Bumper auctions fetch half-billion dollars at Sotheby's (AFP via Yahoo! News)

A bumper set of auctions of impressionist, modern and contemporary art by Sotheby's fetched upwards of 250 million pounds (315 million euros, 495 million dollars), the auction house said Thursday.

A happy mood buoys contemporary art (International Herald Tribune)

The market received its most resounding vote of confidence this week, as contemporary art auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's exceeded £230 million, or roughly $450 million.

Enjoy 'An Evening of Fine Art & Wine' (The Arizona Republic)

Enjoy "An Evening of Fine Art & Wine" at the West Valley Art Museum on July 12. Participants can bid on more than 50 works of museum-quality art from more than two dozen artists, with all the proceeds going to the museum.

London Swings as a Dynamo for Selling Art (New York Times)

The weak dollar has made London an attractive place for Americans to sell art, and has become the stomping ground for rich denizens of the former Soviet Union.

"Lost" treasures the focus of old masters sales (Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News)

Art treasures either presumed lost or previously dismissed as copies are the focus of a series of old masters auctions in London next week.

Oil profits help art market defy gravity (CNN Money)

Luxury these days is a tale of two markets: consumers continue to snap up high-priced Louis Vuitton bags even as they balk at paying full price for Coach handbags. The same can be said of demand for works of art.