Phillips Posts Sales Rise of 25% to $708.8m in 2017: The auction house is building momentum from 2016’s solid $567.2m in sales.  Auctions were up 25% to $625.4m from 2016’s $499.4m; private sales hit $83.5m, 23% above the previous year’s $67.8m. Watches led the growth with 47% more in sales; 20th Century and Contemporary art was not far behind with a 32% rise. …

You Can’t Use Google’s Selfie App in Illinois or Texas: The Wall Street Journal tells us that you’re out of luck if you want to match your face to a work of art using Google’s Arts & Culture because, “Laws in those states ban the collection of biometric data, including a record of “face geometry,” without a user’s consent.” …

More Art & Espionage in Asia: Earlier in the week the news broke that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump had been warned that Wendi Deng was considered an intelligence asset for the Chinese government. Today the world learned that the former CIA agent who was arrested this morning under suspicion of having compromised numerous US intelligence sources in China had been working at Christie’s in Hong Kong providing physical security for the past 20 months. …

Simon de Pury Wins $10m Commission on Gauguin Sale: The former auctioneer who helped his school chum sell his family’s Gauguin for $210m but was stiffed on the commission because the seller didn’t get the $250m he wanted, won his gentleman’s agreement commission in a UK court.