, selling in Geneva. The new owner gets naming rates.

James Gandolfini Auctions Off Sopranos Wardrobe

Known as a mafia lord for six seasons of the Sopranos, James Gandolfini (also known as Tony Soprano) will be auctioning off his on-screen wardrobe in support on wounded troops returning home. One of the most anticipated outfits is his stunning blue striped boxer shorts, white tank, robe and leather scuffs which will be sold at Christie's pop culture auction on June 25th in NYC. You wouldn't catch me bidding on another man's shorts but out of the twenty-four total lots, the bloody ensemble from the Season Six shot taken at Tony sounds like a piece of great TV paraphernalia.

Gallery: Tony Soprano's Duds

Tiny Pot Raises Big Funds For Earthquake Relief


In the wake of tragedy the auction of a historically significant piece will come to the rescue. Providing huge funds for relief efforts after the earthquake that killed more than 65,000 people in China on May 12th, computer chip tycoon Robert Tsao auctioned a palm-size antique glass pot from the imperial Qing Dynasty raising over HK$65 million ($8.3 million). Half of the funds will go to earthquake relief efforts and the other half will be split between various other charities. Both Tsao and Christie's auction house have waived their commission fees as well. Quite the gesture and it is certainly much needed. Its nice to see luxury items making a difference too.

Last Shotguns Ever Made by Asprey Fetch Over $100,000



Two of the very last shotguns ever produced by 200-year-old London luxury goods firm Asprey were sold at Christie's in London Wednesday for over $120,000. The exceptionally exquisite firearms, included in the auction house's Fine Sporting Guns and Rifles sale, "mark the end of a tradition of impeccably executed gun craft," Christie's notes. Asprey, supplier to the aristocracy and longtime holder of Royal Warrants, closed its gunrooms for good in 1996 shortly after these final pieces were made when the company was acquired by Prince Jefri of Brunei. Prince Charles and George Bush both own Asprey shotguns similar to the ones featured in the sale.

Although Asprey guns are a thing of the past, Asprey scion William Asprey is carrying on the family's sporting tradition at his new firm, William & Son. As we reported previously, he is not allowed to use the Asprey name in trade. William opened his own gunroom at his company's Mayfair premises and is now selling equally impressive pieces. Also hammered down in the Christie's sale were a pair of 12-bore double-barreled shotguns made by Holland & Holland in 1976, for $118,000; a 1969 .375 magnum double-barreled rifle, also by Holland & Holland, for $94,000; a double-barreled 1906 sporting rifle by Purdey, for $31,000; and a modern 12-bore Beretta shotgun, $16,000, all with beautiful engraving and woodwork.

Gallery: Sporting Guns Sale

Asprey 20-bore double-barreled shotgun.Double-barreled Purdey sporting rifle.12-bore Beretta shotgun.Holland & Holland double-barreled .375 magnum rifle. A pair of 12-bore double-barreled Holland & Holland shotguns.

Sporting Art Auction Includes a Sartorial Tutorial


With an estimate of only $137,000 - $196,000, Lowes Cato Dickinson's The Birdcage at Newmarket, painted c. 1885, is far from the most expensive work on offer at Christie's London's Sporting Art sale this Friday. From a sartorial historian's point of view, however, it might be the most precious. The monumental panorama, which measures 5 ft. x 9.5 ft., portrays the Rowley Mile Course at Newmarket following the 2,000 Guineas Stakes in 1885. The winner, Mr. Broderick Cloete's Paradox, with jockey Fred Archer up, can be seen in the center of the picture (detail above), while in the throng the keen observer can spot such luminaries of the turf as the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Rosebery, attired in the height of late-1800's equestrian chic. Ralph Lauren could base an entire collection on this one work of art -- and he probably has.

Gallery: Christie's Sporting Art Sale

Lowes Cato Dickinson's The Birdcage at Newmarket.John E. Ferneley, Sen. (1782-1860) 
Portrait of Captain James Ogilvy Fairlie of Coodham.John Frederick Herring, Sen. (1795-1865) 
G.W. Gratwicke's bay colt The Merry Monarch.John Frederick Herring, Sen. (1795-1865) 
Major Yarburgh's brown colt, Charles XII.Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S. (1878-1959) 
Portrait of Mr Thomas Osborn Springfield.

Rare Blue Diamond Sells At Auction


Overall, the jewelry market has seen signs of weakness lately but the tip of the market is still strong. The blue diamond shown above is a 13.39 carat stunner which sold for a world record price of $8.9 million at a sale at Christie's in Geneva last Wednesday. Blue diamonds of this size are rather rare. The stone is a type IIb diamond. Type IIb diamonds are prized by jewelry lovers and collectors and contain small amounts of boron which gives them their color. They also have the property of being semi-conductors that conduct electricity. The auction brought in nearly $48.3 million total.

[via JCK Online]

Museum-Quality Pateks Worth Millions Up for Auction

A one-of-a-kind, oversized 1930s Patek Philippe chronograph that belonged to dashing Italian racecar driver Count Felice Trossi is expected to fetch close to $2 million at Sotheby's in Geneva today. Famed Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli probably copied Trossi's habit of wearing his Patek over his shirt cuff, the better to keep time while winning the Italian Grand Prix, which Trossi did in 1947. These day's Trossi's name lives on mainly for automotive enthusiasts; his legendary one-off 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK, now known as the "Count Trossi", is the star of Ralph Lauren's incredible car collection.

The sale also features several other Pateks including some extremely rare chronographs. Meanwhile, Christie's will stage it's own Important Watch auction in Geneva tomorrow, featuring two of the most important antique one-off Pateks ever to go ion the block: a stainless steel perpetual calendar with phases of the moon, and a platinum perpetual calendar with sweep centre seconds and phases of the moon. Both are estimated at an astounding $1.4 million - $2.4 million.

[via Men.Style]

Gallery: Patek Philippe Auctions

18K gold perpetual calendar chronograph.Platinum perpetual calendar.Stainless steel perpetual calendar.18K gold openface keyless lever tourbillon pocket watch.Stainless steel chronograph.

A Primer on the Price of Bacon


Francis Bacon, that is. In this week's New York magazine, Marion Maneker, art world expert and author of the brilliant men's style book Dressing in the Dark, reveals how the Irishman who "painted meat and blurry popes" came to command $70 million per painting at auction these days. Before 2005, he hadn't crossed the $10 million mark.

Essentially, a bunch of billionaires bid up his work - buyout king Henry Kravis bought one for $35 million last year, and other bigwigs recently paid $53 million for one of those blurry popes and $43 million for a self-portrait (similar to the triptych above, which could fetch $35 million at Christie's next week). Maneker points out however it's also due to the fact that Bacon, who died in 1992, was literally "one of the last great oil painters." His entire estate was only worth £11 million when he succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 82 - less than one little picture would bring now.

Gallery: The Twisted Genius of Bacon

The artist in his studio, 1984.Movement.Portrait of Lucian Freud.Triptych.Oedipus.

$70 Million Francis Bacon Stars in Sotheby's Sale


A Francis Bacon triptych painted in 1976 is expected to fetch about $70 million in the star sale of Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction in New York on May 14. If the work, billed as the most important privately-held Bacon extant, does max out despite all the hand-wringing going on, the price will eclipse Impressionist claptrap like this $40 million Monet while still falling far short of some puffed-up Picassos. (The middle panel is pictured here; see the image gallery for the complete piece.) Back in February, a Bacon triptych sold for $46.1 million at Christie's in London, slightly below estimate, though the one currently on offer is the better work in our opinion.

Also included in the stunning sale is Mark Rothko's 1956 Orange, Red, Yellow, expected to fetch in excess of $35 million; Jean-Michel Basquiat's beautiful Untitled (Prophet I), est. $9 - $12 million; Robert Rauschenberg's 1963 Overdrive, est. $10 - $15 million; Richard Prince's Millionaire Nurse, est. $3.5 - $4.5 million; a 1986 Andy Warhol self-portrait, est. $2 - $3 million; an untitled Cy Twombly, est. $1.5 - $2 million; and a very naughty manga-inspired sculpture by Louis Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami, valued at an astonishing $3 - $4 million.

Gallery: Sotheby's Contemporary Art Auction

Francis Bacon triptych.Andy Warhol.Jean-Michel Basquiat.Richard Prince.Robert Rauschenberg.

A New Record Set For Monet


As my colleague, J.P.S. mentioned when talking about an upcoming Christie's contemporary art auction, the economy may be sluggish but we don't think the art market is headed for a crash quite yet. Proof of that could be sen yesterday when Christie's auctioned off "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" a painting of a bridge by Impressionist Claude Monet. The painting brought in $41.181 million, setting a new record for the popular French artist and besting the estimate of $35 million to $40 million. The previous record for a Monet painting, $36.5 million for his 1904 "Nympheas," was set just last year. No word on who the buyer and seller are.

[Thanks, Rob!]

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