Gallerist Cecilia Jurado of Y Gallery, NY in front of two works by Carlos Motta photo by A.M. Ekstrand for ArtObserved

Latin American week began with the Pinta art fair, which ran from November 15th – 18th, 2012, after which followed auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury & Co. Several records were broken for Latin American artists, proving that the market is still robust, especially on the high end.

Roberto Matta, Nada 1943 courtesy Sotheby’s sold for $1.82 million (more…)

The Chairman of Christie’s, David Linley, is interviewed by the Financial Times to discuss the auction house’s recent success and his upbringing as part of the Royal Family. The auction house recently had a record season in the Postwar & Contemporary category, totaling $412 million. He discusses his view on various markets, from Old Masters to Chinese contemporary. (more…)

Christie’s is suing a Chinese competitor over a name that is so similar it is potentially infringing its Chinese trademark. Chritrs Group has held auctions in Singapore and Hong Kong this year, and its Chinese name is pronounced similarly to Christie’s Chinese brand name. The written form also shares one of the Chinese characters used in the translation of Christie’s. (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.

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Christie’s sale today to benefit the Andy Warhol Foundation achieved $17,017,050 for the Foundation’s endowment, with 91% of lots sold. Leading the sale of 354 works by Andy Warhol were Endangered Species: San Francisco Silverspot, which had an estimate of $1,000,000 – $1,500,000 and sold for $1,258,500; followed by Endangered Species: Bighorn Ram, estimated at $700,000 – $1,000,000 and achieving $842,500; and Jackie, which more than doubled its high estimate of $300,000, realizing $626,500. (more…)

Pablo Picasso, Femme à la Fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse) courtesy Sotheby’s

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern sale will commence this evening; due to the destruction from the hurricane, Sotheby’s rescheduled its Impressionist sale from November 5th to tomorrow, Thursday the 8th. Airport closures and power outages worried many that the international collecting crowd would not be able to attend. In a season that boasts over a possible billion dollars in revenue and a possible record breaking year at auction, postponement was inevitable.

Both houses are flush with important and iconic works by a plethora of leading artists such as Picasso, Monet, Kandinsky, Miro, Brancusi and Cézanne.

Wassily Kandinsky, Studie für Improvisation 8 courtesy Christie’s
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A New York supreme court judge has ruled that auction houses must disclose both consignors and buyers in order to create a binding sale contract. In a supply-driven art market that relies on confidentiality, Christie’s (although not a party involved in the original case) is appealing the decision, stating “we take issue with the Court’s opinion and are reviewing our legal options”.  (more…)

New York’s November auctions will offer several Warhol works, among them Christie’s $100 million sale of works in three separate sales from the Warhol Foundation, and at Sotheby’s two “A-plus” paintings from the “Death and Disaster” series. Concerns that an influx of Warhols on the market have lowered demand stem from weak London sales for the artist earlier this month. (more…)

Christie’s will dedicate a full day of sales to work from the Andy Warhol Foundation on Nov 12th. Around 350 works, with estimates ranging from $2,500 to $1,500,000, will be offered in 3 separate sales. The foundation is de-accessing 20,000 artworks to pay for grants through multiple auctions at Christie’s.
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Auction houses have reported new consignments for November sales. Two collectors, Steven A. Cohen and Douglas S. Cramer, will be consigning works for the November 14 auctions at Christies. Sotheby’s announced “a seminal group of masterworks that provide a panoramic view of Abstract Expressionism” for its November 13th sale, including Mark Rothko‘s No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) from 1954 and a 1951 Jackson Pollock drip painting .

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Christie’s will auction 63 artworks from the collection of Rudolph and Hannelore Schulhof in their November sale. The Schulhofs’ home on Long Island has held their approximately 350-piece collection of important 20th century art since the 1950s. Hannelore Schulhof, a widow, died in February, and since then the estate has been arranging for a portion of the collection to go to various museums and will keep part of the collection in the home as well. The estate will host a viewing of the works up for auction in the North Shore home this weekend. (more…)

A 1981 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting is expected to set a record for the artist’s work at the Christie’s New York auction on Nov. 14th. The privately-held painting of a fisherman with his catch has been exhibited in every major retrospective. The work will be publicly exhibited in London, Paris and New York prior to the sale. Although the presale estimate is $20 million, Christie’s expects the final price to exceed that due to a strong market for Basquiat. (more…)

Top bosses from rival houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s may soon be joining forces in a “super-dealer” partnership. Stephane C. Connery, former worldwide director of Private sales at Sotheby’s, and Thomas Seydoux, erstwhile chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s, are likely to be partners in a firm Connery, Pissarro, Seydoux, and would ostensibly bring a wealth of connections in the art world to the organization, which would be based in Paris and New York.

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Andy Warhol – Marlon (1966) to be auctioned November 14, 2012 by Christie’s in New York City

Representatives at The Andy Warhol Foundation for Arts have announced today that the organization will donate or sell its remaining collection of works by Andy Warhol over the coming years and will become solely a funding source for non-profit arts groups. Although the Foundation does not reputedly possess “big-name” paintings by the artist, such as the instantly recognizable Campbell’s Soup Cans (1966), it holds a selection of previously unseen pieces, like a Jacqueline Kennedy collage from the 1960s. The sales are expected to bring in about $100 million, and will be conducted with Christie’s auction house.

Andy Warhol – Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962), MoMA

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The Wall Street Journal writes on the subject of the market for Islamic art which has been growing in the past few years, coinciding with many museums around the globe opening new Islamic wings. Many experts believe that Islamic art has been undervalued, and that a collector could easily build a museum-level collection, way below its long term market value. Though sales are growing, totals have varied from year to year, the combined sales of Sotheby’s and Christie’s peaked at $78.9 million in 2011, but this past spring the auction houses only brought in $23.3 million. It is, however, an emotional market, states William Robinson, Christie’s international head of Islamic Art, “When things are going well, prices go way over the top estimate. Six months later, an identical object gets no response.”

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In further auction news, China Guardian emerges as a player in the mainstream contemporary game and will hold auctions in Hong Kong this fall, joining Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The oldest auction house in mainland China is now the fourth largest house in the world, and maintains plans to expand internationally.

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In other auction news, The Wall Street Journal analyzes Christie’s and Sotheby’s most recent auction performances and current buyer trends. “The combination reflects the increasingly unsettled state of the art market lately, as billionaire collectors chase after the world’s priciest masterpieces while collectors further down the food chain sneer at second-tier material that suddenly looks overpriced.”

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In auction news, Bloomberg reports on Christie’s 13% sales boost for this past half-year, aided by the sizable profit from various Rothko and Renoir sales. Chief executive officer, Steven P. Murphy says, “clients are driving this, the trend will continue.”

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John Constable’s “The Lock” (1824) which sold for £22.4 million, within its £20-25 million estimate

John Constable‘s “The Lock” broke the artist’s record sale at an auction today at at Christie’s in London. The British painting from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection sold in its £20-25 million estimate at £22.4 million, earning a joint fourth place title on the list of most-expensive Old Masters.

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Yves Klein,  Le Rose du bleu (1960) which sold for £23.5 million (£3.5 million over its high estimate)

Last night in London, Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Auction experienced a stellar sale. Totaling £132.8 million against an expected excess of  £120 million, it was the highest grossing contemporary art sale in Europe. Achieving sales with an 87% sell-through rate and 98% sold by value – Christie’s sold all but 9 on it’s 71 lots – save for the 2 withdrawn. Four of the lots sold above £10 million, and five lots boosted over $10 million. Christie’s Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Europe, Francis Outred, was quoted in a post-sale press release: “Following the record result achieved at Christie’s New York in May, we are delighted with tonight results which established a new record for an auction of Post-War & Contemporary Art in Europe… Overall we brought together consignments from four continents, reached buyers on four continents and benefitted from a depth and strength of bidding from across the room and on the phone.”

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Yves Klein, Le Rose du bleu (RE 22) (1960)

This week in London, the focus will shift towards Contemporary Art, for the second consecutive week of  summer auctions. According to the Telegraph, these contemporary sales hold the highest pre-sale estimates ever offered by the London houses. Total sales expected from Sotheby’s range from £57.51 – 82.48 million, while Christie’s are in excess of £120 million. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Sales were more subdued than the record breaking auctions held in New York this past May. Based upon these record pre-sale estimates, there may be similar hopes for this week’s round of sales.

Yves Klein, Rélief éponge bleu (RE 51) (1959)

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Joan Miró, Peinture (Étoile Bleue) (1927)

Tonight in London begins three consecutive weeks of auctions – commencing with the Impressionist and Modern Sales this week. An upwards of £ 500 million in sales is expected from Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary Art. This week alone is expected to fetch in excess of £ 159 million between the two major houses. Although New York is generally deemed the art auction capital, London’s geographic positioning is advantageous to the billionaire collectors of Russia and the Eastern world. Based upon the record breaking sales held this past May in New York – namely the $120 million paid for Munch‘s The Scream – London’s summer auctions are hoped to follow suit.

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A self-portrait by the late Jean-Michel Basquiat is expected to fetch $20 million in the June 27 Christie’s International sale of postwar and contemporary art in London. “The vivid acrylic, oilstick and spray-paint canvas will be offered after another untitled 1981 work sold for an artist-record $16.3 million at Phillips de Pury & Co. in New York, on May 10.”

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‬Christie’s to offer the “The Lock” by John Constable, expected to sell at £20 million to £25 million, at its Old Master & British Paintings Evening Auction in London on July 3rd. “This superb landscape…is sure to attract bidding from museums and collectors from all over the world,” says Jussi Pylkkänen, President of Christie’s Europe.

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