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Georgia O’Keeffe – Jimson Weed, White Flower No. I, 1932.

There was a new world record price of $44.4 million dollars for a female artist in New York today. Georgia O’Keeffe’s iconic flower painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, 1932, achieved a remarkable $44,405,000, more than three times the previous world auction record for any female artist at Sotheby’s auction of American Art.

Seven bidders took part in a contest that became a prolonged battle between two determined potential buyers.  They drove the work to a record price.  It eventually sold on the phone to Lisa Dennison, Chairman, Sotheby’s North and South America.

Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 is a well-known example of O’Keeffe’s celebrated flower paintings, which in turn stand among the most recognisable images in both art history and popular culture. The painting is one of three works by the artist that are on offer today from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which are being sold to benefit its Acquisitions Fund.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 14, 2014)

AN online sale of work by Sam Francis runs at Christie’s until December 2.  The sale comprises 76 lots by the celebrated abstract painter and printmaker. It represents three decades of the distinctive West Coast abstraction of this Californian born artist, from 1960-90. It includes exceptional prints, rare colour trial proofs and monotypes and a selection of acrylics on paper and canvas. Estimates range from £1,000 to £60,000.

Sam Francis – La Primavera Fredda (Cold Spring) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014 (£5,000-7,000).

Sam Francis – Untitled 1986 (£45,000-60,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

Sam Francis – Yunan State IV, 1971 courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014 (£2,000-3,000).

The winter Irish art selling season kicks off  at Whyte’s in Dublin on November 24.  Their  auction of Important Irish Art with 194 lots encompasses a broad cross section of Irish visual creativity.  The venue for the sale is the RDS and the catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

Markey Robinson (1918-1999) – Entering the Old City (5,000-7,000).

Colin Middleton (1910-1983) – The Witch of Mullaghderg (20,000-30,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) – Little Boy playing at God (15,000-20,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 24,000

Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878-1964) – Cottage (2,000-3,000).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 2,600

Aloysius O’Kelly (1853-1936) The Desert Charge ( 6,000-8,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,500

A portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck of the musician Hendrick Liberti – in the collection of King Charles I at Whitehall by 1639 – highlights Christie’s Old Master and British paintings sale in London on December 2.  Unseen for almost a century it was lat sold at auction at Christie’s by the 8th Duke of Grafton in 1923.  The estimate is £2.5-3.5 million. The auction of 36 fresh to the market works includes a beautifully preserved and little known masterpiece of Willem van de Velde the Younger’s early maturity, A kaag and other vessels off an inlet on the Dutch coast, 1661 (£1.2-1.8 million); a view of  Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi on the Grand Canal by Giovanni Antonio Canal, il Canaletto (£800,000-1.2 million); two rarely treated subjects by Pieter Brueghel the Younger: A country brawl, 1610 and The Good Shepherd (£700,000-1 million and £800,000-1.2 million respectively); a classic view of The Molo, Venice by Michele Giovanni Marieschi  (£500,000-800,000) and a selection of early Flemish works including a Portrait of a young nobleman by Joos van Cleve (£400,000-600,000) and a Holy Family by Jan Provoost  (£250,000-350,000).

Sir Anthony van Dyck – Portrait of Hendrick Liberti.  UPDATE: THIS SO.D FOR £2,882,500

Pieter Breughel the Younger – The Good Shepherd

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Triple Elvis

Christie’s has once again secured the highest total in auction history with a sales total of $852,887,000 at the Post War and Contemporary Art auction in New York last night. Andy Warhol’s Triple Elvis and Four Marlons led the sale at $81.9 and $69.6 million. There were eleven new world auction records in a sale which attracted registered buyers from 43 countries. Three works sold for over $50 million,  23 for over $10 million and 69 for over $1 million.  Cy Twombly’s Untitled sold for $69.6 million, a world auction record for the artist.  Francis Bacon’s Seated Figure made $44.9 million. The other artists in the top ten were, in order, Gerhard Richter,  Ed Ruscha, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jeff Koons and Martin Kippenberger.

“This was a sale of extraordinary quality and range, with every major artist represented by at least one masterwork,” said Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art. “The landmark sale result achieved tonight is a reflection of both growing global enthusiasm and demand in this category and a virtuous cycle of confidence in the art market that brings a fresh supply of exciting, high-quality works into the market with each new season.”

Steven Murphy, Christie’s Chief Executive Officer stated: “This is truly a moment in art history. Tonight’s result is a testimony to the depth of interest in art across the globe, and to the talent of the Christie’s team.  This sale may have produced an eye catching number, but record museum attendance and record art sales at Christie’s on every continent in all areas and price levels proves that enjoying works of art has become a universal pursuit in our time.”

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for October 2, 16 and 30, 2014).

Mark Rothko
No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange)
signed and dated 1953 on the reverse

A sales total of $343,677,000 million was achieved at Sotheby’s sale of Contemporary Art in New York last night. This brings the sales total of November evening sales to $460.3 million including works from the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon on the previous evening. Last night Mark Rothko’s No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange) from the Schulmberger collection sold for $45 million and Jasper Johns Flag sold for $36 million, a new auction record for the artist.  The sell through rate was 85.9% with buyers from 38 countries with participation from Latin America and Asia.

Other Schlumberger Collection works that performed well included Jean Dubuffet’s Cité Fantoche which set a record for the artist when it sold for $7,445,000.  Top prices for Andy Warhol portraits included Liz #3 (Early Colored Liz) which sold for $31,525,000, Brigitte Bardot from the Gunter Sachs Collection sold for $11,645,000, and Self-Portrait (Fright Wig) fetched $11,365,000.  There were strong prices for abstraction.   Untitled by Robert Ryman made $15,005,000, doubling the previous record for the artist, Richter’s Abstraktes Bild from 1991 made $21,445,000, Halloween Fell on a Weekend by Christopher Wool made $8,005,000 and an Untitled Cy Twombly work on paper attracted competition from six bidders before  selling for $5,205,000.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 6, 2014)