As 2024 draws to a close here is a round up of some of the biggest events and auction results in the art and natural history world…

The Connor Brothers take over Bonham’s for Teenage Cancer Trust

In June, The Connor Brothers teamed up with Bonham’s Auction House to present ‘Anything But Ordinary’, an auction celebrating all things extraordinary, regardless of genre. The Connor Brothers arranged for artists from around the world to donate works, with all proceeds going to support Teenage Cancer Trust.

At the launch party, a large painting from the duo’s Regression series was auctioned live with the work hammering for £14,000 and all proceeds being forwarded to the charity. Other auction highlights include a full set of The Connor Brothers’ latest Pulp Fiction print series hammering for £9,600 and an Iridescent Ammonite selling for £23,040.

‘The Comedian’ sells for $6.2 million, then gets eaten…

Debuting in 2019 at the Miami Beach Art Basel, The Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan has instantly become one of the iconic works of art created in the 21st Century. Earlier this year the work was auctioned by Sotheby’s, causing huge amounts of media attention and eventually hammering for $6.2 million.

The work was bought by Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur, who promised to eat the banana after his purchase. And that’s exactly what he did, on a live stream he peeled and took a bite out of the work saying "It's much better than other bananas. It's really quite good."

Sun can technically however replace the fruit again, as his purchase grants him a certificate of authenticity and the authority to duct-tape any banana to a wall and call it Comedian.

Alma Singer’s solo show at Andipa Gallery

Also in June of this year, Alma Singer hosted her latest solo exhibition ‘I Made This, Sorry It’s Rubbish’ at Andipa Gallery in London. The show, curated by The Connor Brothers, explores issues around value, identity, relationships and 'The Art Market'. The artworks poke fun at the big names of the art world with works reminiscent of Cy Twombly, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian adorn the walls, but each with Alma's cheeky sense of humour.

‘Apex’ the Stegosaurus makes history

July 2024 saw Sotheby’s annual Natural History auction, a highly anticipated sale that has previously seen world record breaking sales. This year’s saw the appearance of an 11 metre tall stegosaurus fossil, dubbed ‘Apex’. Apex, the most complete stegosaurus ever discovered, gathered a lot of media attention following its estimate of $4-6 million. During the auction, a bidding war emerged with the work finally hammering for $44.6 million, making it the most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever sold at auction.

The piece was purchased by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, and later donated to the American Museum of Natural History. Griffin also approved scientists to take samples from the fossil for analysis, helping to grow our knowledge of the species. The impressive skeleton will be displayed publicly from early next year for all to enjoy.

Banksy’s ‘London Zoo’ creates a 9-day street art spectacle

For 9 days in August, British street art legend Banksy started a frenzy by creating works daily in various locations around London. Dubbed ‘London Zoo’, the works all feature animals placed in London’s urban environment, each humorous and politically driven in classic Banksy style.

Each day, a new work was unveiled via the artist’s Instagram, and within minutes, thousands of users had liked and shared the posts. The grand finale appeared on the shutters of London Zoo with a spokesperson calling it "absolutely brilliant".

Since their reveal, many of the works have since been removed for preservation or cleaned off and one was even stolen within minutes of the announcement.

L'empire Des Lumières by Rene Magritte sells for $121,000,000

November saw this year’s highest auction result with René Magritte's eerily lighted cityscape ‘L'empire Des Lumières’ selling for more than $121 million at a Christie's auction in New York, breaking the auction record for the Surrealist artist's work and above its $95 million estimate.

China’s Chang’e-6 mission successfully returned samples from the far side of the moon

Image courtesy of BBC’s Sky at Night Magazine

Chang’e-6 was the sixth robotic lunar exploration mission by CNSA (China National Space Administration). Named after the Chinese moon goddess, the mission began on 3rd May and touched down on the far side of the moon on June 1st. The lander's robotic scoop and drill took samples with a total mass of 1935.3 grams from the lunar surface; the ascender module then carried these into lunar orbit on 3 June 2024. The ascender docked with the orbiter module in lunar orbit on 6 June and transferred the samples to an atmospheric re-entry module which then returned to Earth on 25th June.

The mission made history as the first to retrieve samples from the far side of the Moon; all previous samples were collected from the near side.

Basquiat smashes the record for a work on Paper

In November, American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat broke the record for the highest amount paid for a work on paper. During Christie’s ‘21st Century Evening Sale, ’ the work ‘Untitled’ from 1982 hammered for $22,950,000, surpassing its lower estimate of $20 million. The artist's self-portrait is hailed as one of the most significant ever created.

Tyrannosaurs are discovered in Southern England for the first time

Image courtesy of Scientific American and Sergei Krasinski

Fossil teeth from East Sussex have revealed the presence of spinosaurs, tyrannosaurs, and dromaeosaurs in the region during the Early Cretaceous period, over 135 million years ago. This discovery fills a significant gap in Britain’s palaeontology, offering insight into a previously mysterious dinosaur community.

The fossils were discovered in the Wealden Supergroup, a rock formation spanning southern England that has yielded numerous discoveries. By studying teeth found on the southern coastline, which dinosaurs shed frequently, researchers reconstructed the diversity of theropods in the area.

We wish you a very Happy New Year and all the best as we enter 2025!

Still wanting more? Take a look back at this year’s exhibitions at Extraordinary Objects or read last year’s round-up

A Year in Art and Natural History 2024