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    • Posts Tagged ‘Christie’s’

    NEW WORLD RECORDS FOR BONNARD AND DALI AT CHRISTIES

    Thursday, February 10th, 2011
    There were world records for Bonnard and Dali at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art evening sale and auction of art of the Surreal.  The sales  made £84,879,800, selling 79% by lot and 84% by value, against a pre-sale estimate of £72,580,000 to £107,060,000.
    Purchasers came from 20 different countries with more than 10 clients competing on several lots. The most intense interest was for works released from private collections for the first time. Terrasse à Vernon by Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) realized £7,209,250. It dates from 1923.  Works by Derain and Degas also broke the £5 million barrier.  The four works offered by the Art Institute of Chicago, by Picasso (2), Braque and Matisse, brought in  £10,043,400.
    The Art of the Surreal sale realized £22,999,250. The top price was paid for by L’aimant (The Magnet) by René Magritte (1898-1967) which made £4,745,250. Dalí’s Etude pour ‘Le miel est plus doux que le sang’ from 1926-27 made £4,073,250.
    (See antiquesandartireland.com post for February 7)

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    ART FORTNIGHT IN LONDON

    Monday, February 7th, 2011

    Georges Braque (1882-1963) Nature morte à la guitare (rideaux rouge) signed and dated 'G.Braque 38' is estimated at £3.5-£5.5 million. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £3.9 MILLION

    Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art will change hands in London this fortnight.  Two weeks of major art sales in London begin on  February 8.  It is anticipated that the market recovery will see more than £400m spent on art in the coming days

    Sotheby’s kick off with  with an evening sale of impressionist and modern art and continue into next week with contemporary works. Their 42-lot evening session is estimated at £55-£79 million.  This sale  includes the most expensive lot of the week, Picasso’s “La Lecture”. The high estimate of this portrait of his lover Marie-Thérèse dated 1932 is £18 million. Sotheby’s other evening sale, on Thursday, February 10, is a private collection estimated at £39-£55 million.
    At Christie’s there is an estimate of £73-£109 million for the the Impressionist and Modern  and the Art of the Surreal sales on February 9. This is the second highest pre-sale estimate for the February Impressionist sales at Christie’s in London. The highlight is Nature morte à “L’Espérance”, a still life painted by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) in 1901 while he was living in Tahiti. It is expected to realise £7-£10 million. (See antiquesandartireland.com for January 7) The sale includes four works to be sold by the Art Institute of Chicago (two Picasso’s, a Braque and a Matisse), and will feature the artists Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Fernand Léger.
    Self-portraits by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat will star in contemporary-art auctions in London set to raise at least 72.5 million pounds ($116 million).

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    RECORD BREAKING YEAR AT CHRISTIE’S IN 2010, OUTLOOK GOOD

    Thursday, January 27th, 2011
    Christie’s International has announced worldwide sales for 2010 of £3.3 billion, up 53% on last year’s figure of £2.1 billion (Figures include buyer’s premium). The highest sales total in the 245 year history of the firm, the figure is also the highest annual sales total ever recorded in the industry. Sales totals include private sales of £369.3 million, an increase of 39% on 2009 figures.
    High sell-through rates at all price levels continued to demonstrate the strength and stability of the art market. In 2010, average auction sold rates (by lot) were 79.4%, on a par with 2009 (79.7%).  Results at the higher end of the market saw sell-through rates by lot and value in excess of 90% for works priced between £500,000 and £10 million.
    “2010 was a record-breaking year and early signs of 2011 indicate that the art market remains buoyant at all levels,” said Steven P. Murphy, CEO of Christie’s International. In 2010, the number of new clients who registered for a sale rose 22.7% on 2009 and the number who went on to buy in Christie’s sales increased by 13%.  Hong Kong and China accounted for 7% of total new client registrants.

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    WORLD AUCTION RECORDS FOR BUREAU TABLE AND CHAIR AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

    This Newport, Rhode Island bureau table made $5.6 million at Christie's, New York, a new world record. (click on image to enlarge) © Christie’s Images Limited 2011

    A $5.6 million bureau table and a $662,500 Federal side chair made new world auction records at Christie’s Americana Week 2011 in New York.  The Catherine Goddard Chippendale block and shell carved and figured mahogany bureau table c1765 is attributed to John Goddard (1724-1785), Newport, Rhode Island.  The desk bears all the unique characteristics that make Newport furniture of this era so highly prized by collectors. It had been estimated at $700,000-900,000.  The price paid of $5,682,500 represents a world auction record for the form.

    This chair made a new world auction record for a piece of Federal furniture. (click on image to enlarge). © Christie’s Images Limited 2011

    The Federal carved mahogany side chair, known as the Elias Hasket Derby chair, has carving attributed to Samuel McIntire (1757-1811) of Salem, Massachusetts. McIntire, one of the earliest architects in America, was influenced by the Palladian style and was skilled at furniture making and sculpture.  The chair had been estimated at $30,000-50,000.  The price paid represents a world auction record for a piece of Federal furniture.
    The combined total for Americana Week 2011 at Christie’s New York was $22,026,376/£13,784,788/€16,222,849, achieved through five sales from January 18 through 25.

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    CANALETTO’S VIEW OF MESTRE FROM AN IRISH COLLECTION

    Monday, January 17th, 2011

    Canaletto's View of Mestre

    This View of Mestre by Canaletto, kept at Castle Durrow in Ireland until it was demolished in 1922, features at Christie’s two-part sale of paintings, drawings and watercolors by the great masters of European Art in New York on January 26.

    It is the only large-scale view Canaletto painted of Mestre, the mainland city now linked to Venice by bridge.  Previous owners were the Viscounts Ashbrook, whose ancestors likely purchased the work direct from the studio of Giovanni Antonio Canal, il Canaletto (1697-1768) during a Grand Tour and brought the work to Ireland.  It is estimated at $2,500,000-3,500,000.
    The sale of over 300 works in total represents great examples of European art dating from the 14th to the 19th centuries.  It features master works by Canaletto, Luca Carlevarijs, Jean-Francois Millet, Jean Léon Gérôme, William Bouguereau, and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema among the highlights.
    UPDATE:  The Canaletto did not find a buyer in sales which brought in $36.6 million.

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    WARHOL SELF PORTRAIT AT CHRISTIE’S LONDON

    Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

    Monumental Warhol self-portrait. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE £10,793,250

    THIS re-discovered self-portrait by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) from 1967 comes up at Christie’s in London on February 16.  Completely unpublished, it has been in a private collection since 1974 when it was acquired from Leo Castelli, Warhol’s primary dealer.  The six foot square work is one of an historic series of 11 large-scale self-portraits executed in 1967, five of which are in museums (Tate, London; The Staatsgalerie Moderne Kunst, Munich; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and two at the Detroit Institute for Arts).

    Francis Outred, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s Europe: “I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of offering this rediscovered masterpiece by Andy Warhol. At the time of its execution Warhol was at the peak of his creative powers and this very rare series of works were the largest self-portraits he had made. This work shows a classic image of the artist in an imposing, larger than life scale, with an extraordinary presence of thick, red paint. That five of the works from this series are in museums is a testament to their importance.”
    It will be offered at the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction and is expected to realise £3 million to £5 million.
    A shot up Warhol portrait of Mao Zedong made $302,500 at Christie’s in New York on January 11, more than 10 times its high estimate. Easy Rider start Denis Hopper shot two bullet holes through the 1972 portrait. A friend of the actor, who died aged 74 last May, explained that Hopper saw the Mao out of the corner of his eye in the shadows and was so spooked that he shot at it. A delighted Warhol called him a collaborator and labelled the damage  “warning shot” and ” bullet hole”.   It had been estimated at $20,000 to $30,000.
    UPDATE|  It made £10,793,250.

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    GAUGUIN STILL LIFE AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, January 7th, 2011
    GAUGUIN’S Nature morte à “L’Espérance is the highlight of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in London on February 9. Christie’s Art of the Surreal sale takes place on the same evening.
    The pre-sale estimate of £73,880,000 to £109,060,000 is the second highest for the February Impressionist sales at Christie’s in London.  The corresponding estimate in 2010 was £56.5 million to £80.8 million.
    Paul Gauguin’s (1848-1903) historically important still life was painted in 1901 when he was still living in Tahiti.  The work has been exhibited at over 20 major museum exhibitions including the artist’s first landmark Retrospective at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1906. It is expected to realise £7 million to £10 million.
    Four works to be sold by the Art Institute of Chicago are led by Nature morte à la guitare (rideaux rouge) by Georges Braque (1882-1963) (estimate: £3.5 million to £5.5 million).
    A collection of works on paper by Paul Gauguin made in France and Tahiti between 1894 and 1902 will be sold at Sotheby’s in London on March 30.  From the Collection of Stanley J. Seeger, the American privagte collector, the ten works have a well-recorded provenance. They can be traced back in most cases directly to the artist. The group will lead the sale of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints, and is estimated at £430,000-574,000.
    UPDATE:   There was disappointment when this work failed to sell in an otherwise sucessful auction that realised £84.9 million.  It was suggested that the brown colour of the work had something to do with this.

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    EILEEN GRAY SCREEN SELLS, Sirène ARMCHAIR UNSOLD

    Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

    Eileen Gray painted wood brick screen made $842,000 at Christie's in New York.

    Estimated at $2/$3 million, this Eileen Gray armchair failed to sell in New York.

    An Eileen Gray painted wood brick screen from 1923 made $842,500 at Christie’s in New York on December 14.  This was within the  $700,000 – $1,000,000 estimate.  Christie’s described the piece, composed of 45 large and ten small white painted wood panels on steel rods, as: “defining the key point of transition between her early engagement with the luxury of lacquer and symbolist motifs and her subsequent commitment to Modernist ideals”.

    The screen was one of a pair presented by Miss Gray at the Salon des Artistes Déorateurs in 1923.  The other one is now at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
    The ‘Sirène’ armchair, a lacquered painted and beech armchair by Eileen Gray which was estimated at $2/$3 million, failed to sell.  Bidding reached $1.7 million, at which point it was withdrawn.
    See post for December 3 on antiquesandartireland.com

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    LUKE GARDINER BY JOSHUA REYNOLDS ECHOES GRACEFUL DUBLIN AND BLOODY REBELLION

    Saturday, December 11th, 2010

    Sir Joshua Reynold's fine portrait of Luke Gardiner.

    This very fine portrait of Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy, by Sir Joshua Reynolds went way over estimate at Christie’s evening Old Masters sale on December 7.  The subject sat for this portrait in 1773. Gardiner (1745-1798), an Irish landowner and MP for County Dublin, was killed at the Battle of New Ross in 1798.  One of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 rebellion in Ireland was followed by an appalling massacre in the town of  New Ross.

    Though he died suppressing Irish rebels he had, in 1778, introduced legislation in the Irish House of Commons aimed at alleviating many of the economic difficulties faced by Catholics.
    He also promoted the interest of Dublin and its surrounding areas. Like his father and grandfather he developed the Gardiner estate. In the 1770s he was responsible for the development of Temple, Eccles and North Great George’s Streets, and later in the 1790s for Mountjoy Square and Rutland Square.
    The portrait made £553,250 against an estimate of £200,000-£300,000.

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    EILEEN GRAY AT CHRISTIE’S SALE OF THE GOURDON COLLECTION IN PARIS

    Friday, December 3rd, 2010

    Eileen Gray's Black lacquer screen, courtesy of Christie's, estimated at up to 1.5 million euro. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 1,353,000

    IRISH designer Eileen Gray (1879-1976) is one of the leading names featured

    The Bibendum armchair by Eileen Gray, courtesy of Christie's images. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 709,000

    in an extraordinary collection to be sold at Christie’s in Paris in March 2011. Christie’s will offer the Gourdon Collection, estimated to achieve between 40 and 60 million euro, at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris on March 29, 30 and 31.

    Housed at the medieval Château de Gourdon near Grasse the collection focuses principally on the classicism of Art Deco and on the emergence of Modernism in France.  It includes an important group of works by Eileen Gray. Celebrated as a single-minded and individualistic character the County Wexford born designer managed to capture and express in her own way the prevailing spirit of the age in design through the first decades of the 20th century.
    In February 2009  her  ‘dragons’ chair, circa 1917-1919 –  see Design Record on antiquesandartireland.com – achieved the record sum of  €21 million at the sale of the Yves Saint Laurent-Pierre Bergé collections at the Grand Palais.
    In the early 1920s Gray choose to move away from the highly refined lacquer work of her early days to focus on more functionalist designs in metal, glass and painted wood, inspired at first by the Modernist ideas of the Dutch De Stjil movement.
    No less than 15 works by Eileen Gray featured in this sale include the black lacquered Brick’ screen (est. 1,200,000-1,500,000) developed from the panels she used in the hallway of the apartment of Suzanne Talbot on Rue de Lota, circa 1922. An example of this screen is now in the master bedroom of the Irish government mansion at Farmleigh in Dublin. The black and yellow base of her floor light (€400,000-600,000) resembles a piece of Constructivist architecture.
    Her Transatlantique armchair (€1,000,000-1,500,000) was formerly the property of her friend and collaborator architect Jean Badovici, founder of the avant-garde magazine L’Architecture Vivante, 1923 and the ‘Bibendum’ armchair (€800,000-1,200,000) is clearly evocative of the logo of tire-manufacturer Michelin.

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