London, Art | featured news

The first official portrait of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been unveiled at London's National Portrait Gallery -- but has met with a mixed reaction from art critics and the public. Award-winning artist Paul Emsley, who spent three-and-a-half months painting the Duchess's likeness, said he had tried to portray her warmth and personality in the picture.

To some it's just a bunch of bird drawings. To others, John James Audubon's "Birds of America" is a rare blend of art, natural history and craftsmanship, unique enough to be the world's most expensive book, expected to fetch more than $9.5 million at a London auction Tuesday....

A vase that sat, little-noticed, in a modest suburban home has become one of the most expensive Asian artworks ever sold -- and underlined the rapid rise of the Chinese art market.

A life-size bronze sculpture of a man by Alberto Giacometti was sold Wednesday at a London auction for $104.3 million - a world record for the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction, Sotheby's auction house said.