Art News. Vasari Codex

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The article covers several art market stories, including Melanie Gerlis's Financial Times piece on the big three auction houses increasingly relying on luxury sales amid a market downturn, with no clear solutions in sight. It also reports that the ADAA canceled its Art Show fair, citing a 'strategic pause' to reassess support for members in an evolving landscape. Additionally, the article details a controversy in Tasmania where a planned A$64.6 million art park at Macquarie Point, backed by Mona and aimed at addressing Aboriginal genocide, was scrapped in favor of a 23,000-seat AFL stadium. Finally, it notes that Darth Vader's lightsaber from Star Wars is heading to auction via Propstore, estimated at $1–3 million.

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A black leather Hermès Birkin bag previously owned by actress and style icon Jane Birkin sold at Sotheby’s for $2.9 million on December 5 at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi. The bag, known as Le Birkin Voyageur, features an inscription written by Birkin in 2007 for a charity auction supporting the International Federation for Human Rights, along with a sketch of a reclining female nude. It had been in private hands since that auction and was sold as part of a 4-day luxury goods sale. The bag exceeded its estimate of $240,000-$400,000 but fell short of the record $10 million paid for the original Birkin prototype earlier this year.