Katya Kazakina

1 week ago | news.artnet.com | Katya Kazakina

What the hell is going on with the Old Masters market? The question burst into focus last week, after Sotheby’s underperformed with its much-touted Saunders Collection. The group of 57 lots was estimated at $80 million to $120 million. It totaled $65 million, including fees. A much smaller sale at Christie’s also disappointed, with a $6.89 million total, 17 percent below its low target.

1 week ago | news.artnet.com | Katya Kazakina

Belgian Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Lemmen (1865-1916) is not exactly a household name in the annals of art history. So I did a double take earlier this month when I spotted a record-shattering result at Sotheby’s in New York for a Pointillist portrait that he painted. Titled Jeune femme faisant du crochet (Julie Lemmen), 1890, the painting portrays the artist’s sister, Julie Fréderique Lemmen, knitting.

1 week ago | news.artnet.com | Katya Kazakina

Work of the Week is excerpted from The Back Room, our lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know art industry intel into a nimble read you’ll actually enjoy. Artnet News Pro members get exclusive access—subscribe now to receive this in your inbox every Friday. Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Escape Collage, a mixed media painting on ceramic tiles, featured the artist’s signature materials: black soap, wax, vinyl and spray enamel.

3 weeks ago | news.artnet.com | Katya Kazakina

The biggest news at Sotheby’s Modern art evening sale was the flop of the season’s top lot, Alberto Giacometti’s 1955 Grande tête mince (Grande tête de Diego), estimated at $70 million. The optics could not have been worse. After crunching the numbers, which are below, we found some less-than-stellar metrics on sell-through rate, and, unsurprisingly, a glaring gap between the sale’s presale low estimate and its hammer total.

3 weeks ago | news.artnet.com | Katya Kazakina

The top lot of the May auction season in New York, a bronze head by Alberto Giacometti estimated at $70 million, failed to sell at Sotheby’s on Tuesday night, dealing a blow to the masterpiece art market. Included in the house’s evening auction of Modern art at its York Avenue headquarters, the 1955 bust of one of Giacometti’s brothers, Grande tête mince (Grande tête de Diego), was sent to the block without a guarantee that would have ensured its sale.