antiquesandartireland.com

Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Number 19, 1948, sold for $58,363,750. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) – Dustheads sold for $48,843,750. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art auction in New York last night achieved  $495,021,500.  This is the highest total in auction history. The top lot was Number 19, 1948 by Jackson Pollock which was chased by four telephone bidders and sold for $58,363,750. It was last at auction in 1993 when it sold for $2.4 million, and had changed hands since.

Lichtenstein’s Woman with a Flowered Hat made $56,123, 750 and Basquiat’s Dustheads made $48.8 million. All but four of the 70 lots on offer sold.

The auction was notable for the number of bidders willing to climb above $20 million. Jussi Pylkkanen, who was the auctioneer on the evening, commented afterwards that we are in a new era in the art market.

Barnett Newman’s Onement VI sold for $43,845,000. (Click on image to enlarge).

Records were set for Barnett Newman, Gerhard Richter, Nate Lowman, Dan Colen and a sculpture by Yves Klein at Sotheby’s $294 million contemporary evening art sale in New York last night.  The sale was led by Barnett Newman’s Onement VI which sold for $43,845,000 after competition from five bidders. This doubled a world record price set last May at Christie’s. 

Richter’s Domplatz Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan) sold for $37,125,000 – a record for Richter and for any living artist at auction.  The global nature of the art market was underlined in a sale with collectors from 35 countries registered to bid, 20% of them new to either Sotheby’s or the category.  Works by Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons were among 11 of the 64 works on offer which failed to sell.

The auction featured eight works donated by artists and foundations to raise money for the Whitney Museum’s new building at the High Line.  They made $11,806,000, nearly double the high estimate of $6.6 million.  

A sculpture by Yves Klein made with sea sponges drenched in his trademark blue pigment sold for $22 million.  Nate Lowman’s “Black Escalade” made $665,000 over a high estimate of $450,000.  The artist was born in 1979, as was Dan Colen, whose 53rd and 3rd sold for $1,085,000.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 2 and April 20, 2013).

Still Life with Flowers in a Vase by Anne Redpath (1895-1965) at de Veres. The estimate is 80,000-120,000. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

A Still Life of flowers in a vase by celebrated Scottish artist Anne Redpath is the top lot at de Veres Irish and International art auction in Dublin on May 14.  The painting, from a Scottish family living in Dublin who are related to the artist, is estimated at 80,000-100,000.  The work has a completed Still Life – Table Top on the reverse.

TWO paintings from the personal collection of Picasso’s grand daughter are to be sold by Sotheby’s in Paris on June 6.  They date from 1938 and 1943. Palette et Tete de Taureau dates from 1938, a year after Guernica.  It is estimated at 1-1.5 million euro.  Femme Assise en Robe Grise shows Dora Maar with dark rings around her eyes and is estimated at 2.5-3.5 million.

The Picasso sale will benefit causes supported by Marina Picasso – specifically to benefit children and adolescents in difficulty – in line with acts of generosity she has carried out in Vietnam, France and Switzerland.  Prior to the auction they will be shown in New York and Moscow.

PABLO PICASSO PALETTE ET TÊTE DE TAUREAU (1-1.5 million euro). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,393,500

PABLO PICASSO – FEMME ASSISE (FEMME ASSISE EN ROBE GRISE) (2.5-3.5 million euro).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,793,500