The Wall Street Journal notes an increased focus by novelists on the high-priced art market, setting artists and the auction market as the backdrop to their works. “Art has become much more mainstream, maybe even more than reading,” Robin Desser, editorial director at Alfred A. Knopf, says. “You can’t get into the Degenerate Art show” at the Neue Galerie in New York.” (more…)
Mark Rothko, Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) (1955) which sold for $50,000,000 at Phillips, via Art Observed
The Phillips Contemporary Evening Sale has concluded, wrapping up what has been a whirlwind week of contemporary art sales with a briskly-paced, 49-lot sale that achieved moderately strong results, while twelve works were either withdrawn or went unsold. (more…)
Jeff Koons, Popeye (2009-2011), via Sotheby’s
The Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale wrapped this evening, with a number of impressive sales that did little to match the fireworks of Christie’s record-setting outing last night, but still managed to bring forth a number of impressive and noteworthy sales, as well as several new world records for artists at auction. The auction capped a final sales tally of $364,379,000 over 81 lots, with 12 of those works remaining unsold. (more…)
Andy Warhol sells at Christie’s, via Art Observed
The results are in on an auction that exceeded any and all expectations tonight at Christie’s, and a new world auction record has been set for auctions overall. Despite early calls that the auction would be marked by excessive guarantors and limited betting, all expectations were broken. Christie’s surged past the previous high it set late last year, arriving at a final sales record of $744 million for the 68 lot auction, with only four works going unsold, bringing down a number of world auction records with it on the way. The sale was also defined by an impressively deep level of wealth over the highest priced works. 63 of the lots managed to sell for over $1 million, and 4 surged past the $50 million mark, eliciting astonishment by many on hand.
Barnett Newman, Black Fire I (1961) which sold for a record $84.165 million, via Christie’s
A recent article in the Financial Times traces the past 40 years of the art market in conjunction with the term “the art world,” and questions the state of the market as the increased focus on art as an investment opportunity continues to drive blue-chip artists to ever-higher sales records. (more…)
Francis Bacon, Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966), via Christie’s
Another week of contemporary art auctions have come and gone, with a number of high-profile works changing hands in London this week, and a number of new records being for artists across the board. All auction houses boasted strong sales results, with Christie’s once again taking the lead.
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (1992), via Phillips (more…)
Francis Bacon, Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966), via Christie’s
Following the first two weeks of the annual set of early-year auctions in New York and London this year, the market will focus its attention this week on contemporary works, with a trio of auctions taking place this week in London. This year, the proceedings will kick off at Phillips in London on February 10th, and will see a day day break between auctions, with Sotheby’s joining the auction fray on the 12th, and Christie’s wrapping up the week on the 13th.
Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Painting of Trees (1997), via Sotheby’s (more…)
Christie’s has announced its final sales figures for 2013, and the auction house is claiming a world record for sales during 2013, with a $7.13 billion final tally. The final total is a 14% increase on last year’s numbers, and sees a $5.9 billion of the sales coming from auctions, beating out competitor Sotheby’s, which achieved a sales total of $5.1 billion at auction. The auction house also boasted considerable increases in sales for each region worldwide. (more…)
ArtNet has published its annual list of the Top 10 Highest Selling Artists for 2013, with Andy Warhol once again the top of the list, with a yearly sales tally of $427.1 million, aided considerably by the record sale for the artist’s Silver Car Crash last year for $105 million. Warhol was followed closely by Pablo Picasso at $422 million. Also notable is the presence of three Chinese artists in the top ten: Zhang Daqian, Qi Bashi, and Zao Wou-Ki, respectively. (more…)
Christie’s London art auction next month will see the sale of another iconic Francis Bacon painting, a portrait of the painter’s lover George Dyer, which is estimated to sell for $49 million. “These sellers understand margins, and the uplift can be colossal,” says dealer Alan Hobart. “The auction houses have the buyers at the top end of the market. It’s globalized money. Bacon is now an auction commodity.” (more…)
The Wall Street Journal reports that two sources close to the record-setting sale of a Francis Bacon triptych last year at Christie’s have said that the work was purchased by Elaine Pascal Wynn, the billionaire ex-wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn. While her motives are unclear, sources state that she purchased the work through dealer Bill Acquavella, who placed the $127 million bid by phone. (more…)
A number of deals and arrangements made this month have signaled that the centuries-old artistic bastion of Paris may have begun its rise to the highest levels of the international art market. A classic Modigliani has sold for over €6.5 million, the highest price paid for a painting in France this year, and comes alongside news of a record €44 million tally for sales in France by Sotheby’s in 2013, while Christie’s showed similar success and a €56 million sales total for the year. (more…)
Sotheby’s first auction in mainland China closed today with an impressive final sales tally of over $37 million. The final results included a record-setting $14,725,457 final price for Zao Wou-Ki’s 1958 canvas, Abstraction. (more…)
Leon Black, the head of Apollo Global Management LLC, has been named in the top 10 of Art & Auction magazine’s list of the 10 most powerful art world participants for the first time this year. Black, who purchased Edvard Munch’s The Scream for a record setting $120 million in 2010, joined a list headed by Jeff Koons, whose balloon dog auction this month places him as the highest-selling living artist. Other inclusions include dealers Larry Gagosian and David Zwirner. (more…)
The recent Sotheby’s auction of jewels designed by sculptor Alexander Calder broke all estimates at auction last week, selling for the total of $8 million, far beyond the works’ estimated $1.5 million price tag. “This is a major development in the market for artists’ jewellery,” says specialist dealer Louisa Guinness. (more…)
Francis Bacon, Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969), Image via Christie’s
Tonight, the week of Post War & Contemporary Art Evening Sales commence with Phillips kicking off the week long auctions. After last week’s mixed results in sales, with Christie’s and Sotheby’s hosting their respective Impressionist & Modern Art Sales, the contemporary art offerings will provide a more definitive litmus test of the international art market’s power and predilections. A great deal of press and attention has been drawn to the forthcoming sales, both nationally and internationally, attributed to exceptional offerings in all three houses, and a multitude of enormous price tags to accompany the museum-quality works.
Andy Warhol, Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) (1963), Image via Sotheby’s (more…)
Tobias Meyer Opens the Sale, via Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed
“So, the market is alive, right?” This was the closing statement from Sotheby’s auctioneer Tobias Meyer last night at the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale. The sale totaled $290 million – the second highest ever achieved at Sotheby’s for an Impressionist and Modern Art Sale, and its fourth consecutive Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art that had a sell-through rate of 80%.
Pablo Picasso, Tête de Femme (1935), via Sotheby’s (more…)
Oscar Murillo, Untitled (2012), via Phillips
The Phillips Contemporary Art Evening Sale wrapped tonight in London, kicking off another edition of Frieze week auctions in the British capital. Running efficiently through the 38 lot auction, the first in the week’s three nights of sales achieved strong, if not expectable results. With the events of Frieze week as a major draw for collectors around the world, Phillips had little problem finding new buyers for all but 6 of the works on sale, with 10 lots selling well above their maximum estimates.
Tauba Auerbach, Untitled (Fold) (2011), via Phillips (more…)
On November 12th in New York, Christie’s will offer a classic triptych by Francis Bacon of fellow artist Lucien Freud, estimated to sell for an artist record of $95 million. The piece comes from an unidentified European collection, and is one of only two Bacon triptychs of Freud. It has never been on the auction block before. (more…)
An auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong location has set a new record for the highest selling Asian contemporary artwork, after painter Zeng Fanzhi’s The Last Supper achieved a $23.3 million final price, more than doubling its estimate. It sold as part of an evening contemporary art auction that achieved an impressive total of $145 million in sales. (more…)
Paul McCarthy’s WS has become the Park Avenue Armory’s second most well-attended show at the venue’s history, having already drawn 11,000 visitors since its opening last month. The work, already gaining major press for its challenging subject matter, runs until August 4th. “There’s a much narrower potential audience for this than for most things we’ve done before,” says Armory President Rebecca Robertson, “so I think the attendance we’re seeing is very strong.” (more…)
Alexander Gilkes takes the Podium at Phillips to Begin the Auction
Last evening, Philips held its contemporary art sale at its Park Avenue headquarters, offering a total of 37 lots. The sale concludes a very successful run of strong contemporary art auctions in New York during the past week, and the saleroom was high in energy and anticipation as a result, a clear carryover of enthusiasm from the ground-breaking sale held at Christie’s the previous evening. (more…)
Pollock’s Number 19 Sells to Applause at Christie’s, via Charles Shoener for Art Observed
Christie’s contemporary evening sale made history last night in grand style, storming through its 72 lots to realize a world record $495 Million sales total that included new auction records for Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and 13 other artists, aided auction house’s impressively assembled catalog. Hailing a “new era in the art market,” according to auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen, the show achieved an almost unheard of sell-through rate of 94%, with only four works failing to find buyers. The sale also continues Christie’s growing dominance in the auction market, eclipsing the previous night’s sale at Sotheby’s with little difficulty.
The top selling lot of the night, Jackson Pollock’s Number 19, 1948 (1948), via Christie’s
World renowned auctioneer Tobias Meyer during the sale of the Yves Klein sculpture, which ultimately sold for $22 Million
Sotheby’s hosted its contemporary evening auctions last night, with Principal Auctioneer and Head of Contemporary art Tobias Meyer coaxing the audience through the sales with high energy and style. The sale, which totaled at $293.6 million, trumps last year’s spring auction of $266.6 million, while falling short of the auction house’s record high of $375 million last November. (more…)
