Cy Twombly, Untitled (New York City) (1968), via Sotheby’s
Tonight Sotheby’s has logged its response to Christie’s moderate outing last evening, as the auction house’s Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale saw steady, albeit occasionally slow proceedings, bringing a final sales tally of $294,850,000 with 13 of the 57 lots offered going unsold. (more…)
Christie’s saleroom photo by ArtObserved
Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale broke the record for the highest ever grossing Contemporary Art auction in history, totaling over $412 million in sales. The auction came on the heels of Sotheby’s Postwar & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which broke its own record for highest-grossing auction in Sotheby’s long history ($375 million). Christie’s achieved an astounding 92% sell by lot and 93% sell by value – of the 73 lots offered only 6 failed to sell.
Records at auction were broken for Richard Diebenkorn, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra, Franz Kline, George Condo, Jean- Michel Basquiat, and Mark Grotjahn. Additionally, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly and Jean-Michel Basquiat set new records for their artworks on paper. A record was set for an Alexander Calder wire sculpture at auction with Policeman, which sold for $4.2 million.
Jeffrey Gundlach, Santa Monica art collector and Wall Street tycoon, returned home from a trip to New York to find $10 million in artwork missing. Jasper Johns’ “Green Target”, along with works by Piet Mondrian, Richard Diebenkorn, Franz Kline, Joseph Cornell, Philip Guston and others were taken. No word yet on whether there was a security video, as the investigation is underway.
‪‬Several drawings by Richard Diebenkorn sold by Knoedler & Company are in an authenticity dispute by the artist’s family, “They didn’t look quite right, and we said, ‘The provenance is wacky and the story behind the provenance makes no sense,'” said Richard Grant of the Diebenkorn Foundation
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild at Galerie Sho Booth, Pier 92
On the third and final day of the Armory Show 2012 both spirits and sales were high amongst the 228 exhibitors. Besides the notable success of David Zwirner’s solo booth by Michael Riedel, which sold out entirely in the first 30 minutes of the fair, many of the other galleries also benefited from the sales of their high-ticket items throughout the three-day exhibition. Art Observed spoke with representatives from various exhibitors including the Susan Sheehan Gallery, Spanierman Modern, Meredith Ward Fine Art, Art in General, Sprüth Magers, and the Gary Snyder Gallery. (more…)
Untitled by Richard Diebenkorn, 1950. All images via Artnet unless otherwise noted.
Currently on view at Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, is an exhibition titled “Richard Diebenkorn: Paintings and Works on Paper 1949-1955″. Organized in cooperation with the Estate of Richard Diebenkorn, this exhibition features thirty-six works on paper of this well-known American artist, whose early work is associated with Abstract Expressionism.
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Willem de Kooning’s ‘Woman’ via Christie’s sold for $3.7 million, more than doubling its high estimate of $1.8 million.
Again, Christie’s bested Sotheby’s in this week’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions after Sotheby’s failed to meet its low estimate, covered here by AO. Last night’s sale in New York resulted in a total of $93.7 million, falling within the higher end of the pre-sale estimates of $71-104 million. Only 5 of the 54 lots went unsold, with 30 selling for more than $1 million. After a night of lively bidding, Christie’s co-head of post-war and contemporary art, Amy Cappellazzo joked that, “It felt like a year ago.” Last year’s sale brought in $348.2 million, with a number of works selling in the double digits. This year, estimates were far more conservative for the chastened market, with the highest-selling lot, David Hockney’s ‘Beverly Hills Housewife,’ going for $7.9 million, setting a new record for the artist. The portrait of the late Betty Freeman was one of 20 in the sale coming out of the Betty Freeman Collection, another factor contributing to last night’s success.
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David Hockney’s ‘Beverly Hills Housewife’ via Christie’s sold for $7.9 million, falling within estimates of $6-10 million and setting a new record at auction for the artist.
New World Auction Records set for Hockney, Oldenburg, Wheeler, and Smith at Christie’s [Artdaily]
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At an Upbeat Christie’s Auction, Some Record Prices [NY Times]
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NY auctions end with solid contemporary art result [Reuters]
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Christie’s Auction Beats Estimate, Boosts Confidence [Bloomberg]
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Betty Freeman Portrait Fetches $7.9 Million in N.Y. Auction [Bloomberg]
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Christie’s Contemporary “Gets It Right” [Artinfo]
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Christie’s Auction Rekindles Art Optimism [WSJ]
Untitled 1992 via Greenberg Van Doren Gallery
Through June 27th, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery in New York is showing the works of Richard Diebenkorn in a solo exhibition entitled “Ocean Park Monotypes & Drawings”. The title of the exhibition refers to the area of Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California where he worked and was highly influenced by his surrounding landscapes. He began the “Ocean Park” series of over 140 paintings and drawings in 1967, which later became some of his best known works. The exhibition includes his paintings, works on paper, and edition prints.
Richard Diebenkorn [Greenberg Van Doren Gallery]
Richard Diebenkorn, “Ocean Park Monotypes & Drawings.” [Time out]
