Results tagged “christies”

Red Hook is getting another big name, but this time it's not a Big Box store. The NY Times reports that the once corrupt waterfront location is getting classed up by Christie's Auction House! They'll be moving into "an enormous, high-tech warehouse with security worthy of James Bond, all to protect the multimillion-dollar artworks, manuscripts, furniture and even rare cars." The luxury storage facility will be housed in one of the former New York Dock Company loft buildings, which is being renovated, and by January "will boast infrared video cameras, biometric readers and motion-activated monitors, as well as smoke-, heat- and water-detection systems," as well as private viewing galleries. This sounds primed for an art caper, Hudson Hawk style. The lofts were originally going to be luxury apartments, but the developer has said, “I still think it will be a fantastic residential conversion, but with the economic climate being what it is today. it may make sense to do a Christie’s-like commercial deal and treat it as a bond—you, know, put it away for 30 years, let my children see what’s happening 30 years from now.”

Before you lay down some hard earned cash on that Bob Dylan poem, you should probably know a little bit more about it. Like, for instance, that those are actually the words of Canadian country singer Hank Snow. Reuters reports that earlier this week Christie's announced the sale of a Bob Dylan poem believed to have been written in 1957 when he was away at Jewish camp, but they "failed to detect that the words, with a few minor variations, matched those of a song previously recorded by Snow." A reader alerted Reuters of the fact, who then informed the auction house, who announced, "Additional information has come to our attention about the handwritten poem submitted by Bob Dylan to his camp newspaper, written when he was 16, entitled 'Little Buddy.' The words are in fact a revised version of lyrics of a Hank Snow song. This still remains among the earliest known handwritten lyrics of Bob Dylan." The big question here is: did Dylan cop to copying the lyrics back in '57? It certainly wouldn't be the fist time he's lifted some lines.

Awww, before Bob Dylan wrote the songs he became known for, he wrote a poem called "Little Buddy" about the tragic death of a dog. USA Today reports that when he was 16, Dylan (then Zimmerman) penned the poem for the newspaper at Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin—and now it's expected to take in around $15K at Christie's on June 23rd. "Written on both sides of a single page, the poem tells the poignant story of Little Buddy, who is killed at the hands of a drunkard, and the boy who mourns him." Christie's pop culture expert says, "It's a very early example of his brilliance. It comes from the mind of a teenager (with) some very interesting thoughts kind of percolating in his brain." Dylan will turn 68 on Sunday, and he told his old camp they were free to do what they wished with the poem. Read it in full, in his own handwriting, after the jump.

Earlier this year we talked to Robert Thurman (Uma's dad, and also the head of the Tibet House), who told us that his aim is "to preserve Tibetan culture" and "raise funds to support Tibetan cultural projects like art departments in schools." Tonight, along with an Honorary Chair Committee that includes Yoko Ono Lennon, Martin Scorsese and Sting, they'll be doing just that at the 6th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Auction at Christie’s. Proceeds will be going towards the Ghar Sita Mutu and Pema Ts’al schools in India and Nepal, as well as the Tibetan Community Cultural Center being built in Queens. Some of the items on the block include a safari vacation, an amulet made by a Newari Buddhist monk and blessed by Mata, and a Fantasy Dinner Party with 11 friends in your own home joined by composer Philip Glass (who will also perform). Oh and that dinner? It's cooked by none other than chef Eric Ripert.

Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died from injuries sustained during a fall at the Beacon Theater Rolling Stones concert in 2006, will be represented at the Christie's Pop Culture/Punk Rock auction today via a portrait.

Both Sotheby's and Christie's have been suffering lately, either not selling items at auction, or selling them for much less than anticipated. While not everyone is buying, there's plenty of folks selling--even outgoing Lehman Brothers boss Richard Fuld dropped off a collection at Christie's as part of "his own bailout plan." Not all of his pieces went for as much as he'd estimated, as has been the outcome for many sellers as of late. So who is lucking out on the auction block? None other than Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. During these times of economic downturn, The NY Post reports that his 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat, titled "Untitled (Boxer)" went for $13.5 million...about $1.5 million more than expected!

      

High-end auction houses aren't very punk rock, but Christie's is about to put some classic punk era memorabilia on the block. They announced the auction, which takes place November 24th, yesterday--and it will include more than 120 punk treasures from legends like the Ramones, the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Blondie, David Bowie and more.

Following in the footsteps of U2 bassist Adam Clayton, Metallica's Lars Ulrich is now set to auction off his Jean-Michel Basquiat. The painting will be on the block at Christie's in New York come November 12th, and the NY Times reports that it "depicts a victorious black boxer, his hands waving in the air, against a richly painted background filled with the artist’s signature graffiti scrawl. The figure is part hero, part warrior, part victim. It is also said to be autobiographical." Ulrich bought the painting in 1999, and it's expected to bring in around $12 million minimum at auction. Of his timing, he said, “Of course it’s an awkward time to sell, but I’ve always been about taking chances." He added: "I have a lot of faith in the art market. It’s perhaps the last frontier where the best of the best will not go the way of the rest of the economy.” [via the Observer]

         

After being contested by two of Brown's former business managers, Christie's hosted the James Brown Collection auction today, something his children were also unhappy about and planned on protesting.

       

Christie's is holding a pop culture auction this summer and their sale will include none other than Tony Soprano's most notable wardrobe items. The auction takes place on June 25th (almost a year after the series finale, and the tag sale) and WNBC reports that the proceeds will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, a Florida-based group assisting severely wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Everyone is abuzz about the latest art world scandal, and here's what is known about the life of the Warhol painting at the center of the controversy.

1981: Andy Warhol creates a number of his "Dollar Sign" pieces, using the same theme with different colors and sizes. Medium: polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas.

Continue reading "New Woes Over Stolen Warhol"

After posthumously leaving $12 million to her dog, Leona Helmsley is ready to spread the wealth with humans through her own charitable trust (created in 1999). Yesterday Christie's announced they would be auctioning off paintings, sculptures, furniture and other property from the late real estate mogul's numerous homes. Spokesman Rik Pike stated that each auction will take place this year, and "the collection reflects a sophisticated taste and a wonderful sense of style across a wide range of collecting fields, including Asian art, European painting and decorative arts."

A New Jersey man says he was burned by Christie’s and CBS Paramount when they knowingly dumped counterfeit Star Trek memorabilia at an auction in October ‘06. Diehard Trekkie Ted Moustakis has filed a $7 million dollar lawsuit against the auction house and the producers of Star Trek who supplied the disputed items, which included Data’s poker visor – made but never worn – in an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation, a “one of a kind” uniform worn by Data and the poker table from the episode.

Christie's is finally getting on the overpriced vintage concert t-shirt bandwagon. Today they bring 30 rock tees to the block as part of their Rock and Pop Memorabilia auction, and all are expected to sell for up to $4,500 each. Remember when Stella McCartney was creating overpriced rock tees for Chloe? We sort of blame her for this."The fact that these T-shirts exist in such pristine condition is remarkable because most people didn't keep these...

'Tis the season...not only for typical holiday shopping, but for auctions as well (the auction season kicked off earlier this month when a Matisse sold for over $33M). So what's the ultimate gift this year? If you missed out on the $18.5M Faberge egg, how about the Norman Rockwell painting of Santa Claus? The painting, titled Extra Good Boys and Girls, is expected to take in between $2.5 and $3.5 million, according to Christie's New...

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child was shot on East 98th St. and Lott Ave. in Brooklyn, an abduction on Exterior and East 138th Sts. in the Bronx, and there was a bank robbery on 8th Ave. and 52nd St. in Manhattan. Local politicians want to make the public display of a noose a felony crime after the incident when someone attached one to the office door of a professor at Columbia Teachers...

One would think that dropping some serious cash at a high end auction house would be a safe bet. Today it's being reported that an art dealer in Chelsea did just that and ended up with a counterfeit piece! Christie's is now being faced with a $7 million lawsuit that charges them with knowingly selling the art dealer a fake Jean-Michel Basquiat painting. Page Six reports:

Tony Shafrazi, who was Basquiat's primary dealer, says he bought the 1982 untitled piece from Christie's in 1990 for $242,000, and resold it a year later to collector Guido Orsi.

Continue reading "Christie's and the Bogus Basquiat"

If you're a vintage couture enthusiast, and we imagine there are quite a few in this city, you probably already know about socialite, philanthropist, clotheshorse and fashion maven Nan Kempner - and how trunks of her wardrobe are being sold tomorrow with items going for $25 and up (and way up).

Uma Thurman's ex and Cameron Diaz's latest maybe love interest, hotelier Andre Balazs, was the high bidder. Though he has no immediate plans for it, he said "it belongs back in the tropics.'' We think he should keep it in LIC (where it's been on view since May 17th) and make it a green boutique hotel.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: brush fires in Jamaica caused delays and suspensions on the LIRR west of Jamaica Station (it's okay, just booze up) - there may still be some delays; a water main break on 3rd Ave at 86th Street; and found DOA on the Belt Parkway.
• Being the head of a crime family isn't easy these days. Danny "The Lion" Leo, the reputed head of the Genovese crime family was arrested on charges of extortion and conspiracy yesterday. He pleaded not guilty while wearing a large white t-shirt worn over navy sweat pants and white sneakers. No, not a stereotype at all.
• The accused rapist of a Columbia grad student was arraigned today on 71 charges. Robert Williams allegedly forced his way into a woman's Hamilton Heights apartment and held the woman hostage for 19 hours.

Photograph by kenyee on Flickr

Even in the shadow of the Queensborough Bridge, the Maison Tropicale looks aloof. Hovering above a cleared and graded strip in Long Island City, this compact machine for living wears the architectural equivalent of sunglasses, safari helmet, binoculars, and shorts. It is haughty and cute at the same time. The aluminum outpost, one of three prototypes sent to Congo and Niger in the early 1950s, was designed by Jean Prouvé as a prefabricated home for French imperial masters in the Congo. While the empire was already beginning to fade, there was still some impetus to conquer African territory and look suave doing it.

Courtney Love (who recently sold some of her own stuff on Ebay) has announced she'll be putting almost all of Kurt Cobain's belongings up for auction at Christie's.

The NY Times reports that David Rockefeller is selling a 7-foot Rothko painting that he bought in 1960 for $10,000. Sotheby's will auction "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender)" and has reportedly given him a guarantee of $46 million. The record for a Rothko was a 2005 sale at Christie's, when Homage to Matisse was sold for $22.4 million.

We cued it up and were stunned -- the first song was not "Sunday Morning" as on the "Velvet Underground & Nico" Verve LP, but rather it was "European Son"- the song that is last on that LP, and it was a version neither of us had ever heard before!

There was a lot up on the auction block this week at Christie's. Yesterday was their Rock & Pop Memorabilia auction. Beatles lyrics penned by Paul McCartney (that's Sir Paul McCartney, to you) went for $197,000. The song? An early version of Maxwell's Silver Hammer from 1968. Jimi Hendrix's 1968 Fender Stratocaster (modified to accommodate his left-handed use) sold for $168,000.

1. The Democrats officially have control of the Senate - Virginia Senator George Allen conceded
2. Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a watermain break in the Bronx, an overturned ambulance in Brooklyn, and a shooting in Harlem.
3. James Madison H.S. in Brooklyn has produced three current U.S. Senators. Now if they could only do something about all the metal-detectors.
4. Adrienne Shelly's killer is at Bellevue, undergoing psychiatric evaluations
5. City officials are saying the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Glenwood Road isn't dangerous, even after the SUV crash that killed a 5 year old -- but Streetsblog checked, and "the intersection within the 99th percentile for most dangerous signalized intersections in New York City."
6. Why is the Empire State Building red tonight? To support #15 Rutgers' football which is playing #3 Louisville tonight (ESPN, 7:30PM)
7. The Rockefeller Christmas Tree will be arriving from Connecticut tomorrow!
8. It was a record night at Christie's for the Impressionist and modern art auction - but they ended up pulling the disputed Picasso!
9. How many construction sites in Greenpoint does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
10. And set your Tivos! Tomorrow night is Celebrity Jeopardy with Law & Order's Sam Waterston, Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Kathryn Erbe, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Christopher Meloni! CHUNG CHUNG!

Who doesn't like sassy judges? Last year, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the city's attempt to stop Marc Ecko's graffiti party was a "flagrant violation of the First Amendment". (He said that if the graffiti party were banned because it might incite graffiti, what about street performances of Hamlet or Oedipus Rex?) Now he has ruled that a Picasso worth tens of millions can be sold at Christie's tonight.

Were you the anonymous bidder who got the model of the Starship Enterprise at the Christie's auction? It's okay - your $576,000 secret is safe with us. The auction brought in double what Christie's had expected, with certain items going for well over than what was previously estimated. For instance, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's chair sold for $52,000 (original estimate $9,000). The entire sale brought in over $7.1 million, proving that Star Trek fans still rule the sci-fi/fantasy world -- that is until Peter Jackson decides to auction off bits of the Lord of the Rings lot.