Christie's

The last Leonardo da Vinci painting in private hands is going to auction in New York next month - with a pre-sale estimate of around $100 million.

Christie's announced Tuesday that the depiction of Jesus, titled "Salvator Mundi," will be offered Nov. 15.

Lawyers who represented Turkey in the Kilia idol case in the New York District Court will make a presentation on Sept. 25 about the return of the idol, which has been smuggled from Kulaksızlar in the western province of Manisa's Akhisar district and found a buyer for $14.5 million in a recent auction, to Turkey. 

The Kilia Idol, a 23-centimeter statuette that has been smuggled from Turkey, was sold at an auction in New York. According to a court order, the idol will not be returned to Turkey since the ministry was too late in taking action

A luxury Hermes handbag shattered the world auction record in Hong Kong on Wednesday, fetching an eye-popping $380,000, Christie’s said.
The auction house didn’t identify the buyer of the matte white “Himalaya” crocodile skin Hermes Birkin bag.
The handbag was produced in 2014 and has 18 karat gold buckles and strap loops encrusted with 205 diamonds.

A bronze sold for $57.37 million in New York on May 15, setting a new auction record for Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi and fetching more than twice its lowest pre-sale estimate, Christie's said.

As auction powerhouses Christie's and Sotheby's gear up for their New York spring sales, hopes are high that a host of major works the likes of which have not hit the block for several seasons will reap strong, even record, prices.

Guennol Stargazer, a 5,000-year-old Anatolian marble female figure that was smuggled from Turkey, was sold for $14,5 million at a New York auction on April 28. 

The sale was protested by Turks who gathered outside the auction house. 

Turkey has started legal action for the return of a 5,000-year-old Anatolian marble figure currently on the sale at a New York auction house, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

A rare blue diamond has sold in Geneva for just over $17 million, as Sotheby’s eyed total sales in excess of $100 million at the autumn jewel auctions.

The sale of nearly two dozen antiquities from an Ohio art museum brought in 640,000 dollars on Tuesday despite objections to the auction from the governments of Egypt and Cyprus.

The items sold were among nearly 70 pieces from Egypt, Greece and Italy that the Toledo Museum of Art plans to sell.