Auction highlights of 2019: The year in art and objects

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A celebration of George Michael’s life, his art and his generosity The George Michael Collection sells for more than £11.3 million — including £9,264,000 from the Evening Auction in London — with all proceeds going to philanthropic causes	‘The collection was part of him’ — George Michael and the art Kenny Goss, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Miranda Sawyer, Nick Grimshaw and Mary McCartney discuss the art of the YBA era and why it appealed to George Michael
Signac, Caillebotte and their joy at being on the water Ahead of the sale of important paintings by Paul Signac and Gustave Caillebotte in London, Christie’s specialist Keith Gill explores the artists’ shared love of sailing	5 minutes with... A 19th-century Congolese Kifwebe mask International Head of African & Oceanic Art Susan Kloman has a close encounter with the ‘other-worldliness’ of a mask owned by two leading collectors in the field
Rabbit by Jeff Koons — a chance to own the controversy Exuberant, celebratory, vacuous, disposable. There is little that has not been said about Jeff Koons’s seminal 1986 sculpture, which is offered in New York on 15 May	How Robert Rauschenberg ‘rewrote the rules of the game’ Photographer Chris Rauschenberg, son of Robert Rauschenberg, on how his father sought to ‘talk about the world in all its complexity’ in Buffalo II
Zao Wou-Ki’s monumental homage to Monet and Matisse The second-largest painting by Zao Wou-Ki ever to appear at auction, Triptyque, 1987-1988, sells for HK$178,000,000 in Hong Kong on 25 May	5 minutes with... Two rare ‘Polonaise’ carpets Louise Broadhurst, Head of Oriental Rugs and Carpets, on two carpets that are extraordinary survivors from the golden era of Safavid weaving in Isfahan
Summa de Arithmetica: The birth of modern business The remarkable story of Luca Pacioli’s 600-page tome, published in 1494, described as a foundational text in the history of capitalism	‘The Black Strat’ — a rock icon David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster has gained a level of fame close to that of its owner. This is its story
The David Gilmour Guitar Collection sells for $21.5 million Bidders from all over the world competed to buy guitars from the collection of the Pink Floyd star, including ‘The Black Strat’, which realises $3,975,000	Jewels from the royal courts of India A special multi-media presentation of treasures from Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence, and the stories of the Indian royals who owned or commissioned them
Cartier and the ‘Indian style’ Stunning jewels offered from the Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence sale: a glorious fusion of aesthetic ideas from two continents	‘The best of the best’ — Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection On 4 July Christie’s in London offered an important collection of European masterpieces from the great collecting dynasty
The match that inspired a masterpiece The story of Nicolas de Staël’s ‘crowning achievement’, which sold for €20 million and became the most valuable football painting in history	5 minutes with... Miles Davis’s ‘Moon and Stars’ trumpet Contemporary jazz star Keyon Harrold describes his thrill at playing the jazz legend’s blue ‘Moon and Stars’ horn
‘Some artists do roses, but I work primarily with words’ — Ed Ruscha’s Hurting the Word Radio #2 (1964) An important early example of Ruscha’s ‘text’ paintings sold for $52,485,000 in New York — a new auction record for the artist	20th Century season in New York totals $683 million Auction records set for Ed Ruscha, Umberto Boccioni, Ellsworth Kelly and other great artists in a season of impressive results
5 minutes with… Henry Graves Jr.’s gold Patek Philippe minute repeating wristwatch This rare minute repeater was the first Patek Philippe wristwatch ever owned by the 20th century’s most celebrated watch collector. It sold for CHF 4,575,000	5 minutes with… A magnificent falangcai bowl This rare Qing-dynasty bowl is a sublime example of ‘the creative collaboration between the East and the West’. It sold for HK$87,200,000
Autumn 2019 auctions in Hong Kong total HK$2.6 billion The series of 17 sales attracts buyers from 50 different countries and is led by Sanyu’s Five Nudes, which realises a record HK$303,985,000