Andy Warhol,  Double Elvis [Feris Type] (1963)

On the heels of a tireless and groundbreaking week in the New York art world, the fervor continues with the major auction houses hosting their Contemporary Art Sales—beginning tonight at Christie’s. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sales saw unforeseen prices and several world records set, namely the near $120 million paid for Edvard Munch‘s The Scream. In tandem with both the Frieze Art Fair and NADA Art Fairs’ inaugural New York editions—both held this past weekend—the Contemporary Sales possess an auspicious platform this season. The strength of last week’s sales proves the collectors’ attention to the trophy market, with many big ticket and highly recognizable works on the block this week.

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Paul Cezanne, Jouer de cartes (1892–96). Image courtesy of Christie’s.

Last night’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s began this season’s auctions in New York. Christie’s overall sales totaled $117 million—well over their low estimate of $90.5 million. According to Christie’s, they achieved a sell-through rate of 96% by value and 90% by lot. In a post-auction press conference, Christie’s Head of the Department, Brooke Lampley, said that the results were exactly what they had expected, given that they had tailored their sale to match what the market was looking for.

View of the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s. Photo by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.

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Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1895). Photo by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.

Today marks the beginning of a two week flurry of art sales in the New York auction houses. This week is focused entirely on Impressionist and Modern Art, with next week centered on Post War and Contemporary Art. Chances are that you have already been bombarded with the numerous and impressive highlights that both houses have to offer, as the many of the lots from both houses are iconic, impressive, and will quite possibly break world records left and right.

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‪‬Russian oil tycoon and art collector Viktor Vekselberg battles Christie’s in High Court regarding authentication of £1.7 million Boris Kustodiev painting, claiming signature over a decade post-humous

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‪‬A 474-year-old painting by Italian artist Girolamo de’Romani has been returned to its Jewish heirs since being plundered by Nazis in WWII, the family now deciding to sell the work at Christie’s in New York on June 6, the work insured for $2.5 million

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‪‬Six works by Gerhard Richter from 1968–93 to be auctioned at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Sale on May 8 in New York, “With an aggregate low estimate of almost $40 million, the six works are primed to be a landmark event in the Richter market.”

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‪‬Christie’s to auction Jeff Koons’ ‘Baroque Egg with Bow (Blue/Turqoise)’ at Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London on June 27, the 2-meter tall sculpture, one of five in multi-colored ‘Celebration’ series, expected to go for £2.5–3.5 million [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Cézanne preparatory watercolor study for Card Players series surfaces in estate of late Texas doctor, to be auctioned at Christie’s in New York May 1 for an estimated $20 million ceiling [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Cindy Sherman’s ‘Untitled #96,’ valued at $2.8–3.8 million, could break $4.3 million record for any photograph at Christie’s auction in New York on May 8, the piece a consignment by the Akron Art Museum in Ohio [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Gerhard Richter’s auction sales reached $200 million last year, while the artist remains humble, says Robert Storr, dean of the Yale School of Art, “Richter doesn’t want to be the next king, but he has taken painting farther than just about anyone else” [AO Newslink]

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‪ ‪The upcoming Christie’s Old Masters Sale in London in July has an overall value of $30 million, with A Bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap (1626-27) at an estimate of $19 million alone. In a bid to attract new collectors, Christie’s will send the Old Masters on a promotional tour through Doha, Moscow, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and New York. [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Sotheby’s had its most second-most profitable year ever in 2011 at $5.8-billion, nearing its own record of $6.2 billion in 2007. They out-profited Christie’s by one tenth of a billion dollars this year, and increased from $4.8 billion in 2010. However, due to European turmoil, the most recent quarter suffered an 11.0% drop in auction-related revenue. [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Despite pending lawsuit against David and Helly Nahmad to return Modigliani’s Seated Man with a Cane (1918) (alleged stolen from a Paris dealer by Nazis in 1939), the Nahmads’ lawyers now say the International Art Center purchased from Christie’s in 1996, not the Nahmad family, thus the suit is misdirected. [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Miro’s ‘Peinture’ work, estimated between £7m and £10m, goes unsold at Sotheby’s after his ‘Painting-Poem’ set a record high price for the artist (£16.8m) at Christie’s on Tuesday, both auctions in London [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Sale of Joan Miro 1925 ‘Painting-Poem’ breaks artist’s record with hammer price of £16,841,250, nearly doubling the high estimate of £9,000,000 at Christie’s ‘The Art of Surrealism’ Evening Sale last night in London [AO Newslink]

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Paul Cézanne, Card Players, Qatar, via Vanity Fair

The royal family of Qatar has just publicized its $250-$300 million purchase of Card Players by Paul Cézanne. The work is one in a series of five, but until now was the only one remaining in private collection. Previous owner, Greek shipping mogul George Embiricos, became receptive to the sale just prior to his death in 2011. Vanity Fair reports that William Acquavella and Larry Gagosian were outbid for Card Players, at comparable amounts rumored up to $220 million.  Even the low estimate of $250 million, factoring in exchange rate and tax fees, marks the highest sum in history ever paid for a single work of art in either auction or private sale by double.

Paul Cézanne, Card Players, Metropolitan Museum of Art, via New York Times

As the title indicates, the series depicts two low-brow card players in Aix-en-Provence. The peasants idealize an old world culture, nostalgic even to the middle-aged artist when he painted from his family’s country estate in the 1890s. At the time, Cézanne was working alone, and his isolation reflects in the sparing surfaces and minimal compositions of the varying card scenes. Only the subtlest of changes differentiate one painting from the next: most notably, the cards themselves change as the games progress, while the faces and suggestively sluggish interactions do not.

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‪‬Christie’s International sales rise 9% in 2011 as market-weary investors turn to classic contemporary art, with biggest sellers Lichtenstein, Warhol, Rothko [AO Newslink]

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‪ Francis Bacon’s “The Portrait of Henrietta Moraes” (1963) is estimated to sell for £18m at Christie’s Postwar and Contemporary Art in London in February [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Christie’s unveils Louise Bourgeois 11-foot-tall Spider sculpture for November 8th auction with the theatrics of Spiderman [AO Newslink]

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Max Ernst, The Stolen Mirror, 1941 (est. $4-6 million, realized $16.3 million), via Christies.com

Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art on Tuesday night brought in $140 million against presale estimates of $210-300 million. Four of the top 5 most valuable lots failed to sell, including the auction’s cover lot – a Degas ballerina sculpture with a presale estimate of $25-35 million. The Degas had been shopped around privately with no luck and carried what many believed to be a very aggressive estimate. The auction house cited those two facts to explain that lot’s failure, as well as the overall performance of the sale. In general, fresh to market material faired best, and hefty presale estimates deterred bidding on the priciest works. What turned out to be the evening’s top lot – Max Ernest‘s The Stolen Mirror – was both fresh to market and carried an estimate in line with the artist’s records and with heightened interest in Surrealist material over the past few auction cycles. The canvas set the record for the artist at auction when it sold for $16.3 million against a high estimate of $6 million. The previous record was set this past June at Christie’s London with a 1923 work that brought $4.4 million.

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Edgar Degas, Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, executed in wax c. 1879-1881 and cast later (est. $25-35 million), via Christies.com

The November sales will be inaugurated at Christie’s on Tuesday night with a 75-lot Impressionist & Modern auction at their Rockefeller Center location in New York. Seventy-one lots will be offered at Sotheby’s New York on Wednesday evening, and the two sales are expected to fetch close to $400 million. This round of auctions follows closely on the heels of the Frieze Art Fair and the concurrent and comparatively smaller sales of Contemporary art in mid-October. Little has changed between then and now to make buyer’s less anxious about the financial markets, but the auction houses managed to secure a handful of top-tier consignments that may bolster the results of their sales.

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‪‬Chuck Close, Sam Francis Foundation, the estate of Robert Graham, and Laddie John Dill sue Sotheby’s and Christie’s over adherence to California Resale Royalties Act [AO Newslink]

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Lucian Freud, Boy’s Head, 1952 (est. $4.6-6.2 million), via Sothebys.com

Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips de Pury are hosting Contemporary art sales this week in conjunction with the Frieze Art Fair, which officially begins on Thursday in London. Capitalizing on the flood of art afficionados in town for the fair,  the auction houses are hoping to move about $88 million worth of art during their evening sales. Dealers and buyers have been reassured of the art market’s strength following huge boom-like sums achieved during the past few auction cycles, but this round of sales comes at a moment of increased anxiety about the global economy. These sales may set the tone of the major auctions next month in New York, when Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips will offer several hundred million dollars worth of Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary art.

Jeff Koons, Seal Walrus Trashcans, 2003-09 (est. $3.1-4.6 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

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