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Tag: sotheby’s

  • Bob Dylan’s Lyrics Shatter Sotheby’s Auction Record

    “How does it feel?”

    If you happen to know any famous or about-to-be-famous musicians, do them a favor and tell them to keep their handwritten song lyrics.

    Bob Dylan’s handwritten, working draft, original lyric sheet for the 1960s classic Like a Rolling Stone, just fetched over $2 million yesterday at Sotheby’s rock and roll auction. According to Sotheby’s, the multimillion dollar sale demolished the previous record of $1.2 million for music manuscripts, which was set in 2010 for John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for A Day in the Life .

    Like a Rolling Stone topped Rolling Stone magazine’s list as the greatest rock and roll song of all time. The 1965 tune appeared on Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited.

    Richard Austin, who is head of books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s and also a Dylan fan, said, “It is always pleasing to set the world record. It carried a strong estimate (up to $2 million) as well, and we felt the estimate was justified given the importance of the work.” He added, “I thought it was one of the coolest things that I have ever handled.”

    So who shelled out the cold hard cash? Right now, all we know is that it was sold to an anonymous private Dylan fan from California.

    Several different pieces of rock and roll memorabilia including instruments and awards were also auctioned off. One other interesting item of note was one of Elvis Presley’s signature jumpsuits. The lot featured a green and blue peacock, rhinestones, and gold lame on the front and back. The suit, from his later days in Vegas, still had sweat stains in the armpits. It was expected to sell for $100,000 – $200,000. However, apparently fans still love their King. The jumpsuit wound up selling for a very impressive $245,000.

    Sotheby’s used yesterday’s auction as a way to take the temperature of the current collector’s market, and to get a sense of what prospective buyers were willing to spend.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • First Book Printed In U.S. Sells For $14.2 Million

    An auction held at Sotheby’s earlier this week fetched $14.2 million for one of eleven remaining books that were the first to be printed in the U.S.

    The book, a copy of the Bay Psalm Book, was printed in 1640 and is one of the rarest tomes in the world. This auction marked the first copy to be sold since 1947; it was previously owned by Boston’s Old South Church, but church officials said they made the decision to sell it around this time last year in order to fund necessary repairs.

    “We are delighted,” Nancy Taylor, senior minister and CEO of Old South Church, said.

    The book set a new record for Sotheby’s, whose previous highest auction price for the printed word was $11.5 million.

    “We are thrilled that this book, which is so important to our history and culture, is destined to be widely seen by Americans who can appreciate its singular significance,” said David Redden, chairman of Sotheby’s books department. “We are of course also thrilled to have achieved a new world auction record price for any printed book, which affirms that books remain a vital part of our culture.”

    Auction houses have seen some interesting items up for bid this year; Julien’s sold X-rays of Marilyn Monroe’s face, along with other medical records, for $25,000. While some wondered how it was appropriate–or legal–to sell off someone’s personal medical information, Julien’s executive director Martin Nolan said that not only was it perfectly within the boundaries of the law, it was also a big draw for fans of the late icon.

    “Keep in mind, this is pop-culture history,” Nolan said. “[Marilyn’s] date back to the 1950s. Today there are laws preventing the release of such information, but this is prior to that law. Even though X-rays are not tangible like a musical instrument or clothing, it’s part of the story of Marilyn that people are buying. There is such a demand for her worldwide even though it is 50 years since she passed away. Honestly, I could have an auction every day for Marilyn Monroe and the items would be sought after.”

    Image: Thinkstock

  • Andy Warhol Painting Shatters Record Sale

    Andy Warhol Painting Shatters Record Sale

    Andy Warhol painting, “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” sold at Sotheby’s New York sale late Wednesday for a whopping $105.4 million, shattering the previous Warhol record set in 2007 when “Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)” sold for $71.7 million.

    Sotheby’s described the painting as, “a pivotal work from the artist’s ‘Death and Disaster’ series and the last of four works of its size and significance that was not currently in the collection of a museum.”

    A late phone bidding war jacked up the price, in what Michael Frahm, a contemporary art adviser and partner at the London-based Frahm Ltd called, “the ultimate trophy hunting.”

    “The demand for seminal works by historical important artists is truly unquestionable,” he told the Associated Press. “We will keep witnessing new records being broken.”

    “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” was not the only Warhol to sell this week. Another of Warhol’s iconic pieces, “Coca-Cola (3),” sold for $57.2 million on Tuesday at Christie’s auction house. Earlier in the day on Wednesday, his portrait of Elizabeth Taylor titled “Liz #1”, sold for $20 million.

    However, the sale on Wednesday made that day Sotheby’s most successful one ever, they said in a statement. Records were set for more than just Andy Warhol, they were also set for a number of other famous artists including Cy Twombly, Brice Marden, Mark Bradford and Martin Kippenberger.

    This astounding new Warhol record comes just one day after the most expensive work of art ever sold at an auction went for $142.4 million. That was Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, which sold after just six minutes of bidding at another auction house, Christie’s, beating the previous world record set last year when financier Leon Black paid nearly $120 million for Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”

    The buyer of “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” remains confidential.

    Image via wikimedia commons