Gerhard Richter

Sotheby’s will auction a 20th century masterwork by Gerhard Richter on 14 May 2013 as one of the highlights of the spring Contemporary Art Evening Auction.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network might have to liquidate major assets to acquire this historic artwork.

The painting titled, "Domplatz, Mailand" which carries an estimate of $30-40 million was a commission work executed for the electronics giant Siemens Elettra.

Richter produced the monumental work for their Milan offices in 1968.

The canvas was Richter’s most ambitious to date; spanning in excess of 9 by 9 feet, it was the largest figurative work he had created and its sheer technical accomplishment was remarkable.

Andy Warhol has supplanted the Chinese ink painter, Zhang Daqian, as the world’s biggest seller at auction (Zhang's "Lotus and Mandarin Ducks, 1947, ink and color on paper scroll, shown here)

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social network have witnessed stratospheric sales of works by Warhol.

He fetched $380.3 million in sales in 2012, also beating Pablo Picasso, according to figures compiled by the database Artnet.

The two western artists above -- who died in 1987 and 1973 respectively -- had totals exceeding those for 80-year-old Gerhard Richter, the top living artist, with Zhang tumbling to fourth place from first.

The rankings reflect the increasing dominance of western postwar and contemporary works in the international art market.

A Gerhard Richter painting owned by Eric Clapton sold last week for a record 21.3 million pounds ($34.2 million) -- more than 30 times what he paid for it in 2001.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social network have been impressed with Eric Clapton's collecting savvy.

The 1994 oil-on-canvas “Abstraktes Bild (809-4)” was sold by Sotheby’s in London for its “Frieze Week” auction of contemporary artworks with an estimate of 9 million pounds to 12 million pounds.

The buyer was Natasha Mendelsohn of Sotheby’s, acting for a client on the telephone. She was underbid by her colleague Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art, also taking instructions for a client.

The rock guitarist Eric Clapton -- who is as skillful an art dealer as he is a musicIan -- has decided to sell a painting by Gerhard Richter for $20 million . This is almost 20 times what he paid for it in 2001.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social network admire Clapton's collecting savvy.

"Abstraktes Bild (809-4)," was painted in 1994 by Gerhard Richter. The painting is being offered by the musician in a Sotheby's "Frieze Week" auction of contemporary works in London on Oct. 12.

The 1994 oil-on-canvas “Abstraktes Bild (809-4)” is one of a series of three Richter paintings bought by the U.K.-born rock guitarist for $3.4 million in total at Sotheby’s New York in November 2001.

At the time, this was an auction record for a lot containing abstracts by the German artist.