Art Sales

Kathy Fuld, the art-collecting wife of Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Richard Fuld, is selling a $20-million set of rare Abstract Expressionist drawings at a November auction, according to two art dealers. Christie's International, which is offering the works in New York on Nov. 12, declined to reveal the seller's identity. The auction house announced the sale of the drawings, including three by Willem de Kooning, four days after Lehman filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S.

Mark Ryden's newest work is a vintage paint-by-numbers portrait of a young girl -- or it was before Ryden re-imagined its subject to show her holding a baby that appears to be growing out of a sweet potato. The gallerists selling it, Jan Corey Helford and Richard Helford, couldn't be happier.

A portrait by British painter Francis Bacon sold for $27.6 million, a record price for the artist, Christie's auction house said. Bacon, who died in 1992, is considered one of Britain's most important 20th century artists. "Study for Portrait II" is one of a series of Bacon works inspired by Diego Velazquez's 1650 "Portrait of Pope Innocent X," auctioneers said. Christie's spokeswoman Rhiannon Broomfield said the buyer had not agreed to disclose an identity or nationality.

A paralegal from Garden Grove put an heirloom painting up for auction on Super Bowl Sunday, hoping she'd get a few thousand dollars to help offset her daughter's tuition at UC Berkeley. Now she's probably going somewhere a lot more swank than Disneyland. The unsigned picture fetched $620,900 from an unnamed New York dealer who apparently is betting that it's a lost work by Pier Francesco Mola, a 17th century master.

An ancient Indian sculpture quietly consigned for sale in a New York gallery by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be returned to the museum, LACMA Director Michael Govan said, as the museum reconsiders policies on the perpetually controversial issue of such "de-accessions." "I'm very conservative on de-accessioning," Govan said in a telephone interview Thursday. "LACMA's existing policies are standard.

A satellite TV show host has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from an investigation into bogus artwork sold through televised auctions that defrauded customers of more than $20 million. Kristine Eubanks, 49, of La Canada Flintridge pleaded guilty Monday in a Los Angeles courtroom to one count each of conspiracy and tax evasion. She faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 24, prosecutors said.

THE painting exudes the sweet softness of idyllic village life: A mother, towel wrapped around her head, braids her daughter's hair while a young woman draws a red comb through her own tresses. A girl in a dark dress carries a samovar for tea, a little girl drinks from a white cup, and a cat makes its presence known. Yuri Kugach, 90, still remembers the inspiration for one of his most famous paintings.

Artworks consigned to auction are on public view this week at Sotheby's and Christie's Beverly Hills showrooms. Today through Thursday, Sotheby's will show a rare collection of 14 watercolors by British artist J.M.W. Turner, amassed over 20 years by Belgian collection Guy Ullens. The collection, valued at up to $29.5 million, will go on the block July 4 in New York.

The record price for postwar art was broken twice at a Sotheby's auction in New York this week, first with a Francis Bacon work and later with a Mark Rothko painting. The 1950 Rothko painting, "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)," of blocks of color, sold for $72.8 million Tuesday to an anonymous bidder, Sotheby's said. Shortly before, a 1962 Bacon painting of a pope, "Study From Innocent X," sold to an anonymous bidder for $52.6 million.

An Andy Warhol painting sold for $71.1 million, more than quadrupling the previous top auction price for the pop artist's work, Christie's auction house in New York reported. The Wednesday auction of postwar and contemporary art took in nearly $385 million, making it the second most lucrative art auction held, according to Christie's. Warhol's 1963 painting "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)" was sold to an anonymous buyer. The previous auction record for a Warhol work was $17.