Gerhard Richter – Abstraktes Bild
Gerhard Richter’s monumental Abstraktes Bild from 1987 led Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening sale in New York last night. It made $32 million in an auction which totalled $362.2 million. This was up 17% on November 2017. With 97% of lots sold it was Sotheby’s fourth consecutive art evening auction in New York with a sell through rate of over 95%. Sales from the collection of David Teiger have now crossed $100 million and more auctions from his collection will be held in 2019.
Grégoire Billaut, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Department in New York, said: “Tonight’s results were among the best we have ever achieved, and reinforced the strong and consistent market we have experienced throughout the fall. From a record Contemporary Curated sale in September to our best online sale to-date and a 100%-sold Day Auction in Hong Kong, the market continues to grow across price levels. We saw a depth of bidding throughout the sale from buyers around the globe, and achieved great records for some very deserving names. Our goal is always to deliver for our consignors, and we did just that with an exceptional sell-through rate.”
David Hockney Montcalm Interior with 2 Dogs sold for $12.7 million
Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled (Pollo Frito) sold for $25.7 million