ArtKabinett Files

One of the highest grossing charity auctions in history took place this week at Christie's New York.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network were in full attendance at this star-studded event.

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, in partnership with the auction house presented The 11th Hour charity auction, to benefit environmental and wildlife conservation efforts supported by the Foundation.

By the end of Monday evening, sales totaled a staggering $33.3 million for the Foundation's conservation efforts.

Over 30 of today’s most important living artists from around the world donated masterpieces, many of which were created especially for the auction.

Sotheby’s said its first-quarter loss doubled as auction profits fell and expenses rose.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network know that high hammer prices don't always mean higher auction-house profits

The New York auctioneer lost $22.3 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with a loss of $10.7 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue fell 3 percent to $101.7 million.

An average estimate of five stock analysts surveyed was an expected loss of 12 cents. The auctioneer typically posts a small loss or profit in the first and third quarters. Its biggest auctions are held in the second and fourth quarters.

Expenses rose 8 percent to $123 million, which the company attributed to developing its “presence in growth markets.”

The members of Swedish pop group ABBA are back together for good. Dressed in their 1970s finest, they belt out the hits: “Dancing Queen,” and "Waterloo.”

Fans stop and stare. The four figures in front of them are not the real thing, just holograms at the new ABBA - The Museum in Stockholm.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network are already humming "Mamma Mia" while visiting this new exhibition.

Packed with memorabilia including the helicopter shown on the cover of the 1976 LP “Arrival,” the exhibition may attract 250,000 visitors in its first year, the museum says. ABBA has sold about 380 million albums and singles around the world.

Bidders representing more than 30 countries have contributed to the success of the New York Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie's on Wednesday, May 8..

$158,505,000 was realized and top results for blue-chip artists including Picasso, Miró, Modigliani and Schiele were achieved.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network are astounded at the sky-rocketing prices of historical artists.

With all but three works sold, the evening’s strong sell-through rates of 94% by lot and 90% by value signaled buyers’ enthusiasm and confidence in this educated marketplace. Of the 49 works offered, 4 lots sold for over $10 million, 10 for over $5 million and 36 for over $1 million.

Randall's Island, New York - Frieze New York 2013 presents forward-thinking galleries from around the globe, bringing an international focus to the dynamic contemporary art scene in New York.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network are arriving this morning for tonight's VIP opening.

In addition to being able to see and buy art by over 1,000 of the world’s leading artists, visitors can experience Frieze Projects, the fair’s program of artists’ specially commissioned projects and Frieze Talks, a program of debates, panel discussions and keynote lectures.

The Lower East Side has become the exciting new gallery area in New York with a concentration of over 60 galleries presenting new and innovative art.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network consider this neighborhood a necessary pit-stop for serious collectors of contemporary art. We will be there this week for Frieze Art Fair.

The area itself maintains the old world charm of its roots as a place where early immigrants settled. The scale of the buildings and streets are small and intimate. Likewise, the galleries have a cozy and welcoming appeal.

Trendy boutiques and eateries have sprung up overnight to pepper the gallery scene with easy options for refreshments and enjoyment.

The installation of a giant French blue cockerel which is scheduled to take pride of place on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in July, has received a formal objection.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network suspected that many Londoners might object to a huge cock thrusting skyward in this historic London locale.

The complaint was filed at Westminster Council, ahead of the final planning permission decision, this past Tuesday. The plans for the sculpture were drawn up in 2010, and the rooster was picked as the plinth’s commissioned artwork for 2013.

The cock replaces the giant golden boy on a rocking horse by Elmgreen and Dragset.

Mark Rothko would be delighted, says his son: Six of the late artist’s abstracts have just gone on show in his remote Latvian birthplace.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network are excited to visit this new art destination.

Opening the display in Daugavpils, Christopher Rothko says his father would be less happy about auctions that value his works as being among the world’s most expensive (the record for a Rothko so far is $86.9 million).

“He would think it’s a distraction,” Christopher said in an interview at the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center.

"When you have prices that are not simply large, but make headlines, people don’t look at the artwork but at the dollar figures, the pound figures or the euro figures.”

A 15th-century illustrated volume of Mishnah Torah from the collection of Michael and Judy Steinhardt, which was planned to be sold in New York at Sotheby’s yesterday morning, was jointly purchased by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just before the start of the auction.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network viewed the entire sale catalog on yesterday's homepage..

Estimated at $4.5 million to $6 million, it was to be the top lot in the 386-lot sale from the Judaica collection which the former hedge-fund manager and his wife assembled over more than 30 years.

Paris - French billionaire Francois Pinault’s family has donated to the Chinese nation two bronze animal heads that were the subject of a $40 million disputed sale at Christie’s International in 2009.

At that event -- which was heavily criticized by Chinese authorities -- art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network saw many treasures get auctioned for huge sums.

The 18th-century dynasty bronze rabbit and rat heads had been part of the decoration of a water clock at the Summer Palace in Beijing, which was looted by French and British troops in 1860.

New York - The Helly Nahmad Gallery in Manhattan reopened a week after it was raided by U.S. agents, and will continue to operate as the owner faces charges he ran a high-stakes gambling ring that catered to celebrities and the very wealthy, his lawyer said.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network will visit -- what may be -- this important gallery's exit exhibit.

Hillel Nahmad, 34, known as Helly, was charged April 16 by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara with racketeering, money- laundering conspiracy and other charges.

He may be facing 92 years in prison, if convicted. Nahmad, pictured here leaving Federal Court, was among 34 people charged with operating two overlapping gambling rings.

Bloomsbury, London - Tucked away on a side street in this district is a disused milk depot with a new occupant: the multimillionaire art collector Frank Cohen.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network have viewed his collection during visits to London.

Cohen, pictured here, is ranked one of the world’s top 200 collectors by ArtNews. This week, he opened the Dairy Art Centre with associate Nicolai Frahm.

The venue will put on three free exhibitions a year. The first is a solo show by the Swiss artist John Armleder, who deserves to be better known, Cohen says.

Self-made Cohen, born in Manchester, sold his stake in the home-improvement retailer Glyn Webb in 1997, netting him 25 million pounds ($38 million).

The photographer Sir Norman Parkinson was honored yesterday, on his 100th birthday, with a google doodle.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network have collected his famous photographs for years, and have seen a steady rise in values.

Parkinson is known as the father of modern fashion photography. He began his career in 1931 as an apprentice to the court photographers Speaight and Sons Ltd. In 1934 he opened his own studio together with Norman Kibblewhite.

From 1935 to 1940 he worked for Harper's Bazaar and The Bystander magazines.

During the Second World War he served as a reconnaissance photographer over France for the Royal Air Force.

A large crystal-studded bear embracing a sleeping child by Farhad Moshiri was the top lot today this week at auction in Dubai estimated to raise $5.5 million as Christie’s International tests demand for Middle Eastern art.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network are witnessing rising prices of established Middle Eastern artists

“Secret Garden” by Iran’s Moshiri sold for $987,750 with fees to a private collector. It was valued at as much as $500,000 at hammer prices in the two-day event in Dubai.

The painting depicts the artist, as a child in pajamas, carried into a fantasy forest of sparkling flowers. In 2008, Moshiri was the first Middle Eastern artist to sell a work at an auction for more than $1 million.