Sotheby's Holdings Inc.

Sotheby's has been selling like a champ in 2007, with a grand total of about $6 billion worth of art at auctions and in private transactions. After falling behind Christie's International in 2006, Sotheby's is now drawing even with its rival, according to Bloomberg.com.  read more »

Maybe there's not one word that can explain a man's life, but 156 pages of them will cost ya about $100,000. At least, that's what Orson Welles' personal working script of Citizen Kane went for last night at a Sotheby's auction. An anonymous phone bidder nabbed the final revised draft (before the final shooting script was scribed) for $97,000. But the Oscar for the film was withdrawn from the bidding block when the Scrooges wouldn't even caught up a measely $800,000 (the statuette's minimum bid).  read more »

Former Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True went on trial in Athens yesterday on charges she conspired over a decade ago to acquire for the museum an ancient gold funerary wreath.

After the Battle of Brooklyn: East River Incognita II "further examines [artist Duke Riley's] fascination with and exploration of maritime history and events around the waterways of New York City.  read more »

It's been three years since Sotheby's has been able to match or beat Christie's sales totals. But this season, with all eyes fixed on Sotheby's as never before, the house comes out swinging with two major Francis Bacon canvases, a self-portrait and Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1. In the other corner, there's Christie's Andy Warhol's Liz, estimated at between $25 million and $35 million; Gerhard Richter's Dusenjager, estimated at between $10 million and $15 million; and Lucian Freud's Ib and Her Husband.

The New York Sun reports:

Each house has a monumental Jeff Koons sculpture from his celebration series. Sotheby's has "Hanging Heart," estimated at between $15 million and $20 million; Christie's has "Diamond (blue)," (estimate upon request). Both works are mammoth — too big to be displayed in anything less than a lobby.

Both houses have black-and-gray Rothkos. Sotheby's untitled picture is estimated at between $12 million and $18 million, while Christie's is selling one estimated at between $10 million and $15 million. Each house has additional Rothkos. Sotheby's has a smaller, untitled canvas that is blue-onblue and estimated at between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. Christie's has two more major works in "Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange)," estimated at between $25 million and $30 million, and "No. 7 (Dark Over Light)," estimated at between $20 million and $30 million, and a minor work, "Green, Blue, Green on Blue," estimated at between $3 million and $5 million.

You can watch this week's auctions live on the web here and here.

Flush from record-setting May and June sales in New York and London, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and the boutique house Phillips de Pury assumed that the good times would roll on. But will the art market bubble finally burst this year?

Carol Vogel of The New York Times writes:  read more »

Last night at the Sotheby’s headquarters on the Upper East Side, all the stops were pulled for a Monaco casino-themed party in honor of Princess Grace Kelly. The late monarch’s jewelry and gowns were on display on two floors in the York Avenue building, and in the 7th floor auction hall—temporarily renamed for Steve Wynn, whose company donated to the event—people rolled dice, spun wheels and cheered giddily. (The chips were, of course, worthless.)

Near a baccarat table in a black dress, lots of jewels and a pink-gold watch like a spare tire, Ivana Trump put her hands in the air like she was playing the maracas. Her good fortune that night aside, Ms. Trump, 58, said she related to the tragedy of Ms. Grace’s untimely death. “She raised beautiful children, and unfortunately, what happened happened. It happened in my life two times actually—to my older fiancé, you know, he died in a car accident. I can relate to the trauma,” she told The Daily Transom. “She held on, and she’s in here with us.”

“I think she was an upstanding woman,” she continued. “She was beautiful, she was accomplished, she was smart, she was not dumb and I really appreciate it. She was American coming to Europe, and I am European, but they thought I was American coming to the Europe, so I can understand a little bit of the obstacles that she had!” Then, with a quick twirl, Ms. Trump was back at the table again and ready to roll.

The glory days of Manhattan's stratospheric real estate market continue: the 55-foot-wide townhouse at 11 West 10th Street, which The Observer reported on when it went to contract in November, has sold.

The blogging venture capitalist Fred Wilson owns the 15,000-square-foot townhouse, which he listed in July with Debbie Korb at Sotheby's International Realty. The asking price was $37.5 million. If it closed near there, this 1847 mansion would be the most expensive single-family residence downtown.

Well, it has closed--and it is indeed a record setter.

- Max Abelson

• Sotheby's contemporary art whiz Tobias Meyer has bought 54 acres in New Milford, which cost him $1.2 million. The neighborhood gossips will be happy to know that Mr. Meyer's rival at Christie's moved to the area last year. Who owns more land? And will they have an artsy neighborhood turf war? [WSJ]
• Elsewhere in America, November new home sales picked back up after a steep October fall. (And yet the glut of unsold new homes is still much higher than it was last year.) [NY Times]
• What does Joe Blog Reader think will happen in New York's near future? Curbed's comment board has some wonderful prophesies for next year's successes: Long Island City, Williamsburg, Philadelphia, Upper West Side, SoHa and CeHa, Flushing, Flatiron, Financial District, Chinatown, Astoria. And yet two out of four Observer writers agree: Williamsburg is still super uncool. [Curbed]
• CNN is reporting that Trump Mortgage CEO E.J. Ridings badly inflated his resume. Apparently, he wasn't "a top executive at one of Wall Street's most prestigious investment banks," or an "established leader" in mortgages, or a 15-year veteran of the financial industry. Oops. [CNN/Money]
- Max Abelson
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The corporate parent of Sotheby's International Realty has tapped the COO of Sotheby's East Coast operations to be the brokerage's new CEO and president. Kathryn Korte, who managed Sotheby's Manhattan brokers for more than 13 years until 2005, will run the brokerage's 59 offices, including the three in Manhattan.

The release after the jump.  read more »

- Tom Acitelli

• Moody's believes that 20 American metro areas "could experience a 'crash.'" (The word is even scarier when it's put in quotation marks, isn't it?) On the national scale, the 2007 forecast is for a decline in home prices. The last time that happened was a doozy called The Great Depression. (CNN/Money)
• "There is nothing sexy" about running the monolithic Realogy--the mother company of Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Sotheby's and Corcoran. Since being spun off by Cendant this July, Realogy shares are down 10%. Blame it on the Depression! (NY Times)
• Who knew gargantuan law firms had gargantuan funds for trophy Manhattan real estate? Dechert just grabbed 234,000 square feet at 1095 Avenue of the Americas--for 15 short years and $300 tall millions. One Bryant Park is in on the fun too (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feldsigned will have 200,000sf there). But the shiniest trophy of the lawyerly set is Renzo Piano's New York Times Building, where Covington & Burling and Seyfarth Shaw have leased 160,000 and 100,000 square feet. (Globe St.)
• How can you tell that Chinatown is enjoying a post-9/11 (or maybe it's post-post-9/11) resuscitation? Community activism is always a good sign, but the surest sign is community activism against Hollywood infiltrators (i.e. the crew of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, but also Wong Kar-wai). (City Limits)
- Max Abelson
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Without William Neuman's "Big Deal" column, it seemed like a slow weekend on the luxury real estate front. But turning to the weekend Metro section, there was the huge news that Mayor Bloomberg is planning to buy a $45 million townhouse on the Upper East Side to use as a charity headquarters.

Mr. Bloomberg has not yet closed on the sale of the six-story building at 25 East 78th Street, on the corner of Madison Avenue, but he has signed a contract to do so and last week sent in a check for the full price, according to the person with knowledge of the deal, who was granted anonymity because the sale has not yet been completed.

What's strange is that the listing on the Sotheby's site says the Stanford White-designed townhouse costs $50 million (which is the same asking price since The Observer first reported on it in May 2005). Either way, $45 or $50 million would be a record-setting price for a townhouse, trumping the $40 million paid for the Duke Semans mansion.  read more »

- Michael Calderone

Everyone knows that Manhattan's most expensive apartment is still Martin Zweig's $70 million penthouse at The Pierre. Of course, it hasn't moved in quite a while.

Now, a very wealthy buyer can purchase an apartment at The Pierre for half that price. A nine-room apartment has just hit the market at $35 million, listed with Meredyth Hull Smith, of Sotheby's International Realty.  read more »

- Michael Calderone

While the Duke Semans mansion on Fifth Avenue continues to generate a buzz (and Lenny Kravitz sightings), another $50 million mansion is inching into the spotlight. Last May, The Observer reported that the 18,000-square-foot mansion at 25 East 78th Street was being quietly offered, albeit not formally. But just after Labor Day, the colossal mansion arrived on the Sotheby's website.

"There are no secrets in New York," said Meredyth Smith, who's officially listing the imposing structure at the corner of 78th Street and Madison Avenue. "Basically, we've been receiving unsolicited inquiries that had increased in frequency."

Because other high-end properties popped up in the past few months, the current owners decided to test the market's waters. And they stand to make a very nice profit if the palatial building is sold close to asking.

Internet entrepreneur Bryan Zwan purchased the property for $31.6 million in 2000 from Limited Brands CEO Leslie Wexner, who had utilized it as a company headquarters. However, the 100-foot-wide building actually has a rich history as residential property, too.

Built in 1885, the Stanford White-designed building served as the home of society mavens Stuyvesant and Mamie Fish, who threw numerous parties in their grand abode. The six-story mansion, complete with high ceilings and French doors.

So watch out, Rupert. Either building has the potential to become the highest priced residence in Manhattan, trumping the NewsCorp chief's much-discussed $44 million purchase at 834 Fifth Avenue.  read more »

-Michael Calderone

Wednesday 22ndLessons learned this week: That New Yorkers get awfully cranky when the sidewalks star  read more »

What would you do if you found a ring on the street, an obviously expensive ring?  read more »

Lately, ominous headlines suggest that the real-estate bubble is about to burst.  read more »

Wednesday 13thLessons learned this week!  read more »

James Passin is a hedge-fund manager with large investments in diamond mining companies and a theory  read more »

Wednesday 24th All rise! Fall is now in session!  read more »

Nathan Lane enjoyed this last summer in East Hampton so much that he's poised to become a local.  read more »

Wednesday 10th How do we know summer is over?  read more »

The last time I did jury duty-sometime during the Reagan administration, I believe it was-I found th  read more »

Stop it! Arrêtez-vous!  read more »

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Dear Concerned Reader:  read more »

The surprise star of U.S.A. v.  read more »

If Alfred Taubman, the former chairman of Sotheby's on trial in astately lower Manhattan federal cou  read more »

As I sank into the leather banquette, the band struck up "Bewitched." Next to me was a couple in lat  read more »

Last spring, when Dr.  read more »

For many New York City parents, it's become a fact of life: If you want your children to get a decen  read more »

Wednesday 9thHair today?  read more »

"As evidenced by the proof that was handed over to the [authorities], clearly the promise of immunit  read more »

I was examining my pocket change recently-the life of letters isn't as exciting as some would have y  read more »

David Boies, the star antitrust lawyer who eviscerated Microsoft on behalf of the federal government  read more »

Are we so blasé about the role played by big money in the art world that the sale of an easel-size  read more »

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked my opinion of The New York Times ' business section, and what, if  read more »

Recently, I finally got the last of the books out of cartons and onto the shelves in my Brooklyn lof  read more »

When a three-year investigation by the U.S.  read more »

After decades of pristine respectability, Christie's and Sotheby's are as disgraced as dowagers in a  read more »

In an industry where salespeople have been known to comb the obituaries for business leads, the torr  read more »

"Marcel Duchamp," writes Francis M.  read more »

When Cézanne's Still Life With Curtain, Pitcher and Bowl of Fruit sold for $60.5 million to an anon  read more »

The third week of April was National TV Turn-Off Week at our house.  read more »

O.J., Brick by Brick Rockingham Avenue has been closed to Sunset Boulevard, but the tourists still f  read more »

Concerning New York's fashion week, well, someday, these new clothes might really be worth something  read more »

A.  read more »

John Alexander is a 52-year-old painter with a respectable career that includes regular shows at the  read more »

Sotheby's: The Inside Story , by Peter Watson. Random House, 324 pages, $25.  read more »

In 1984, Marshall Cogan agreed to purchase Art & Auction magazine for approximately $700,000 from Da  read more »