Luxist

A big auction with major pieces actually beat the top-end estimate – when's the last time you heard that? Wednesday night at Sotheby's, the Impressionist sale brought in $181.8 million, thrashing the high estimate of $163 million and almost tripling the Christie's auction from November 3, 2009. It's also around three times the last equivalent sale by Sotheby's, which was back in May.

The Sotheby's auction was packed with notoriety. Conde Nast's top dog, S. I. Newhouse Jr., sent some work under the gavel, as did Louis Reijtenbagh. Artwork by Giacometti, Picasso and Renoir was sold. Sixty-six lots were offered, with only 10 failing to sell.

New York art dealer Helly Nahmad told Bloomberg News, "The art market is back," but that may be premature. Bidders were chasing the high-quality pieces, and it is tempting to believe that what auctioneer Tobias Meyer calls "a year of abstinence" is over. The fact that the Sotheby's auction was so much greater than that at Christie's, though, makes me want to see a few more sales before calling it a trend.

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Starwood Hotels & Resorts veteran Barry Sternlicht is looking for real estate to surge in Greenwich, Connecticut. The wealthy New York City suburb got spanked over the past year as the city's financial industry gurus saw their bonuses jobs disappear and flooded the market with ostentatious homes on the market at a time when buyers were few and far between. A year later, Sternlicht thinks this town is ready to stage a comeback.

Sternlicht just raised the asking price on his 5.8 acre estate in Greenwich to $5.95 million, even though the local market is about to finish its worst year in the past 30. Jean Ruggiero, Sternlicht's real estate broker, said he pushed up the asking price because "we felt like we were giving it away." People showed some interest in the home, and the fact that other sellers were cutting prices didn't mean that Sternlicht had to follow. "Just because people are lowering their price doesn't mean it's right, because he's not a desperate seller, "Ruggiero said of Sternlicht.

The new number is 8.3 percent higher than the $5.495 million Sternlicht previously asked, even though prices for single-family homes in Greenwhich dropped 40 percent year-to-date.

Originally, the home was put on the market at $8.25 million in June 2008, and it was cut three times from September 2008 to April 2009. It boasts a tennis and shuffleboard court, pool and guest house ... and is of course gated.

Even at $5.95 million, Sternlicht will come out ahead. He bought the place in November 1994 for a mere $2.93 million.

Sotheby's and Christie's are heading east to seek their respective fortunes. The two auction houses are offering more than $26 million of Asian art this week in London. The lots themselves are attracting record numbers of buyers from mainland China, a section of the market that has shown signs of life this year. Chinese buyers were quite active in Hong Kong last month.

Nicholas Chow of Sotheby's told Bloomberg News, ""We've seen a really aggressive push from mainland Chinese collectors during the last season of sales" and that "they're buying things at the very highest level." An Imperial jade seal, for example, moved for GBP3.6 million on Tuesday, six times the high-end presale estimate.

On November 3, Christie's sold an aggregate GBP5.7 million, beating the presale estimate of GBP5.2 million. Of the 319 lots, a third didn't move. The top seller was an eighteenth century enamel model of a Buddhist shrine, which beat its presale range of GBP60,000 to GBP80,000 with a hammer sale of GBP229,250. Nine of the top 10 most expensive items went to buyers from Asia.

Collectors from mainland China are quite eager to repatriate art and other objects from their heritage, particularly the Qing and Ming dynasties ... a fact of which the auction houses are fully aware. Christie's sent 210 invitations to mainland Chinese for its 12th annual Asian Art in London event, which ends November 7, 2009. Sotheby's pursued a similar number of collectors. Bonhams has invited 30 new buyers from mainland China.

In October, the Sotheby's Hong Kong art auction was good for $170 million, with plenty of bidding and buying by mainland Chinese buyers.

I just heard from the team at Koryo Tours and wanted to share with you the results of their recent fundraiser. I know this is a bit unorthodox, but it's not often Luxist (or anyone else) has the opportunity to cover North Korean humanitarian charity efforts. Originally, Koryo Tours sought EUR4,400 -- EUR2,400 for 300 Braille dictionaries and EUR2,000 to install playground equipment in an orphanage in Wonsan, North Korea.

Hannah Barraclough, from Koryo Tours, writes, "We are very pleased to announce that thanks to your help we managed to raise an amazing EUR9000 which means we have been able to complete both of these projects and have surplus funds to go towards even more worthwhile projects next year - more info about these coming soon." She continues, "We (and the Korean children) are really so grateful to all of you who donated money. If any of you have been meaning to donate but haven't yet then please go ahead as it will go towards our future charity projects."

Yes, this was a "small money" charity event by the standards of Luxist, but I did hear that our readers made a noticeable difference. So, the least I could do is share with you the impact.

Ukraine is about to get a new contemporary art center. Victor Pinchuk is shooting to make Kiev a major art destination, so the wealthy art collector is creating a new center that will be larger than the existing PinchukArtCentre, which was the first private contemporary art center in the former Soviet Union and has had more than 830,000 visitors since its doors swung open in 2006.

Pinchuk, a steel billionaire, is an avid collector, with pieces by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Andreas Gursky. His new endeavor, he tells Bloomberg News, "will make Kiev and Ukraine a fantastic place for contemporary art." Pinchuk made the proclamation at a show for 20 Ukrainian artists who were nominated for the first Pinchuk Art Center Prize, which comes with a cash component of $12,200 and a one-month internship with an artist from the international scene. Hirst himself will announce the winner on December 4, 2009.

Pinchuk has a strong relationship with the artist celebrity and owns "probably half" of the skull paintings (by the collector's own estimation) in the current Hirst show at the Wallace Collection in London. He also participated in Hirst's solo auction in September 2008 but wouldn't tell what he bought.

I guess everyone has to eat, even in a recession. When the light appears at the end of the tunnel, though, appetites get bigger ... and more discriminating. In London, upscale eateries are seeing the investment banking crowd come back, and the wine is once again flowing. The cities top chefs are still worried about what will happen after Christmas, but for now, they're happy to see their creations gobbled up by the city's financial sector.

Marcus Wareing has had what he calls "a fabulous year." The waiting list keeps getting longer, and he says, "There's a good vibe." Tristan Welch's Launceston Place is seeing more wine flow, and demand is picking up. Pearl's Jun Tanaka remains cautious, "We'll really know in the first quarter 2010 if business has returned ... I don't know if it's a trend or a hiccup."

Across the city, there's a mix of optimism and trepidation. Le Gavroche, Wahaca and Le Café Anglais, for example, offer some variation of "Business is good" or "Business is booming, and Gordon Ramsay tells Bloomberg News, "There's an increasing air of confidence, which has been particularly apparent since the beginning of September." Michelle McGuire of The Palm said the restaurant had its busiest week three weeks ago since its opening in May, "with record takings." Sam Hart, of Fino, Barrafino and Quo Vadis, on the other hand, calls the improvement "fragile."

Nonetheless, this is a far cry from the angst that characterized the fine dining world a year ago. When people start to eat well, you know that things are turning for the better.

Another chapter in the history of Lehman Brothers is now closed. At yesterday's auction, the artwork held by the once mighty financial institution fetched $1.35 million, almost double the $760,800 presale estimate by Freeman's Auctioneers. Nonetheless, it puts hardly a dent in the $250 billion that Lehman owes its creditors.

The auction lasted six hours and featured both fast-paced bidding and generous prices. Unsurprisingly, Roy Lichtenstein's Statue of Liberty print, titled "I Love Liberty," was the top lot at $49,000 (the presale estimate was only $25,000). Robert Indiana's "Polygons" prints brought in $23,750, almost four times the expectation. Every lot moved, the first time we've seen a 100 percent auction (high profile, at least) in a while.

Alasdair Nichol, vice chairman and auctioneer at Freeman's, cites "trophy hunting" as the driver behind Sunday's result. "What's not to like?" he said to Bloomberg News." "It's nice boardroom art, presented nicely, ready to go up on the walls. People lapped it up."

The past year has been exciting for fans of La Flor Dominicana. Between El Museo and the Salamones, Litto Gomez has released two of the most noteworthy cigars of 2009. While the rest of the industry has struggled with the effects of the recession, Gomez tells me that La Flor hasn't been hit (and that he is grateful for this fact). He cites the quality of his cigars and loyalty of his customers as reasons, but there's more to the story than that. There are plenty of great cigars on the market, and their smokers bring plenty of zeal to each purchase.

Beyond Litto's assessment, there are two reasons for La Flor's success this year: the new cigars and Litto himself.

This year hasn't been mind-blowing for new cigars. Doubtless, there have been some gems. The Avo Campanero certainly impresed, as Avo's annual limited edition cigar always does. And, Camacho has done a great job with the Room 101 and Connecticut sticks. The norm, however, has been silence, an obvious result in a tough economy. Litto made two bold moves with El Museo and the Salamon, bringing two expensive cigars to smokers at a time when they are less inclined to spend. Clearly, it worked.

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The winner's new man cave will fuse his two passions: cigars and Harley Davidson motorcycles. "I will combine two great legends, Partagas cigars and Harley Davidson to create a cigar lounge and vintage motorcycle museum in my garage," he said. Boehkle collects and restores Harleys.

Boehkle bought the four pack, which cost little more than $20 (in New York -- taxes probably caused the price to vary across the country), at Snoqualmie Casino. Because of its role in selling the winning sticks, the casino's cigar lounge, Lit, will receive Partagas-branded leather seating.

If you want art with an unique history, go to Freeman's auction house in Philadelphia tomorrow. More than 200 contemporary and modern art pieces formerly owned by Lehman Brothers will be going under the gavel. The efforts of David Hockney, Robert Indiana, Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein will be represented at the auction. The collection is valued at between $500,000 and $750,000, and most of the lots do not have reserve prices. Those that do (there are only around a dozen) only have minimums of $10,000.

This is an auction that's sparked some interest among art collectors.

Anne Henry, vice president of Freeman's, told The Associated Press, "Our phones have been ringing off the hook," continuing, "The pieces are interesting, in great condition and appeal to all kinds of collectors." Specific lots include an Alexander Calder print estimated at $800 to $1,200, a set of nine Walker Evans photographs which are estimated at $1,000 to $1,500 and a Roy Lichtenstein print of the Statue of Liberty, which is expected to go for between $15,000 and $25,000.

Lehman Brothers didn't get much time to enjoy the pieces it purchased. Some were acquired only a few months before the storied investment bank collapsed in September 2008, crushed by the weight of $600 billion of debt.

Of course, this auction pales in comparison to that of former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld. He sold 16 pieces at a Christie's auction last year, bringing in only $13.5 million, nowhere close to the $20 million estimate.

If you can't make tomorrow's auction, Freeman's will be holding two more: one for paintings and sculpture on December 6, 2009 and a no-reserve auction of 450 prints on February 12, 2010.