This Season

RECORD-BREAKING RESULTS AT THE HOSPICES DE BEAUNE

On 20 November, Sotheby’s held its annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction in the saleroom at the Halles de Beaune in Burgundy. The 162nd edition of the charity sale raised €31 million—more than twice its previous record and the highest total for a charity wine auction. The seven-hour sale was attended by about 700 people in person, online and on the phone. The proceeds were donated to the two organizations that were supported in 2022: Team Margot, which provides support to the families of children suffering with cancer, and World Vision, which aims to protect vulnerable children around the world.

Presidents of the 162nd Hospices de Beaune auction, Flavie Flament and Benoit Magimel.

OLD MASTER PAINTINGS GET A NEW SCENT

This winter, Lyn Harris, founder of Perfumer H, co-hosted an intimate collectors dinner for 35 guests at Sotheby’s London ahead of the Old Masters Evening Auction on 7 December. Harris partnered with Sotheby’s on a series of exclusive candles in containers by glassblower Michael Ruh, inspired by works from the Juan Manuel Grasset collection. The collection contained works by Old Master painters including Jan Brueghel the Elder and Jan Davidsz de Heem. Each candle—Bird and Lemon, Rose with Insects and Smoke in Woods—was created in response to a painting. Smoke in Woods, for example, mimics a distant fire in Abraham Govaerts’ A wooded river landscape with travellers and peasants on a path, men in a boat and a village beyond. During the dinner, Harris spoke on the inspirations behind her candles and her creative process.

Lyn Harris presenting to guests at a Collector’s Dinner at Sotheby’s London

A ROYAL VISIT TO THE QUEEN’S GREEN CANOPY EXHIBITION

In December, the Princess Royal visited The Queen’s Green Canopy Ancient Woodlands and Trees exhibition at Sotheby’s London. Her Royal Highness was there to view the magnificent artworks of the Ancient Canopy – consisting of a nationwide network of ancient trees and woodlands – dedicated to the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to mark the Platinum Jubilee. Her Royal Highness met the exceptionally talented artists – nature photographers Adrian Houston and Charles Sainsbury-Plaice and artist Mary Anne Aytoun-Ellis – who were involved in capturing the ancient trees and woodlands across the UK.

Works from the public exhibition are now available to purchase through The Tree Art Gallery, with a donation from each sale going to support the Queen’s Green Canopy nationwide tree planting initiative. Visit thetreeartgallery.com

The Princess Royal with landscape painter Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis

THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF M AKA MICHAEL CHOW

On 21 November, Sotheby’s Talks held a panel on “The Extraordinary Life of M aka Michael Chow” at the London offices for its Modern British and Irish Art Week.

Frances Christie, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s UK, moderated the conversation with Jacob Twyford, senior director at Waddington Custot, in which M discussed making work in the late 1950s and 1960s, his early friendships with artists Peter Blake and Richard Lin and the abstract paintings that he creates today. The anonymous conceptual artist Pandemonia was among the high-profile attendees at the event, which is available to stream at sothebys.com.

M aka Michael Chow speaking at the panel in Sotheby’s London

DEFINING THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN ART

A panel exploring the definition of American art was held at Sotheby’s New York on 15 November.

Journalist Derek Blasberg moderated the discussion and panelists included Alice L Walton, founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Art Bridges Foundation; Paul R. Provost, chief executive of Art Bridges Foundation; Linda C Harrison, director and chief executive  of The Newark Museum of Art; Charles Stewart, Sotheby’s chief executive; and Hank Willis Thomas, artist and co-founder of For Freedoms.

The conversation emphasized the importance of questioning the boundaries of the category, and also explored new approaches to collecting and exhibiting artworks made in the US.

Derek Blasburg, Alice Walton, Paul R Provost, Linda Harrison, Charles F Stewart and Hank Willis Thomas at the Expanding Access to American Art panel