antiquesandartireland.com

Black Fire I by Barnett Newman made $84,165,000.

THE $744,944,000 achieved at Christie’s evening sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York on May 13 represents the highest total in art market history. The top lot was Black Fire I, a sublime Abstract Expressionist masterpiece by Barnett Newman (1905-1970). It sold for $84,165,000, doubling the previous record for the artist. Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards sold for $80,805,000.

Two contemporary sales at Christies on May 12 and 13 achieved a combined total of $879,574,000 with a sell through rate of 98% by value and 95% by lot.  Bidders from 35 countries competed. With a wide range of examples from the collections of Edwin A. and Lindy Bergman, the Estate of Anita Reiner, Phillip Schrager, Frances R. Dittmer, and institutions such as the E.ON Art Collection in Düsseldorf, and The Art Institute of Chicago, collectors competed for works with the best quality and significant provenance. The two evening sales established 26 new world auction records, selling two works over $80million, four over $50million, 12 over $20 million, 19 over $10 million and 86 over $1 million. 80% of the lots were completely new to the auction market.

Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art said: “The sales so far this week have demonstrated the growing appetite for contemporary art across the global marketplace. From the highest number of visitors to our online space to the 12,500 people visiting our public exhibitions, from the volume of bidders in the sales themselves to the significant number of new artist records set, we are seeing unprecedented momentum in the market as the desire to connect with great art continues to grow.”

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

Untitled by Martin Kippenberger made a world record price of $18.6 million.

Headed by Martin Kippenberger at $18.6 million there were world auction records for no less than 16 artists at Christie’s contemporary art sale entitled “If I Life I’ll see you Tuesday”  in New York last night.  The sale of work by emerging and established artists attracted worldwide participation and brought in $134.6 million.  An untitled work by Kippenberger made a world record price of $16,645,000 after six minutes of bidding in the room and on the phone.  Peter Doig’s Road House made $11,925,000, a world record for the artist  and Nurse at Greenmeadow by Richard Prince  made a world record for the artist of $8,565,000.

Among the other artists who set records were Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, On Kawara, Glen Ligon, Adam McEwen and Thomas Schutte.  Contemporary masters also saw strong demand with fierce competition from a largely international collector base. There were 350 registered bidders from 26 countries.

Pablo Picasso
Le Sauvetage
Painted in 1932

Picasso’s Le Sauvetage sold for $31.5 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night. It was the top lot in an Impressionist and Modern art auction that achieved $219 million.  The work more than doubled the price it made at Sotheby’s in 2004.  Asian collectors contributed 30% of the auction total and bought eight lots for a total of $63.9 million.  Among these were  Henri Matisse’s La Séance du matin ($19,205,000), Claude Monet’s Le Pont japonais  ($15,845,000) and  Alberto Giacometti’s La Place ($13,045,000). The impact of Asian collectors was felt throughout the sale.

Le Sauvetage, which had a high estimate of $18 million, was the subject of a prolonged bidding battle.  Alberto Giacometti’s La Place, his first multi-figural sculpture, made $13,045,000 and Femme de Venise V from the collection of Jan Krugier made $8,789,000. All five works by Giacometti were sold, for a total of $35.1 million.  Three works by Monet totalled $28 million.  Monet’s Sur la Falaise à Pourville, sold to benefit the Acquisitions Fund of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, made $8,229,000, surpassing its high estimate of $7 million.  Over the last three years, property from American museums has outperformed high estimates by a combined $100 million at Sotheby’s.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 30, 2014).