This is some real Antiques Roadshow stuff here. The NY Times reports that a needlework sampler crafted by a New Jersey schoolgirl named Mary Antrim in 1807 has sold at auction for $1.07 million dollars. The piece sold at Sotheby's in New York on Sunday, and features a farm scene on linen... it was estimated to go for a mere $120,000. So why did it go for so much more than that? more ›

When we were little we totally wanted to have a train set that went around our house like Ricky Shroder had on Silver Spoons. We mention this because it was all we could think about when we saw that Sotheby's is currently getting ready to auction off a mammoth 35,000 piece toy collection. According to the auction house it is "the largest and most comprehensive collection of magnificent quality European and American toys and trains ever assembled." more ›

First a Picasso takes in a record $106.5MM at auction, and now Andy Warhol's 1986 self-portrait has sold for $32.5MM, more than double its estimate. The art world is rich again! The 9-foot purple portrait sold at Sotheby's yesterday, where Tom Ford put it up on the block. The buyer is anonymous, but he/she just laid down the most money ever for a Warhol self-portrait. According to the NY Times, "the competition made for good entertainment. Six bidders wanted to buy." There are four other similar portraits out there, all in different colors; two are at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (blue and yellow), one is at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (green), and newspaper magnate Peter M. Brant owns the red one. more ›

Earlier today Sotheby's announced they'll be putting the handwritten lyrics for the Beatles "A Day In The Life" on the auction block. Penned by John Lennon, 1010Wins reports "the double-sided sheet of paper features Lennon's edits and corrections in his own hand—in black felt marker and blue ball point pen, with a few annotations in red ink." The lyrics include the line: "I'd love to turn you on," which got it banned by the BBC when it was released in 1967 because it was deemed a drug reference. more ›

In case you're interested in how the government was keeping your secrets all the way back in 1791, Sotheby's will be auctioning off a first edition of the first U.S. Census signed by Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State at the time. The document will be a part of the James S. Copley Library: Magnificent American Historical Documents auction on April 14th, and is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000. It lists the population of the nation's 13 states, the southwest territory and "Washington District," which had a population of 35,691, including 15,365 "Free white females including heads of families." You can see some of the document in the e-catalogue. [Via 1010Wins] more ›

Seems like just yesterday we were unable to afford the iconic Givenchy black dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and this weekend more of her glamorous garb is going on the block. more ›

It was Andy "Warhol's night" at yesterday's contemporary art auction at Sotheby's. One of his first silk-screen paintings, "200 One Dollar Bills" yielded a surprising $43.7 million: While the bidding started at $6 million, the price jumped rapidly between five bidders, all of whom were eager to nab the Warhol classic. The estimated price was $12 million, so it was a shock that the painting brought in more than three times that. Sotheby's refused to reveal the identity of the buyer, but one unsuccessful bidder told the Times, "I think the painting was worth it. It was rare and great. And the appealing estimate helped encourage bidding." more ›

A Manhattan woman who has been keeping her Andy Warhol original in the closet for decades, has finally taken it out of the makeshift storage room so she can cash in. The painting (a self portrait) will go on the auction block at Sotheby's on November 11th. The woman was reportedly a receptionist in Warhol's factory at age 17, and in 1967 he gave her the painting, which is inscribed to her. Why sell such a personalized gift? It's estimated there are about one million reasons. more ›

This daguerreotype by an unidentified photographer, likely taken in October 1848, can be yours for $70,000, give or take a few grand—at least, that's how much it's expected to go for when Sotheby's auctions it off on Monday. The image depicts a country estate somewhere around the equivalent of today's Upper West Side near Bloomingdale Road, 'a continuation of Broadway' which, after 60th Street, wound northwestward through farmland by the Hudson River. more ›

Even though Lars Ulrich recently declared the art market is "perhaps the last frontier where the best of the best will not go the way of the rest of the economy," it seems the Metallica drummer doesn't have a very good read on the climate after all. The NY Times reports that "a Picasso Cubist painting that was to have been a star of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art sale on Nov. 3 has been abruptly withdrawn." The artist's Arlequin (ca. 1909) was expected to take in over $30 million, but "fears that art prices were heading the way of the world financial markets" may have changed the seller's mind. Sotheby's confirms that, as of now, the painting is off the market. At the very least, the painting's history is worth reading about: The Times details how its previous owner, Surrealist painter Enrico Donati, came to purchase it (knowing Marcel Duchamp may have come in handy!). more ›

Banksy, the cheeky street artist/prankster turned multimillionaire art star, was in town last week, presumably for the Damien Hirst-coordinated auction at Sotheby’s to benefit the (Project) RED campaign, which works with corporations like the Gap to raise money for the treatment of A.I.D.S. patients in Africa. The $48 million raised at the event – through the sale of works by Hirst, Banksy, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning and others – will be distributed by the Global Fund. more ›