Christie's International plc

A former Hong Kong politician sold off part of his rare wine collection for over $6 million, auction house Christie's said on Sunday, after a scandal over a wine cellar at his home was partly blamed for his loss in last year's leadership race.

Auction house Christie's on Wednesday said it would put up for auction "one of the world's most perfect diamonds" -- a new colourless, pear-shaped gem weighing 101.73 carats.

An online-only auction of a trove of Andy Warhol's lesser, but often hitherto unavailable works, raised $2.3 million at Christie's, with a lithograph of Marilyn Monroe's lips coming out on top.

Classical Chinese painters were masters of rocky mountains, but Liu Dan, one of a group of contemporary artists putting a new twist on a thousand-year tradition, sticks with just the rock.

Classical Chinese painters were masters of rocky mountains, but Liu Dan, one of a group of contemporary artists putting a new twist on a thousand-year tradition, sticks with just the rock.

Christie's auction house said Thursday it will put 125 works of art by the American pop icon Andy Warhol under the hammer in an online-only sale starting next week.

A portrait by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani of his lover Jeanne Hebuterne went under the hammer in London on Wednesday for £26.9 million ($42.3 million, 31.2 million euros), Christie's auction house said.

A former Hong Kong politician Tuesday said he will sell part of his multi-million dollar wine collection, after the discovery of an illegal cellar was partly blamed for his loss in last year's leadership race.

India's art world has converged on New Delhi for the industry's biggest annual event, where upbeat talk and parties are likely to disguise a market that is stuck in the doldrums since crashing in 2008.

Facebook on Thursday confirmed that co-founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg will make a foray into politics next month by hosting a fundraiser for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

It is the art world's equivalent of finding a precious gold coin down the back of a sofa.

It is the art world's equivalent of finding a precious gold coin down the back of a sofa.

The Philippines is to wind down a near-30-year hunt for the embezzled wealth of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, with more than half the supposed $10 billion fortune still missing, the man in charge of the search said.

The governor of the US state of New Jersey, leading Republican politician Chris Christie, says it's "ridiculous" to think that his being fat would make him a poor president.

The Hospices de Beaune, an annual charity auction that is one of the highlights for France's wine world, raised a record 5.9 million euros ($7.5 million) this year, organisers said on Monday.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, France's former first lady, will Sunday add a touch of supermodel sparkle to this year's Hospices de Beaune, the annual charity auction that is one of the highlights of the year for France's wine world.

Christie's and Sotheby's racked up close to a billion dollars this week in just two New York sales of contemporary art, making one small corner of the world appear as if the global financial crisis had never happened.

From a flawless diamond that fetched nearly 21.5 million dollars to another gem that went under the hammer for 10.9 million, Geneva's November jewellery auctions smashed several records this year.

A canvas of violent black brushstrokes by abstract expressionist Franz Kline sold for $40.4 million at Christie's in New York, setting a new record by far for the artist.

New York's Chelsea, a hub of the global contemporary art market, became the world's most glamorous disaster zone during superstorm Sandy, suffering millions of dollars in flooding damages.