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There will be a chance to nab a bargain at no reserves store room sale by Fonsie Mealy which takes place at the Avalon Hotel, Castlecomer on February 19. The auctioneers say that Making Room will be of considerable interest to collectors and interior decorators. The catalogue, which lists 469 lots, is online.
Post War and Contemporary Art brought in £56.1 million at Christie’s in London this evening. Andy Warhol’s ‘Athletes’ series from the Richard L. Weisman Collection was 100% sold, led by the sale’s top lot, Mohammed Ali (£4,973,250). The ten portraits headlined a group of 13 works by the artist that also included Knives (£2,752,148), Flowers, part of ‘Art for Future: Selected Works from the UniCredit Group’ (£2,111,250) and Brillo Soap Pads Box (£383,250).
Three works by Jean Dubuffet from the 1950s, 60s and 70s traced the artistic development throughout the artist’s oeuvre: Alentour la maison (1957, £1,271,250), La robe à boutons (1961: £1,571,250) and Panorama (1978, £2,171,250). Other results includedf Sean Scully’s Wall of Light Red Bar (£1,031,250) and Bridget Riley’s Gaillard (£2,291,250). The sale achieved sell through rates of 98% by lot and 99% by value.
David Hockney’s The Splash made £23.1 million in a sale of Contemporary Art that brought in £92.4 million at Sotheby’s in London tonight. This is the third highest price for the artist. Executed in 1966 the painting first appeared at auction in Sotheby’s London salesroom in 1973, and again in 2006 when it sold for £2.9 million – a record price for Hockney at the time. Nine of the top ten top prices for Hockney have been set in the past two years.
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT’S Rubber sold for £7,487,600; FRANCIS BACON’S Turning Figure sold for £7,032,000; CHRISTOPHER WOOL’S Untitled achieved £6,156,809 and YVES KLEIN’S Anthropometry, (ANT 132) realised £6,177,750.
ADRIAN GHENIE’S The Arrival made £4,184,500 / $5,401,353. The top 11 prices for the artist have been set since 2016. WAYNE THIEBAUD’S Californian Fruit Stand made £1,815,000 and there was a new world record for A R Penck’s Welt des Adlers I (/World of the Eagle 1) when it sold for £531,000 BANKSY’S Vote to Love more than doubled its pre-sale estimate to £1,155,000.
The Contemporary Art day sale at Sotheby’s in London on February 12 will feature two works by Sean Scully, Pink Three (£200,000-300,000) and 8.20.89 (£50,000-70,000). UPDATE: PINK THREE WAS UNSOLD, 8.20.89 MADE £62,500.
With its otherworldly elongated forms and instantly recognisable proto-modern style the art of El Greco continues to fascinate. His View of Toledo from about 1598-99, normally at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is to travel to the Art Institute of Chicago for a major exhibition titled El Greco: Ambition and Defiance to run from March 7 to June 21. Born in Crete and trained as an icon painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos moved to Venice in 1567 and later sought patronage within the papal circle. El Greco’s outspoken criticism of Michelangelo meant he received no commissions from the church during the six years he spent in Rome from 1570-1576. He moved to Toledo in 1577 and earned a major commission for an altarpiece now in the collection of the Art Institute. After falling out with the powers that be at Toledo Cathedral he embarked on a career as a portraitist. The Chicago show, organised jointly with the Reunion des musees nationaux, Grand Palais, Paris and The Louvre, will bring together over 55 paintings and sculptures from the output of this remarkable Old Master.
Hockney, Klein, Bacon, Warhol and Basquiat are among the artists whose work will loom large at major contemporary art evening sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London next week.At this moment of uncertainty and unease about the future there is no shortage of rich pickings for wealthy and institutional collectors. Sotheby’s has Hockney’s The Splash and one of Yves Klein’s first performance paintings, Christie’s has Andy Warhol’s Athletes.The Splash, featured on these pages two weeks ago, is the standout work at Sotheby’s evening sale of 47 works next Tuesday evening. Estimated at £20-30 million it is the second in a series of three splash paintings that secured Hockey’s international reputation. Like Hockney’s splash Turning Figure by Francis Bacon, estimated at £6-8 million, contrasts an explosion of movement with a background that is utterly still.There is a similar estimate on Yves Klein’s Untitled Anthropometry, a work created during one of Klein’s first art performances at his Paris studio in 1960. During the show Klein instructed nude female models coated in his patented blue IKB pigment to press their bodies against large sheets of paper. Transforming the human figure into a living brush this work is considered rare for its grand scale and the inclusion of two full figures. There are notable works on offer from artists like Jean Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, Damien Hirst, KAWS, Roy Lichtenstein, Kerry James Marshall, Grayson Perry, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley and others.At Christie’s on Wednesday evening a Warhol of Mohammed Ali is estimated at £3-5 million. From the collection of Richard L. Weisman Warhol’s Athletes is comprised of ten multicoloured portraits of stars like Pele, Chris Evert, O.J. Simpson and Jack Nicklaus. Ali dates to 1977. The series is presented at Christie’s alongside Flowers from 1964 (£1-1.5 million), Warhol’s Knives (£2.5-3.5 million) and Brillo Soap Pads Box (£300,000-500,000).Jean Dubuffet’s Panorama, 1978 (£2-3 million) is an example of his theatres of memory, a reflective series created in the last decade of the artist’s life. It is one of three works by Dubuffet in the sale. Albert Oehlen’s Mission Rohrfrei (£1.8-2.5 million) from 1996 is among the most abstract and explosive of his Remixes derived from Oehlen’s obsession with an obscure painting by John Grahama largely forgotten figure who played an important role in Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist circles in mid-century America.
A timed online auction of accessible at from Ireland and around the world runs at Whyte’s until February 17. Among the leading Irish artists represented are Jack Yeats, Louis le Brocquy, Estella Solomons, Colin Middleton, Seán McSweeney and Markey Robinson. Estimates range from €50 to €1,000, with most under €500.
A timed auction is similar to EBay auctions but “sniping” (last split second bidding by programmes) is prevented by ten minute wait periods. The sale will be on view at Whyte’s at Molesworth St., Dublin from February 12-14 and on February 17. The catalogue is online.
The Impressionist and Modern Art and Art of the Surreal evening sales at Christie’s in London tonight made £106.8 million. Tamara de Lempicka’s Portrait de Marjorie Ferry made £16.2 million, a new auction record for the artist. It was the top lot and the Polish artist becomes the first female artist to lead an Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale.
George Grosz’s politically charged Gefährliche Straße made a record of £9,740,250 and Rene Magritte’s A la rencontre du plaisir made £18,933,750 to lead The Art of the Surreal evening sale. Trois Hommes qui marchent by Alberto Giacometti made £11.2 million and there were records for Louis Anquetin (£1.3 million) and James Ensor (£815,250). The Impressionist and Modern sale made £62.6 million, The Art of the Surreal made £43.9 million.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for February 1, January 30, January 15 and January 10, 2020)
The first major David Hockney painting to feature at auction in Asia – 30 Sunflowers – will lead Sotheby’s Hong Kong Contemporary Art evening sale on April 6. The work is not unlike Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, while exhibiting a radical and personal approach. Created in 1996 it marks his return to figurative painting after a decade in which he was primarily immersed in photography. 30 Sunflowers will be on view at Sotheby’s London from February 7 – 11. It will then tour to Los Angeles, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Taipei.
The Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist Art sale at Sotheby’s this evening achieved a total of £49.9 million. Camille Pissarro’s Gelee blanche was the top lot of this 33 lot auction. It made £13.29 million over a top estimate of £12 million. This was the second highest auction price for a Pissarro. The painting was one of three works restituted to the heirs of Gaston Levy which together sold for £22.2 million. There were auction records for Jean Metzinger and Pyke Koch. The sale saw strong activity from Asia as well as Europe and the US. Asian collectors bid on one third of lots offered.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for February 1, January 29 and January 13, 2020)
