Major artists including Richter, Basquiat, Bacon, Freud and Bridget Riley will feature at Sotheby’s Contemporary art evening auction in London on February 15. The sale is expected to realise more than £35.5 million at hammer.
Sotheby’s, which achieved a global sales total of $1.17 billion for contemporary art in 2011, leads the market in this field said Cheyenne Westphal, the company’s chairman for contemporary art, Europe. “Attesting to last year’s successes the evening auction we have been able to assemble this winter will be led by numerous desireable and fresh to market artworks by internationally collected blue-chip artists”. Here are some to whet the appetite:
Gerhard Richter (b1932). Eis (Ice), signed and dated 1981. The work, based on a photograph taken on a solo retreat in Greenland in 1972, captures Richter's struggle with his marriage and the exodus from his troubled life in Dusseldorf to a Polar haven. (£2-3 million). Click to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £5,147,674.
Gerhard Richter (b.1932) Abstraktes Bild (Rot) signed and dated 1991. For this work the artist employed a squeegee as his primary tool. (£2.5-3.5 million). Click to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £4,073,250.
Bridget Riley (b.1931) Tabriz, signed and dated 1984. (£250,000 - 350,0000. Click to enlarge. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £457,250.
Jean Michael Basquiat (1960-1988) Orange Sports Figure from 1982 (£3-4 million). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £4,073,250