Peter Doig’s Cobourg 3 + 1 More
The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction at Christie’s in London totalled £96,384,000. The top price of the evening was for Peter Doig’s Cobourg 3 + 1 More, which saw determined bidding in the saleroom and on the phone and sold for £12,709,000. Mark Rothko’s No. 1 (1949) made £10,693,000. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Self Portrait, from the collection of U2’s Adam Clayton made £2,225,000. The appeal of contemporary European masters was demonstrated by Jean Dubuffet’s painting Être et poraître (To Be and to Seem) which made £10,021,000.
Edmond Francey, Head of Department, Post-War and Contemporary Art, London said: “The exceptional sell-through rates of 95% by lot and 98% by value demonstrate that Christie’s is able to anticipate and meet the demands of the market today. The prices achieved for American artists demonstrate that they are a significant force and London is an international platform, with top prices achieved for Carl Andre, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol. Jean Dubuffet was another major highlight selling above estimate. The evening opened with record prices at auction for Wolfgang Tillmans, currently the subject of a celebrated retrospective at Tate Modern, quickly followed by records for Cecily Brown, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Henry Taylor, Albert Oehlen, Carol Rama and Günther Uecker.”
The total to date for 20th Century at Christie’s series of sales is £258,313,636.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 10, 2017).