Records were broken for women artists and for artists of colour, continuing a trend of the past several seasons at Christie’s sale of the Gerald Fineberg Collection in New York last night. The evening achieved $153,053,300, bringing the total for the Spring Marquee Week to $878,066,496, with a final sale remaining. Christopher Wool’s Untitled made $10,070,000 and was the top lot of the evening. There were notable results for Gerhard Richter’s Badende which made $9,610,000; Pablo Picasso’s Buste d’homme lauré which mde $8,460,000 and a Joan Mitchell abstraction Untitled which made $6,584,000.
Jean-Michel Basquiat – El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile) made $67,110,000
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile) was the top lot at Christie’s 21st Century evening sale in New York last night. It made $67,110,000 in an auction of 26 lots which brought in $98,802,500, selling 96% by lot and 123% hammer against low estimate. More than one third of lots set artist records; five were set for female artists – Robin F. Williams, Simone Leigh, Danielle McKinney, Rebecca Ackroyd, and Diane Arbus – as well as records for Vojt?ch Kova?ík, El Anatsui, Peter Saul, and William Eggleston (for a single work).
Combined with the successful sale of the S.I. Newhouse Collection and the 20th Century Evening Sale on May 11 and the series of Day Sales May 12 – 13, this auction brought Christie’s running total for its 20th and 21st Century Spring Marquee Week auctions to $725,013,196.
Masterpieces from the S.I. Newhouse collection and the 20th century evening sale brought in $506,571,600 at Christie’s in New York last night. The evening began with 16 works from the collection of S.I. Newhouse, which achieved a total of $177,792,000, selling 100% by lot, and 105.6% by low estimate. With this sale, the Collection of S.I. Newhouse is now established as the sixth highest collection total of all time, combined with a total of $237,975,000 made during sales in 2018 and 2019. Highlights included Francis Bacon’s 1969 Self-Portrait, which made $34,622,500, and Willem de Kooning’s Orestes, which brought $30,885,000.
The 20th Century Evening Sale offered works from a strong group of estates and private collections. The top lot was Henri Rousseau’s, Les Flamants, which made $43,535,000. Les Flamants – a rare example with impeccable provenance – soared past the artists’ previous record of $4,400,000 set in 1993, bringing $43,535,000. Other highlights included, Pablo Picasso’s Nature morte à la fenêtre, which sold for $41,810,000; Ed Ruscha’s Burning Gas Station, which made $22,260,000; Georgia O’Keeffe’s Black Iris VI, which sold for $21,110,000, and David Hockney’s The Gate, which realised $19,385,000.
This large scale 1932 portrait of Marie-Therese Walter will highlight Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York on May 11. Nature morte a la fenetre was painted during a pivotal year for Picasso, who reached an extraordinary peak of creativity in 1932. Marie-Therese came to dominate every aspect of his output in the early 1930’s. This is one of the first works of an exceptional series devoted to her. One of them, Femme assise pres d’une fenetre (Marie-Therese), sold for $103 million in 2021. The painting here was shown at the Picasso retrospective in Paris in the summer of 1932 after which it was exhibited at his inaugural museum show in Zurich. It remained in his personal collection for the rest of his life, hidden from public view until the 1980’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $41,810,000
Haze Days by Yoshitomo Nara at Sotheby’s. THIS WAS UNSOLD
The explosion of creativity in the art world in the first two decades of the 20th century has not been matched in the 21st. and it is interesting to speculate about why. A century ago the world was newly enriched by Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Abstraction, Suprematism and the rest. In the global village of today, development of the shock of the new in art does not seem to have occurred at the hectic pace of technology and other groundbreaking disciplines. Are artists stupefied by the pace of change in the world all around them? In a world where wonder is taken for granted is visual surprise and delight degraded?
Geniuses like David Hockney have demonstrated the infinite possibilities of digital art but it is not as yet a significant art market sector. It looks as if NFT’s have gone the way of cryptocurrency for now. The most innovative market focus is on overlooked women artists, non western art, ethnic, tribal and minority groups but art needs innovation, not political correctness. The impressive selection of Impressionist, Modern, Post-Modern and Contemporary art will come under the hammer at the big New York spring sales in May are mostly of the 20th century. Highly significant art from major collections like Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, legendary Condé Nast co owner S.I. Newhouse and Warner Bros. Records executive Mo Ostin, among whose signings were The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Joni Mitchell, R.E.M. and Madonna, will boost these sales.
L’Empire des Lumieres by Rene Magritte from the Mo Ostin collection at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE$42,273,000
All the big names, from Picasso, Matisse and Magritte to Georgia O’Keeffe, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama and Jean Michel Basquiat are here along with less well known but seriously doing well relative newcomers like Wayne Thiebaud and Yoshitomo Nara. But the art of today, which both auction houses have been busily promoting, is represented by just 51 lots, 27 at the 21st Century evening sale at Christie’s on May 15 and 24 at the Now evening sale at Sotheby’s on May 18.
Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $4,890,000
The Christie’s auction will be headed up by a Basquiat (born in 1960, died in 1986). There is a pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama (born in 1929), a box of ten photographs by Diane Arbus (1923-1971), a take on a Velazquez painting by Jeff Koons (born 1955), Prophet by El Anatsui (born 1944) and Untitled (We will no longer be your favourite disappearing act) by Barbara Kruger (born 1945). Art in this sale by Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and other younger artists like Vojtek Kovarik and Louis Fratino (both born in 1993) will definitely reward serious study but seems rooted in the 20th century. A powerful 1998 work by Yoshito Nara titled Haze Days will highlight the Now auction at Sotheby’s. This monumental rendering of a bandaged child – furious, foreboding and wonderfully appealing – embodies the contradictions of our culture and ourselves. The eyes have it and it is no surprise that these angst laden paintings sell for many millions of dollars. There is arresting art by Simone Leigh, Jonas Wood, Matthew Wong, Julien Nguyen, Mark Grotjahn, Kerry James Marshall, Mark Bradford, Rudolf Stingel and other names that might not yet be so well known. With this sale Sotheby’s has set out to offer heightened visibility and a relevant art historical context for a new generation of younger artists but it is the artists themselves who need to forge new paths.
Burning gas station by Ed Ruscha at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $22,260,000
HENRI ‘LE DOUANIER’ ROUSSEAU (1844-1910) – Les Flamants. UPDATE: THIS MADE $43,535,000
Les Flamants by Henri Rousseau is poised to make a new auction record for the artist when it comes up at Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York on May 15. Estimated at $20,000,000–30,000,000. – far exceeding the current record of $4.4 million set three decades ago at Christie’s in London – Les Flamants is from the estate of Payne Whitney Middleton. It has been in the family since 1949.
Max Carter, Christie’s Vice Chairman, 20th and 21st Century Art, said: “A legend among the Parisian avant-garde, Henri Rousseau is perhaps the rarest major artist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the fewer than 240 attributed oils in the definitive catalogues by Dora Vallier and Henry Certigny, the number of privately owned paintings with provenance traced to Rousseau can be counted on two hands. Among them there is only one monumental jungle vision, Les Flamants, which hung for many years in Joan Whitney Payson’s living room opposite Van Gogh’s Irises. In 1954, five years after the family acquired Les Flamants, Rousseau’s The Dream reportedly became the most expensive acquisition in MoMA’s history. At the time, one of Rousseau’s masterpieces appearing on the market was an event. Today it is once-in-a-lifetime.”
HENRI MATISSE (1869-1954) – Jazz, Tériade, Paris, 1947 the complete set of twenty pochoirs in colors, 1947 $400,000-600,00
A single owner collection with over four hundred lots of Twentieth Century editions is to be sold by Christie’s across a series of live and online sales in April. The sales on April 18-19 are anchored by an unprecedented selection of complete portfolios, including an exceptionally rare example of Barnett Newman’s Cantos ($2,000,000-3,000,000), David Hockney’s A Rake’s Progress ($250,000-3,50,000), and Andy Warhol’s Flowers ($2,000,000-3,000,000),. Modern highlights from the collection include Henri Matisse’s Jazz ($400,000-600,000), El Lissitzky’s Victory Over the Sun ($200,000 – 300,000) and a rich selection of prints by László Moholy-Nagy.
Other artists featured in depth include Donald Judd, Jasper Johns, Josef Albers, Blinky Palermo, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinksy among many others. Assembled over decades many of these works are coming to market for the first time in several years. The collection of one of the most important selections of Prints and Multiples to ever be auctioned is billed by Christie’s as The Sale of the Century: An Important Corporate Collection of Prints and Multiples. The collection is expected to achieve more than $10,000,000.
HARRY WINSTON ‘THE BRIOLETTE OF INDIA’ DIAMOND AND DIAMOND NECKLACE Briolette cut diamond of 90.38 carats, marquise and pear shaped diamonds, platinum, two portions of the chain are detachable and may be worn as bracelets, pendant detachable, unsigned, one bracelet with maker’s mark (Jacques Timey). UPDATE: THIS MADE €6,514,119
With a pre-sale estimate of more than $150 million the exquisite jewellery collection of the late Mrs. Heidi Horten (1941-2022) is the largest and most valuable ever to come to auction. It is poised to join and eclipse the previous record sales at Christie’s for The Elizabeth Taylor Collection (2011) and the Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction (2019), which are the only two jewellery collections to date to achieve more than $100 million.
Consigned by the Heidi Horten Estate and coming up in Geneva on May 12 the collection will be devoted to philanthropy, per Mrs. Horten’s wishes. All proceeds will benefit The Heidi Horten Foundation, established in 2020 to support the museum of modern and contemporary art she founded in Vienna, Austria — The Heidi Horten Collection as well as medical research and other philanthropic activities, which have been supported by her for many decades.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
The stunning 90 carat Briolette of India Diamond Necklace by Harry Winston, originally sold by Cartier in 1909
A Three Strand Natural Pearl Necklace also by Harry Winston, highlighted by a cushion shaped pink diamond clasp of 11 carats
The Sunrise Ruby and Diamond ring of 25 carats by Cartier, pigeon blood in colour and of exceptional purity
A very important selection of Bulgari creations from the 1970s to present day, retracing more than five decades of the firm’s signature Italian craftsmanship
An exceptional Diamond Bracelet by Harry Winston
The Great Mughal Emerald Pendant Necklace by Harry Winston
Heidi Horten wearing her important pearl necklace
Heidi Horten (née Jelinek) was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. She attended the Hospitality Management School of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and went on to work as a secretary in a Viennese law firm. From an early age, Heidi Horten was exposed to objects of great beauty, first through her father, who was an engraver, and later during her first marriage (to Helmut Horten), when she began to refine her eye for jewellery and works of art. After Mr. Horten’s death, Mrs. Horten was passionately involved in areas as diverse as social welfare, sports and medical research, which had been supported by her for decades. As of the 1990s, Mrs. Horten began building her private collection of modern and contemporary art. Her first significant independent art purchases were works by Moise Kiesling and Emmanuel Mané-Katz, acquired at auction in Tel Aviv in 1994. Her collection grew steadily over the following two decades, and, in 2018, was first unveiled to the public when a selection of 175 works was presented at the Leopold Museum under the title WOW! Moved by the tremendous success of the exhibition, Mrs. Horten began to plan for the future of her artworks, establishing a permanent home for them at The Heidi Horten Collection, modern art museum in Vienna. The grand opening took place on June 2, 2022, which Mrs. Horten proudly attended online, just ten days before she passed away.
UPDATE: THE SALE REALISED A TOTAL OF US$201,520,895
The magnificent jewels of Anne Eisenhower featuring the iconic‘Jarretière’ ruby and diamond braceletacquired by Marlene Dietrich in 1937 from Van Cleef & Arpels will be sold by Christie’s in New York on June 7. Worn by the actress in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950 murder mystery ‘Stage Fright’ it was purchased by Ms. Eisenhower in 1992 – making its way from one iconic collection to another. Anne Eisenhower was, according to Christie’s, as known for her humble character as for her undeniable glamour, the late philanthropist and designer approached all aspects of her life with that same sense of effortless grace. When asked by Architectural Digest in 1990 – the same year she was named one of the publication’s Top 100 designers — to describe her interior design style the granddaughter of the late US President responded: ‘Traditional, but for today’s living: comfortable, with a “lived-in” look; uncluttered without appearing austere.’
A tour of the collection will begin in Los Angeles and continue to Paris, Geneva, and Hong Kong. Additional jewels offered from the collection will come up at an online sale open from May 30 to June 8.
LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA (1886–1968) – Classe de chats ‘Foujita 1949 COURTESY CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LIMITED 2023
The first private museum in Japan dedicated to the works of Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita has been helped by the private sales department at Christie’s in New York to acquire a major picture by the artist. Classe de chats is on display in the Ando Museum of Art in Karuizawa, Japan until September 12 next 2023 as part of the exhibition Tsuguharu Foujita: Room for Cats and Girls.
Cats played an important role for Foujita on a personal level and in his art. He depicted them with tenderness on their own, as companions in portraiture, and later in life as anthropomorphic animals in lively scenes. Animals with humanlike qualities had populated the myths of his childhood, and are famously depicted in ukiyo-e prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, but also from Western sources, such as La Fontaine’s Fables. Classe de chats ranks among the masterpieces Foujita painted during his one-year stay in New York in 1949. A New York paper declared then that: “No living artist can depict cats in action whilst capturing such variety of expression.”
