Christie’s 226

Art stories to feed the mind and soul



‘The beginning of my present life’ — Barnett Newman and the series that signalled his rebirth



‘I bought wine like crazy’: how Ben Ichinose built one of the greatest cellars in the world


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A rare token of love: who was the woman who moved Zhang Daqian to paint this silk dress?



Calder, the cartoonist, and a work of art inspired by three decades of friendship



Why 8 million people, their parents, siblings and friends, are grateful to this man’s genius



How do you appraise the houses of Yves Saint Laurent, Elizabeth Taylor or the Rockefellers?


More stories

Editor’s picks





This is the first diamond ringever to be offered in an online auction with a low estimate of $1 million. The emerald-cut diamond weighs 28.86 carats, and is mounted in platinum. The accompanying report states that the gem is D colour, VVS1 clarity, and Type IIa

Estimate: $1,000,000-2,000,000
until 30 June, Online






Emil Nolde viewed the blooming and fading away of flowers as emblematic of the transience of all life. ‘Our human destiny is not always as consequent or beautiful,’ the artist observed. He is thought to have painted this watercolour, Dahlien (gelb un violett) in blauer Vase, between 1930 and 1935

Estimate: £40,000-60,000
until 1 July, Online






This 13th-century turquoise tilewith kufic script is in the form of a mihrab, the recess in mosques that indicates the direction of Mecca. At its centre is a lamp that recalls the Verse of Light on actual mosque lamps: ‘God is the light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His light is as a niche, wherein is a lamp’

Estimate: £20,000-30,000
25 June, London






Under the Qing emperor Xianfeng, the delicate apricot colour of this silk dragon robewas restricted to the emperor’s secondary consorts and the wives of his brothers. It’s thought the robe was worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1856, when she moved up to fourth rank following the birth of Xianfeng’s only son

Estimate: €40,000-60,000
23 June, Paris