auction news, opinion and analysis

That time life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs were on auction in Langley, B.C.

More than 500 dino-related items were up for grabs at Able Auctions in Langley, B.C., in what one auctioneer called a once-in-a-lifetime event (Photograph by Alana Paterson)

Bidders at a sale of the velociraptors, pterosaurs and T. Rexes this August fell into two categories: grazers and carnivores

Mitchel Raphael on Trudeau’s strut down the catwalk, moustache and all

Justin Trudeau’s $1,600 lunch, What worries Peter MacKay’s date, Why Harper can’t grow a moustache

Absinthe and logarithms

(Reuters) – Christie’s has put a record price tag on an important Picasso painting from his celebrated Blue Period that will be offered for sale in London in June. Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto (The Absinthe Drinker), dated 1903, is expected to fetch 30-40 million pounds ($45-60 million), the highest pre-sale estimate for any work of art offered at auction in Europe.

Why the recession is here to stay

Prepare for more pain—this recovery is only a blip

Potter: Snarkiness about sharkiness misses the point

The world’s Damien Hirsts offer a service, luring squillionaire cash away from ‘real’ art

Ho hum Hummer

There’s never been a worse time to try to sell a used Hummer. On Wednesday the New York Times Wheels blog looked at the deluge of Hummers available on Craigslist, and the steep price cuts sellers are having to swallow in order to unload their 3-ton, gas-guzzling beasts. Now the B.C. government is trying to sell a tripped out Hummer that police seized from a Vancouver Island drug dealer. And judging from the auction so far, it’s not going well either.