The most valuable designated collection ever to be offered in Europe from the London home of trailblazing surrealist collector Pauline Karpidas comes up at Sotheby’s in September. Masterpieces by Hans Bellmer, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, René Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons will be offered alongside unique furniture personally imagined and crafted for Pauline by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Mattia Bonetti andAndré Dubreuil. The 250 lots on offer at evening, day and online sales on September 17, 18 and 19 have a combined estimate of around €70 million. Meantime Pauline’s London home, a journey through the realms of Surrealism, will be brought to life at a landmark exhibition at Sotheby’s conceived by the designer of the blockbuster Freddie Mercury exhibition which brought 140,000 visitors to the auctioneers New Bond St. rooms over four weeks in 2023. Pictured here is a view of the salon at her London home.
A Martian meteorite discovered in November 2023 in Niger, Africa, sold for $5,296,000 at Sotheby’s in New York. The largest piece of Mars on earth was ejected by a massive asteroid strike. It journeyed 140 million miles through space and finally the earth’s atmosphere before crashing into the Sahara Desert. Pieces of Mars are rare. Of more than 77,000 officially recognised meteorites only 400 are Martian. Weighing 24.67 kilograms this one represents approximately 6.5% of all Martian material currently known.
Louis le Brocquy – Painting Figure. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This 1959 work by Louis le Brocquy is at Sotheby’s Modern British and Irish art sale in London on June 26 with an estimate of £30,000-50,000. It was acquired by the present owner at the Esther Robles Gallery in Los Angeles. The auction features important works by British and Irish artists and those working in the UK across the 20th century, including the St Ives Modernists, Scottish Colourists, Bloomsbury, Camden Town, Vorticist and Post-War groups, and it will span paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics. Among the Irish artists featured are Sir John Lavery, William Scott and Jack Coulter.
Manuscript copy of the Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln, abolishing slavery in the United States.
One of the finest and most complete Lincoln signed copies of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the US comes up at Sotheby’s in New York on June 26 with an estimate of $8-12 million. Section 1 states: ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction’. It is one of just 15 recorded Lincoln signed copies. A printed broadside document of the Emancipation Proclamation is estimated at $3-5 million.
Miss January dated 1997 by Marlene Dumas became the most expensive painting by a living female artist ever sold when it made $13.6 million (€11.96 million) at Christie’s in New York.
The global art market is not immune to the trade winds of change blowing us all over the place right now. Even though they brought in $1 billion the slimmed down May sales in New York failed to reach their targets.
On the minus side a bust by Alberto Giacometti of his brother Diego, estimated at around $70 million (€61.57 million), failed to find a buyer at Sotheby’s. On the plus side the collection of Barnes and Noble founder Leonard Riggio and his wife Louise made $272 million (€239.46 million) at Christie’s, the only collection to realise this total in the last 18 months.
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Marlene Dumas, South African born Netherlands based 71 year old set a new auction record for a living female artist with Miss January, 1997. She has explored portraiture for 40 years and this monumental nine feet tall work of a beauty queen naked from the waist down apart from a pink sock sold for $13.6 million (€11.96 million) at Christie’s. There were records too for previously overlooked 20th century women artists like Grace Hartigan, Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Vara and Kiki Kogelnik.
Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue made $47.6 million (€41.87 million) at Christie’s.
Christie’s global president Alex Rotter said that what we are seeing is an emphasis on individual taste among collectors. “The market is no longer about following the crowd. It is about individual taste and passions. What art makes you feel. That is a very interesting and exciting development for the market”.
The global downturn is influenced by factors like a decline in the number of Asian buyers and the absence of Russian wealth. These do not affect the market for Irish art. Underlying global uncertainty does play into the Irish market but not at a level where the highs are stratospheric and the lows catastrophic. Our very conservative market is characterised by slow, steady growth. It operates in a relatively low value segment which shows up in all current statistics as most immune to all that is going on.
Homme assis by Picasso made $15.1 million (€13.28 million) at Sotheby’s.
One segment that has proved to be not at all immune is the market for young contemporaries. Entirely absent from the sales this month were prices in the millions for young artists that few people had ever heard of. One possible explanation is that buyers of mid-career artists can afford to wait as this work will continue to be available in the future, especially at a time of uncertainty.
The top lot of the week was Mondrian’s Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue from the Riggio collection. It made $47.6 million (€41.87 million) . Magritte’s L’Empire des Lumieres from the same collection made $35 million (€30.79 million). There was a record at Christie’s for Monet when his Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crepuscule, sold for $43 million (€37.82 million) and set a new record for his celebrated Poplars series.
At Sotheby’s Picasso’s Homme Assis from 1969 made $15.1 million (€13.28 million) and Georgia O’Keeffe’s Leaves of a Plant made $12.9 million (€11.35 million). Roy Lichtenstein’s Reflections – Art made $5.4 million (€4.75 million), one of nine Lichtenstein’s which collectively made $29 million (€25.51 million).
Leaves of a Plant by Georgia O’Keeffe made $12.9 million (€11.35 million) at Sotheby’s.
Alberto Giacometti – Grande Tete Mince (Grande Tete de Diego)
This bust by Giacometti of his brother Diego, once in the collection of Marguerite and Aime Maeght, failed to sell at Sotheby’s in New York last night. The headline lot of the auction had been estimated at around $70 million, but the bids made failed to reach this figure. The work from 1955 was shown at the 1956 Venice Biennale. The Modern evening auction realised $196,225,600. The top lot of the evening was Homme Assis by Picasso which made $15.1 million. Leaves of a Plant by Georgia O’Keeffe made £12.9 million and La Traversee difficile by Magritte made $10 million.
See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 1, 2025
Roy Lichtenstein – Reflections: Art at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $5,479,000
In a tough year for the global art market the big May New York art sales this month are seriously slimmed down but nonetheless offer rich pickings for collectors with deep pockets untroubled by market turmoil.
Auction data, the only section of the opaque art market with sales that can be computed accurately, indicates that overall turnover declined last year for the third year in a row. At blue chip levels there are very few categories where the value of art has gone up in the past two years. Add global uncertainty, tariffs and changing collecting habits to the mix and … who can tell.
Piet Mondrian – Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Grey, Yellow, Black and Blue from the Riggio collection at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE $47,560,000
Better news for collectors is that last year more art than ever was sold at auction – for less money. Record auction numbers for artworks at less than €500 or €1,000 is not what floats the boat at senior management levels at big auction houses and major international galleries but it does show that love for art is widespread.
A mere 37 lots will feature at Christie’s 20th century evening sale on Monday May 12 with 42 at the 21st century evening sale on May 14. There will be 65 lots at Sotheby’s Modern evening auction in New York on May 13 and 43 lots at the Now and Contemporary evening auction on May 15. Totals at both houses will be boosted by the sales of lots from the collection of gallerist Barbara Gladstone ($12 million – €10.52 million) along with works from the collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein (Sotheby’s) and selected works from the collection of Barnes and Nobel founder Len Riggio and his wife Louise (Christie’s) valued at $250 million (€219.20 million).
Paul Signac Saint George. Couchant (Venise) showing the facade of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice at Sunset at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE $8,102,000
Art by Mondrian, Magritte, Picasso, Giacometti, Warhol from the Riggio Collection will excite the interest of worldwide collectors and has been toured in advance to London, Paris, Hong Kong, Dubai and Los Angeles. Len Riggio died last year and his widow is downsizing from her Park Avenue apartment.
The 21st century evening sale at Christie’s reflects the seismic shifts over the last 50 years in the art landscape. There is art by Jean Michel Basquiat, Ed Ruscha, Cecily Brown, Julie Mehretu, Simone Leigh, Lisa Brice, Louis Fratino and others.
The Modern evening auction at Sotheby’s features artworks that capture the spirit of artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who dared challenge established norms. There is work by Picasso, Giacometti, Magritte, Monet, Delauney, Schiele, Matisse, Munch and Signac included.
Lisa Brice – Midday Drinking Den, After Embah I and II at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $2,954,000
Alberto Giacometti – Grande Tete Mince. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This busted by Alberto Giacometti highlights the New York sales at Sotheby’s this month. The painted bust of the artist’s brother Diego comes up at the Modern evening auction on May 13 with an estimate of in excess of $70 million.
The sales will be a crucial test for the art market amid global economic uncertainty, where worries about tarriffs and stock market volatility have deepened the mood of caution.
Luis Meléndez – Still Life with a Cauliflower, a Basket with Eggs, Leeks, and Fish, and Assorted Kitchen Utensils
One of the greatest collection of Old Masters to come to auction in living memory will be offered by Sotheby’s in New York on May 21 with an estimate of $80-$120 million. Comprising fifty-six works, many of which have been exhibited at leading institutions around the world, the collection of Jordan and Thomas A Saunders III features leading artists from the 16th to the 19th century. At its heart is a remarkable group of still-lifes by Dutch and Flemish masters of the 17th century, alongside exceptional portraits and landscapes. Among the highlights are landscapes by Francesco Guardi and Frans Hals and still lifes by Luis Meléndez, Adriaen Coorte and Jan Davidsz de Heem and portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence and Frans Hals. The c1826 Lawrence portrait is of Julia Peel, eldest child of British Prime Minister Robert Peel. The collection will be sold on May 21 and a further selection of works will highlight the Masters paintings sale on May 22.
Yoshitomo Nara – Cosmic Eyes (in the Milky Lake) at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £9,027,500
Van Gogh, Calder, Tamara de Lempica, Leonora Carrington and Francis Bacon are among the wide range of celebrated artists whose work will come under the hammer at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London next week.
At all levels of the market the offerings locally, nationally and internationally are appetising as the art selling season gets seriously underway.
Featured in no less than 17 international exhibitions Francis Bacon’s Portrait of a Man with Glasses III from 1963 is among the highlights at Christie’s 20th/21st evening sale next Wednesday (March 5). It is at auction for the first time.
An arresting portrait of the bacteriologist Dr. Boucard by Tamara de Lempicka is another highlight of an auction with work by Modigliani, Monet, Twombly and Polke and other luminaries.
A small and intricate stabile by Alexander Calder, blending movement, balance and colour, is among the standouts at Sotheby’s contemporary day auction on the same day.
Yoshitomo Nara’s Cosmic Eyes (in the Milky Lake) is a highlight at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary evening auction next Tuesday. Nara will be the subject of a retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London from next June.
The evening sale features art by Gerhard Richter, Constantin Brancusi, a pen and ink drawing of a public garden in Arles by Van Gogh, a charcoal on paper portrait by Matisse and art by Lucio Fontana, Picasso, Rodin and Roy Lichtenstein.
Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico are among the artists in the Art of the Surreal sale at Christie’s on Wednesday evening. Sacrament at Minos by Carrington testifies to her engagement with a myriad of cultures and their ideologies.
