CHRISTIE'S EXPECTS TO SELL BULGARI DIAMOND RING FOR HISTORIC $12 MILLION

ON 20.OCTOBER, AS THE LEAD HIGHLIGHT OF ITS FAMOUS ANNUAL JEWELS: THE NEW YORK SALE, CHRISTIE'S WILL BE OFFERING THE BULGARI BLUE DIAMOND, A STUNNING TWO-STONE DIAMOND RING DESIGNED BY ROME'S LEGENDARY LUXURY JEWELER BULGARI IN THE 1970s THAT'S EXPECTED TO FETCH OVER $12 MILLION. THE RING FEATURES TWO EXTREMELY PRECIOUS STONES; A TRIANGULAR-SHAPED, COLOURLESS DIAMOND OF 9.97 CARATS PAIRED WITH A STUNNING TRIANGULAR-SHAPED FANCY VIVID BLUE DIAMOND WEIGHING IN AT A STELLAR 10.95 CARATS, THE LARGEST FANCY VIVID BLUE DIAMOND OF THIS CUT EVER TO BE OFFERED AT AUCTION. FANCY VIVID DIAMONDS OF THIS SIZE ARE AMONG THE RAREST OF THE COLOURED DIAMONDS, ONLY ONE IN ABOUT 10 MILLION WILL POSSESS A COLOUR PURE ENOUGH TO QUALIFY AS 'FANCY VIVID'. THE RING WILL BE PRICE UPON REQUEST FOR PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS, BUT IS EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE IN EXCESS OF $12 MILLION AND IS POSITIONED TO BECOME ONE OF THE TOP-SELLING DIAMONDS AT AUCTION IN 2010. THE RING IS BEING OFFERED BY A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR WHO HAS KEPT IT IN HIS FAMILY FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL ENJOT ECO-FESTIVAL

THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL WERE LEFT SPEECHLESS AND IN TEARS BY THE SIGHT, AND SOUND, OF A 'CAT ORGAN'. THEY CAME ACROSS THE UNUSUAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT DURING A VISIT TO AN AMBITIOUS ECO-FESTIVAL STAGED IN LONDON BUT WERE UNPREPARED FOR THE LEVELS OF LAUGHTER IT INDUCED. THE PRINCE OFTEN ENJOYS A JOKE WHEN HE MEETS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC BUT WAS LEFT LAUGHING UNCONTROLLABLY BY THE PERFORMANCE BY SOUND SCULPTOR HENRY DAGG. THE MUSICIAN PLAYED FOR THE ROYAL COUPLE AS THEY TOURED CHARLES' 12 DAY ECO-GARDEN PARTY STAGED ON THE GROUNDS OF THREE ADJOINING HISTORIC HOUSES; CLARENCE, LANCASTER AND MARLBOROUGH. AT FIRST DAGG EVOKED LAUGHTER FROM CHARLES AND CAMILLA WITH THE RENDITION OF A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE PLAYED ON A SAW WITH A BOW. BUT FOR THE ENCORE HE BROUGHT OUT HIS 'CAT ORGAN', CONSISTING OF A ROW OF 16 SQUEAKY TOY CATS, AND PLAYED SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW, THE TUNE MADE FAMOUS BY JUDY GARLAND. THE PRINCE WAS LEFT RED-CHEEKED, IN A FIT OF GIGGLES AND WIPING AWAY TEARS AS THE MUSICIAN, DRESSED IN A BOW TIE AND WAISTCOAT, SQUEAKED THE ANIMALS. DAGG WAS UNFAZED ABOUT THE REACTION TO THE SOUND HE DESCRIBED AS A 'CAT-COPHONY' AND SAID: 'IT'S NICE TO MAKE PRINCE CHARLES GIGGLE A BIT.' THE DUCHESS FOUND SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT WHEN PERFORMERS FROM THE HIT BBC SHOW STRICTLY COME DANCING, A FAVORITE WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY, TOOK TO AN UNUSUAL STAGE. CAMILLA SCRE DALLERUP AND IAN WHITE DANCE JIVE ON A SUSTAINABLE DANCE FLOOR WHERE GENERATORS IN THE FLOOR TURNED THEIR MOVEMENTS INTO ELECTRICITY TO POWER LEDs BELOW THEIR FEET. THE DUCHESS, WHO BROKE HER LEFT ANKLE EARLIER THIS YEAR, DECLINED AN OFFER TO DANCE. WAITE SAID: 'I WAS HOPING TO DANCE WITH TWO CAMILLAS BUT SHE SAID SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BECAUSE OF HER ANKLE.' THE COUPLE SPENT AROUND TWO HOURS TOURING THE CARIOUS EXHIBITS AND STALLS AND EVEN FOUND TIME TO TRY A HAND AT SEWING WHEN THEY HELPED TO MAKE BAGS FROM RECYCLED CLOTH. PRINCE CHARLES DONATED CURTAIN MATERIAL FROM HIS LONDON HOME, CLARENCE HOUSE, AND BUCKINGHAM PALACE TO MORSBAGS ORGANIZATION WHICH RUNS THE SCHEME.

TATE LIVERPOOL TO PRESENT 'RENE MAGRITTE: THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE'

BELGIAN SURREALIST REBE MAGRITTE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND REVERED ARTISTS OF THE 20th CENTURY. A MAJOR NEW EXHIBITION PRESENTED BY THE TATE LIVERPOOL IN THE SUMMER OF 2011 WILL REVEAL THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE ARTIST'S UNIQUE STYLE, HIGHLIGHTING HOW HIS PRACTICE CONTINUES TO INFLUENCE LATER GENERATIONS OF ARTISTS, RESONATING BEYOND SURREALISM TO INFORM THE LANGUAGE OF POP AND CONCEPTUAL ART. DESCRIBED AS A 'CREATOR OF IMAGES', MAGRITTE ONCE STATED THAT THERE IS 'VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEEING A WORK IN REPRODUCTION AND LOOKING AT THE REAL THING'. TAKING A THEMATIC RATHER THAN A CHRONOLOGICAL APPROACH, 'RENE MAGRITTE: THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE', WILL EXPLORE THIS NOTION AND CONSIDER THE COMPOSITIONAL AND CONCEPTUAL STRATEGIES USED BY THE ARTIST THROUGHOUT HIS LONG CAREER. MAJOR PAINTINGS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD WILL BE FEATURED ALONGSIDE DRAWINGS, COLLAGES, EXAMPLES OF HIS COMMERCIAL WORK AND RARELY SEEN PHOTOGRAPHS AND FILMS. MAGRITTE WAS HEAVILY INSPIRED IN HIS PAINTERLY WORK BY MASS MARKET LITERATURE AND POPULAR CULTURE. HE APPROPRIATED COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE IMAGERY: THE ICONIC WORK MAN WITH A NEWSPAPER FOR EXAMPLE, WITH ITS SPLIT SCREE 'COMIC BOOK' FORMAT, WAS BASED ON AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A GERMAN HEALTH MANUAL. HIS COMPOSITIONAL DEVISES, WHICH WILL BE EXPLORED IN THE EXHIBITION, WERE DERIVED BY ADVERTISING, SHOP WINDOW DISPLAY AND HIS WORK AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER IN THE EARLY 1920s. THE CAREFUL FRAMING OF VISTAS AND MONUMENTALISATION OF SIMPLE OBJECTS HE EMPLOYED IN HIS COMMERCIAL DESIGNS WERE MODIFIED AND REFINED IN HIS PAINTINGS. RENOWNED FOR HIS MYSTERIOUS AND DEADPAN IMAGERY, MAGRITTE DEPICTED BANAL OBJECTS SUCH AS PIPES, APPLES AND UMBRELLAS IN INCONGRUOUS SETTINGS. HIS WORKS EVOKE THE IDEA OF AN UNFATHOMABLE REALITY WHILST COMPLICATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMAGE, REPRESENTATION AND MEANING. THE EXHIBITION IS ORGANIZED BY TATE LIVERPOOL IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ALBERTINA, VIENNA WHERE IT WILL BE PRESENTED FROM 8.NOVEMBER.2011 TO 26.FEBRUARY.2012.

See Cristiano Ronaldo in Housekeeping (teaser from the video)

SOTHEBY'S TO SELL RARE AUDUBON 'BIRDS OF AMERICA' BOOK

A RARE COPY OF JOHN JAMES AUDUBON'S 'BIRDS OF AMERICA', BILLED AS THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE BOOK, IS UP FOR SALE ALONGSIDE A FIRST EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AT AN AUCTION TO SET BOOK LOVERS' PULSES RACING, SOTHEBY'S SAID THURSDAY. ONE OF ONLY 100 OR SO REMAINING COPIES OF 'BIRDS OF AMERICA' IS VALUED AT $6.2-9.2 MILLION, WHILE A SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO FROM 1623 IS EXPECTED TO FETCH AT LEAST $1.54 MILLION. SOTHEBY'S BOOKS EXPERT DAVID GOLDTHORPE SAID THE TWO TOMES ARE 'THE TWIN PEAKS OF BOOK COLLECTING', THE BOOKS COME FROM THE ESTATE OF THE 2nd BARON HESKETH, AN ARISTOCRAT BOOK COLLECTOR WHO DIED IN 1955. THE AUCTION HOUSE IS SELLING THEM IN LONDON ON 7.DECEMBER. ANOTHER COMPLETE COPY OF 'BIRDS OF AMERICA' WAS SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S FOR $8.8 MILLION IN 2000, A RECORD FOR A PRINTED BOOK AT AUCTION. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT, AND BEAUTIFUL, PUBLISHED WORKS OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND RARELY COMES UP FOR SALE. ONLY 119 COPIES REMAIN, AND ALL BUT A HANDFUL ARE IN MUSEUMS, LIBRARIES AND UNIVERSITIES. THE COLLECTION OF 435 HAND-COLOURED PRINTS, MADE FROM ENGRAVINGS OF AUDUBON'S ILLUSTRATIONS, MEASURES MORE THAN 3 FEET BY 2 FEET BECAUSE AUDUBON WANTED TO PAINT THE BIRDS LIFE SIZE. A PIONEERING FRENCH-AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGIST AND ENTREPRENEUR WHOSE BUSINESS VENTURES TOOK HIS ACROSS THE EXPANDING UNITED STATES, AUDUBON CAME TO BRITAIN IN 1826 AFTER FAILING TO RAISE MONEY TO PRINT HIS BOOK IN AMERICA. HIS OUTDOORS-MAN IMAGE AND VIVID ILLUSTRATIONS MADE A STRONG IMPRESSION. AUDUBON SOLD THE BOOK ON A SUBSCRIPTION BASIS TO WEALTHY COLLECTORS. THE COPY FOR SALE WAS NO.11, BOUGHT BY PALEONTOLOGIST HENRY WITHAM.

SISTINE CHAPEL IN DANGER DUE TO POLLUTANTS

THE VATICAN MUSEUMS CHIEF WARNED THAT DUST AND POLLUTING AGENTS BROUGHT INTO THE SISTINE CHAPEL BY THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS EVERY DAY RISK ONE DAY ENDANGERING ITS PRICELESS ARTWORKS. ANTONIO PAOLUCCI TOLD THE NEWSPAPER LA REPUBBLICA IN COMMENTS PUBLISHED THURSDAY THAT IN ORDER TO PRESERVE MICHELANGELO'S LAST JUDGMENT AND OTHER TREASURES IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL, NEW TOOLS TO CONTROL TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY MUST BE STUDIED AND IMPLEMENTED. BETWEEN 15,000 AND 20,000 PEOPLE A DAY, OR OVER 4 MILLION A YEAR, VISIT THE CHAPEL WHERE POPES GET ELECTED, TO ADMIRE ITS FRESCOES, FLOOR MOSAICS AND PAINTINGS. 'IN THIS CHAPEL PEOPLE OFTEN INVOKE THE HOLY SPIRIT. BUT THE PEOPLE WHO FILL THIS ROOM EVERY DAY AREN'T PURE SPIRITS', PAOLUCCI TOLD THE NEWSPAPER. SUCH A CROWD... EMANATES SWEAT, BREATH, CARBON DIOXIDE, ALL SORTS OF DUST', HE SAID. 'THIS DEADLY COMBINATION IS MOVED AROUND BY WINDS AND ENDS UP ON THE WALLS, MEANING ON THE ARTWORK.' PAOLUCI SAID BETTER TOOLS WERE NECESSARY TO AVOID 'SERIOUS DAMAGE' TO THE CHAPEL. VISITORS WHO WANT TO SEE LEONARDO DA VINCI'S 'THE LAST SUPPER' IN MILAN MUST GO THROUGH A FILTRATION SYSTEM TO HELP REDUCE THE WORK'S EXPOSURE TO DUST AND POLLUTANTS. THIS HAS MADE SEEING DA VINCI'S MASTERPIECE MORE DIFFICULT: 25 VISITORS ARE ADMITTED EVERY 15 MINUTES. THE SISTINE CHAPEL, FEATURING WORKS BY MICHELANGELO, BOTTICELLI AND PERUGINO, UNDERWENT A MASSIVE RESTORATION THAT ENDED IN THE LATE 1990s. THE RESTORATION WAS CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE SOME CRITICS SAID THE REFURBISHING MADE THE COLOURS BRIGHTER THAN ORIGINALLY INTENDED.

BONHAMS TO SELL GRIMA JEWELRY COLLECTION

THE FIRST AUCTION TO FOCUS ON THE WORK OF THE ICONIC JEWELER, ANDREW GRIMA, SINCE HIS DEATH IN 2007 WILL PREVIEW AT BONHAMS IN LONDON 19-21.SEPTEMBER, BEFORE THE FINE JEWELRY SALE AT BONHAMS NEW YORK ON 19.OCTOBER. GRIMA WAS THE FOREMOST MODERN JEWELRY DESIGNER IN THE LONDON'S WEST END IN THE 1960s AND 1970s WITH CLIENTS INCLUDING QUEEN ELIZABETH, PRINCESS MARGARET AND JACQUELINE ONASSIS. GRIMA GAINED INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOLLOWING THE EXHIBITION OF INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY IN 1966 AND IN 1966 HE OPENED HIS FAMOUS SHOP IN JERMYN STREET, ST JAMES. GRIMA WAS ALWAYS DETERMINED TO CREATE JEWELRY THAT WAS EXCITING AND OUT OF THE ORDINARY. HIS DISTINCTIVE PIECES FEATURING HIGHLY TEXTURED MATERIALS AND ABSTRACT SHAPES LED TO HIS APPOINTMENT AS A CROWN JEWELER IN 1970, WHERE HE WAS COMMISSIONED TO CREATE ITEMS FOR THE BRITISH AND SCANDINAVIAN ROYAL FAMILIES. BONHAMS IS DELIGHTED TOP RESENT A COLLECTION OF 35 GRIMA DESIGNS, FROM THE NEW YORK ESTATE OF MARVIN AND LAURA SPEISER, WHICH THEY GATHERED OVER THE COURSE OF TWO DECADES OF CLOSE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE COUPLE AND ANDREW GRIMA AND HIS WIFE JOJO. THE SPEISERS AND GRIMAS WERE INTRODUCED IN LONDON IN THE EARLY 70s AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP EVOLVED OVER THE NEXT DECADES. THE COUPLES SHARED A MUTUAL ADMIRATION FOR EACH OTHERS AESTHETICS AND ARTISTIC GIFTS. THE SPEISERS' PERSONAL AFFECTION FOR GRIMA, COUPLED WITH THEIR RESPECT FOR HIS DESIGN GENIUS, CAN BE CLEARLY SEEN IN THE REMARKABLE COLLECTION OF SPECIAL, LIMITED EDITION PIECES BEING PRESENTED. HIGHLIGHTING THE SALE IS A CIRCA 1988 EMERALD AND DIAMOND RING. CENTERING A CUT-CORNERED, SQUARE-CUT 11.35 CARAT EMERALD 'POOL' WITHING A RAISED SURROUND OF ROUND BRILLIANT-CUT DIAMONDS, THE RING IS COMPLETED BY A TEXTURAL GOLD MOUNT. EXEMPLARY OF GRIMA'S WORK, THIS STRIKING RING IS ESTIMATED AT $20,000-30,000.