Francis Bacon's three-paneled painting, "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," is currently the most expensive painting ever sold at auction and Francis Outred, the head of postwar and contemporary art at Sotheby's-Europe explains why it is such a big-ticket item. The 1969 painting of Bacon's friend, Lucian Freud, who was also the grandson of Sigmund Freud, sold for $142.4 million at Christie's on November 12, 2013 in New York City. Watch Outred explain why it was worth the price.

On May 2, 2012, Edvard Munch's "The Scream" sold for $119,922,500 at Sotheby's with the help of their principle auctioneer, Tobias Meyer. He said about the sale, "I feel elated!" and told the interviewer that his job is similar to surfing. The final bid came from an anonymous caller and the purchase broke the world record for the most expensive painting ever auctioned at the time.

Billionaire David Rubenstein, co-founder of the private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, discusses why he bought the Magna Carta at Sotheby's on December 19, 2007, in order to keep the document in the United States after he heard rumors of a potential foreign buyer. Rubenstein, also an avid historian, coined the idea of "patriotic philanthropy," which is donating money towards projects that serve some national interest. For example, he has given large sums of money towards the renovation of the Washington Monument and the National Zoo. There are 17 surviving copies of the Magna Carta–15 in Britain, one in Australia, and one in the United States.