The strong sales results at 20th-century Week in New York from May 8 to 13 have confirmed Christie’s market leadership of the major spring auctions. The total includes Impressionist, Modern, Post-war, Contemporary art sales as well as the curated capsule sale Bound To Fail. New world auction records were achieved for 20 artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, his Untitled realized US$81.3 million, the week’s top lot. The buyer, notable Japanese collector Mr. Yusaku Maezawa, also acquired four other contemporary works including Richard Prince’s Runaway Nurse, which set a new auction record for the artist at US$9.7 million.

From the Birkin to the Kelly, an expert introduction to the bags created by one of the world’s most luxurious fashion houses. Christie’s handbag experts share the six keys to making a smart and sophisticated handbag purchase.

Why settle for one setting when these unique luxury homes capture the essence of two enticing worlds? When the architectural style of a favorite region is combined with the landscape so characteristic of another, luxury home buyers can experience two worlds simultaneously.

According to a new generation of architects, limits are becoming a thing of the past. Principles that once divided the urban from the rural, and the internal from the external, are now colliding and redefining the way we understand the world around us. Luxury Defined profiles six international cutting-edge designers who are changing the face of architecture, and quite literally building the future.

Discerning buyers are increasingly looking for city homes that offer convenience and culture without the commute, and global growth in the 21st century is becoming more concentrated in urban environments. From biometric lighting to luxury motorized shades, experts share the most sought-after comforts and conveniences in today’s ultra luxurious urban homes.

From astonishingly detailed miniatures of Elizabethan courtiers to sumptuous depictions of Edwardian society women, the portraits we see in venerable museums across the world generally depict royalty and gentry. Today, however, you needn’t be blue-blooded to be immortalized in oils, pastels, or charcoal. So how do you go about commissioning a portrait of yourself, or indeed of a loved one or relative?