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Oliver Barker

@ob1london

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Auctioneer and Chairman @sothebys Europe

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Sotheby’s (@sothebys) Chairman, Europe & Principal Auctioneer Oliver Barker (@ob1london) discusses Collecting, Taste, & the Magic of the Saleroom with The Gstaad Guy (@gstaadguy) #GstaadGuy #ItsAllFamily taken in AP House London by @ob1london

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Sotheby’s (@sothebys) Chairman, Europe & Principal Auctioneer Oliver Barker (@ob1london) discusses Collecting, Taste, & the Magic of the Saleroom with The Gstaad Guy (@gstaadguy) #GstaadGuy #ItsAllFamily taken in AP House London by @ob1london

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Stepping back into the decade that changed everything ⏪✨

What an incredible afternoon hosting the 5th edition of PGP Conversations - ‘Back to the 90s: The Making of the Contemporary Art Market’ with a phenomenal panel featuring @ob1london and @eyesthornton , moderated by @annabrady100 🔥🌟

The 1990s fundamentally shifted how we look at, talk about, and collect contemporary art. With the Tate Britain’s new 90s Art and Fashion exhibition, it was the perfect time to reflect on the phenomenon of that defining era.

Thank you to everyone who joined us - until the next one! 🥂

#PiperGanayPartners #PGPConversations #ArtMarket #ContemporaryArt #ArtWorld taken in London, United Kingdom by @ob1london

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It is an incredibly exciting season this October at Sotheby’s London, where, today, we opened our galleries for the view of our Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, alongside our Modern British Evening and Day Sales.

The Contemporary Art Evening Auction is led by a spectacular Willem de Kooning painting executed in 1977, carrying the highest estimate ever placed on a work by the artist at auction in London. The sale also brings together a landmark Abstraktes Bild by Gerhard Richter, an important late work on paper by Mark Rothko, and exceptional works by artists including Leon Kossoff, David Hockney, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. Further highlights include three outstanding works on paper by Georg Baselitz from the Duerckheim Collection, the landmark group of works which continues into the Contemporary Art Day Auction.

The Contemporary Art Evening Auction takes place on 15 October @sothebys following the Modern British & Irish Art Evening Auction on 14 October, with the respective Day Auctions taking place on 15 and 16 October. by @ob1london

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The Starman is back at #SothebysLondon. One of David Bowie’s most striking self-portraits will head to auction for the first time in The Modern British & Irish Art Day sale. See it on view at New Bond Street through 15 October.

In the mid-1990s, Bowie made a small group of just eight self-portraits of this scale. Here, he stares directly out at the viewer, emphasizing his famously asymmetric eyes. Look closely and you’ll see two of his handprints pressed into the paint, creating an unusually intimate connection to the late artist.

This comes ten years after the landmark auction series ‘Bowie/Collector’ offered more than 350 works from David Bowie’s private collection at Sotheby’s London.

Tap the link in bio to register to bid in the auction, presented in partnership with @stregishotels, and plan your visit to the exhibition.

@davidbowie and @bowierecords

Detail of Bowie’s handprints that he pressed into this 1996 self-portrait.

Auctioneer Oliver Barker led the rostrum for the historic ‘Bowie/Collector’ sale in 2016. This three-part auction achieved £32.9 million and set 59 new artist records. by @ob1london

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I am thrilled to share that this November, Sotheby’s will offer ‘Vision: The Extraordinary Collection of Theodore and Ruth Baum’.

Ted and Ruth were among the most committed collectors of their generation. They instinctively understood that artists like Lucio Fontana and Yves Klein were vital to the history of 20th-century abstraction and could sit perfectly well situated in their beautiful interiors alongside Rothko, de Kooning, Mitchell and others.

Every work to enter their collection had to pass their extremely high bar of research and curation. Relationships mattered to them, and they cultivated them assiduously. It shows in the deep level of quality that’s a hallmark in this collection.

Highlighted by a radiant red-and-orange 1967 painting by Mark Rothko, their first acquisition of contemporary art 43 years ago and the catalyst of their collecting journey, the collection will kick off Sotheby’s New York sales week this November with more than 20 works offered in a dedicated Evening Auction on 16 November, and a dedicated Day Auction following on 17 November, with additional works offered through 2027.

Featuring works largely unseen at auction for decades, the collection is estimated to achieve in excess of $100 million. Highlights will travel to London, Hong Kong, Paris, and Los Angeles for a pre-sale exhibition before coming to auction @sothebys in New York. by @ob1london

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It is a privilege to share that, this November in New York, Sotheby’s will offer the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection: a remarkable group of Impressionist and Modern paintings, almost without precedent, at auction. Unveiled today in London, where many of the works were first acquired in the 1970s, this extraordinary collection of twelve masterpieces traces a singular story of passion, connoisseurship and collecting at the highest level.

Expected to realize in the region of $450 million, the collection is led by two landmark paintings: Chataignier en fleurs by Vincent van Gogh, estimated in the region of $180 million, and Arlequin by Paul Cézanne, estimated in the region of $120 million. Neither has been seen in public for over half a century. Both are among the most important works by their respective artists ever to come to the market, and both are poised to establish new auction records.

The wider collection traces the arc of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, with each work standing as a pinnacle in its maker’s career. Further landmark paintings include Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s En Canot (Jeune fille à la barque) (estimated at $25–35 million), a boating scene painted in the summer of 1877, the year the Impressionists took their name; Camille Pissarro’s grand Parisian streetscape La Place du Théâtre-Français, soleil d’après-midi en hiver (estimated at $30–40 million); and Edgar Degas’s pastel Avant la course (estimated at $20–30 million). Like the great majority of works in the collection, none of these three paintings has ever been offered at auction before.

Highlights from this group will be on view @sothebys New Bond Street today, Wednesday 30th September, and Thursday 1st October. by @ob1london

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14 days ago

Today, within the richly adorned walls of Rome’s baroque Palazzo Rondinini, Sotheby’s unveils J.M.W. Turner’s masterpiece Rome, from Mount Aventine (1836) – a painting that ranks among
the very greatest of Turner’s late works, and one of very few paintings of this calibre remaining in private hands.

With its three-day exhibition now at the Palazzo Rondinini in Rome (29 September to 1 October), the painting will become the most valuable work of art ever exhibited by any auction house in Italy. Whilst it is believed that the picture was conceived, mapped out and the design committed to canvas in Italy, it is thought to have been completed back in London some time later, so this historic exhibition marks the triumphant return of this spectacular evocation of Rome to the city where it all began.

On the last occasion this canvas changed hands it established a new benchmark price for the artist’s work. This December, when the painting comes to auction at Sotheby’s London with an estimate in the region of £50 million, it is set to do the same again. by @ob1london

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Few collectors have played a more crucial role in defining the identity of post-war German art than Count Duerckheim.

This October, Sotheby’s will present an exceptional group of 44 works from The Duerckheim Collection. Spanning three decades of artistic innovation, the group offers a rare insight into the generation of artists who redefined German art in the aftermath of the Second World War and during the years of Germany’s division.

At its centre is the most important group of works on paper by Georg Baselitz ever to come to auction, anchored by three outstanding examples in the London Contemporary Art Evening Sale, alongside rare works by Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, A.R. Penck, Blinky Palermo and Hermann Nitsch in the Contemporary Art Day Sale.

The October sale follows Sotheby’s landmark 2011 offering of works from The Duerckheim Collection, which realised more than £60 million (then the highest total for a contemporary art auction in London) and established a series of auction records for paintings by Georg Baselitz, as well as Sigmar Polke, Eugen Schönebeck and Markus Lüpertz.

Works on Paper from the Duerckheim Collection are open for viewing at @sothebys New Bond Street from 9 October, ahead of the Contemporary Evening Auction on 15th October and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 16th October. by @ob1london

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16 days ago

Watch as auctioneer Oliver Barker drops the final hammer on ‘The Foujita Lexicon: Works from the Lewis Collection’ and receives white gloves after 100% of lots sell. The evening auction at #SothebysHongKong was the largest collection of Foujita works sold in Asia, achieving a total of HK $67 million.

From the historic collection of Joe Lewis, The Foujita Lexicon features 15 paintings and works on paper by the Japanese-born artist. The group was led by ‘Le rêve,’ an enchanting image of a family of foxes that auctioned for HK $26.5 million.

The Hong Kong Sales continue tomorrow with the Modern Day and Contemporary Day auctions. Register to bid at the link in bio. by @ob1london

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‘The Pop Art F1.’

Gordon Murray and Oliver Barker, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, examine McLaren F1 GTR 10R as more than a competition car.

Created as one of McLaren’s factory prototype “XP” cars, its scarlet-and-yellow livery was never simply a colour choice. It was a deliberate expression of its time, shaped by the visual energy of 1990s British culture and the freedom that came with creating a prototype unlike anything else.

As Murray puts it, the F1 is “as iconic as a Coca-Cola can,” with an image distinctly its own. In the case of 10R, that icon became a singular collision of motorsport, music, design, and fine art.

A pure expression of the McLaren F1 GTR, and an icon whose stature has only continued to grow. #RMMonterey

#RMSothebys #F1GTR #10R by @ob1london

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Magritte’s instantly recognizable image of a man wearing a bowler hat set a new auction record in the recent Masterpieces from The Lewis Collection Evening Auction. ‘La Belle promenade’ soared to £16 million at #SothebysLondon, making it the highest-selling work on paper by the artist in auction history.

In 1964 Magritte started this series depicting a bowler-hatted man whose silhouette is filled with an unconnected image such as sky, foliage or a generic landscape. This series is not only the most iconic in Magritte’s career, but arguably one of the defining images of 20th century Western art.

The Lewis Collection went on to total £306.6 million, making it the most valuable single owner collection sold at auction in London. Read the full results from The London Sales at the link in bio. by @ob1london

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