Auction Results
0March 22, 2012
Bonhams South African = £3.5m
‘Pink Sari’
A stunning image from one of Irma Stern’s trips to Zanzibar which inspired some of her best work, titled ‘Pink Sari’ , signed and dated 1947, and with its original Zanzibar frame, sold at Bonhams today for £959,650 .Never before seen on the open market, the painting was acquired directly from the artist circa 1961 and then passed by direct descent to the current owner. It was the top lot in Bonhams sale of South African Art which has consistently broken records for South African art over the past five years.
‘Zulu Girl’
Zulu Girl, painted in 1935 at the height of Stern’s creative powers sold for £457,250 .
‘Portrait of the Artist’s Mother’
This picture by Gerard Sekoto, South Africa’s leading black artist, sold for £79,250.
WORK BY WILLIAM KENTRIDGE MADE ON THE CUSP OF POLITICAL CHANGE IN SOUTH AFRICA
‘Anti-Waste’
The work ‘Anti-Waste’ by William Kentridge, (born 1955), an artist best known for his prints, drawings and animated films, sold for £253,250.
Auction Results
0March 21, 2012
Bonhams Asia Week Results
March 19
Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian
Sale total $3,203,225
91.67% sold by lot
*Auction world record achieved for Indian artist Bagta “Rawat Gokal Das celebrating holi in the zenana” sold for $302,500 (pre-sale estimate $30,000 – 50,000)
March 20
Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles
Sale total $1,022,900
98.25% sold by lot
Fine Japanese Works of Art
Sale total $1,485,188
74.92% sold by lot
General
0February 19, 2012
Bonhams Soldiers On
Georgina Adam points out in the Financial Times that Bonhams is undeterred by a tough London Contemporary sale and will mount more in New York, London and Hong Kong later this year:
And the firm has bagged a sale of works from a Portuguese collection that it is auctioning in Hong Kong in May during the Hong Kong art fair. The sale, estimated at €3.6m-€5.6m, includes abstracts by Chu Teh-Chun and Zao Wou-Ki as well as 12 works of art, Imperial porcelains and cloisonné pieces.
The Art Market: The Quick and the Dead (Financial Times)
Auction Results
0February 13, 2012
Bonhams Contemporary One = £1.08m
With only 11 of 20 lots sold, Bonhams first Evening sale of Contemporary art in London brings in just over £1m.
Auction Results, Featured
0January 04, 2012
Bonhams Sells Chinese Altar Tables for $2.7m
Perhaps you thought the Chinese appetite for works of art had cooled. Then you didn’t see Bonham’s $12.8m sale in San Francisco just before the holidays where 900 lots were offered and a handful attracted feeding frenzies:
A rare pair of zitan and hongmu recessed leg altar tables, 18th/19th century, from the Carlisle estate soared to $2,714,500 (pre-auction estimate $120,000-$200,000) against fierce bidding on the telephones and a packed room of international buyers.
An elaborately carved zitan and hongmu throne chair, 19th century, brought $1,022,500 (pre-auction estimate $200,000-$300,000), preceded by an unusual huanghuali clothes rack, Qing dynasty, which sold for $338,500 (pre-auction estimate $120,000-$200,000).
A set of four zitan, hongmu mixed wood and cinnabar lacquer mounted side chairs, from the same collection, sold for a remarkable $266,500, more than 20 times its estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
Works of art and bronzes also captured the rapt attention of the crowd. A cast bronze seated figure of the Buddha, Ming dynasty, from the estate of Dino Bigalli, maestro of the Chicago Civic Light Opera, took center stage, bringing $578,500 (pre-auction estimate $40,000-$60,000).
A set of four grisaille enameled porcelain hanging plaques, Republic period, inspired heated bidding and brought over 15 times its estimate of $12,000 to $18,000, realizing $230,500.
Consignment discovery earns $338K at Asian art, antiques auction (Antique Trader)
Auction Results, General
0November 29, 2011
Bonham’s HK Nov ’11 Sales = HK$240m ($31m)
Here’s how Bonhams’s PR department characterizes the sales:
[A] ‘famille-rose’ enamelled glass ‘European-subject’ snuff bottle made in the Imperial Palace workshops in Beijing during the Emperor Qianlong period (1736-1795) [...] carried a pre-sale estimate of HK$4,900,000 – 9,000,000. International bidders [...] [drove it] up to a final figure of HK$25.3 million (US$3,328,400; GBP2,108,333), over five times its pre-sale estimate[....] This unique survivor of Imperial craftsmanship sold to an Asian collector who bid on the telephone.
Overall, Bonhams’ Autumn Auctions in Hong Kong achieved a new record high sold total for the company of over HK$240 million, representing an increase of nearly 15% over the record sale in May 2011.
The success of the auctions [...] drew heavily on fine private consignments from the US of Chinese paintings, the exceptional HK$18.5 million famille rose vase, and a historical collection of personal hardstone seals which totalled more than HK$7million. Our London office consigned the unique collection of Chinese Yixing Stoneware vessels and scholar objects which totalled HK$38 million[....]
Each section of the four “Chinese Works of Art” auctions saw exceptional prices at the top level. The highlight was of course the world record total not merely for a single Imperial Chinese snuff bottle but also for a single auction of snuff bottles at nearly HK$60 million. The single-owner collection of very specialised Yixing Stoneware from the Hawthorn Collection achieved over HK$38 million, tripling pre-sale expectations, with the highest lot achieving a world record price at HK$8.4 million (estimate HK$800,000 – 1,2,000,000) paid by an Asian private collector against intense competition. The auction of “Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art” from various sources saw an exceptional price paid for an Imperial famille rose dragon-decorated vase, which achieved a new record for Chinese porcelain at Bonhams Hong Kong of HK18.5 million (estimate HK$8 – 12 million).
Concluding the auction series, a fine range of classical and modern Chinese paintings attracted spirited bidding principally from buyers from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. An unusual old collection sourced from Australia included the sale’s most expensive lot, a handscroll in the manner of Huang Gongwang, by the famous late Ming artist Wang Shimin (1592 – 1680), estimated at HK$1 – 2 million, which finally sold to an Asian private collector for HK$11.86 million. The greatest excitement in the sale was generated by lot 713, a private collection of 12 fan paintings of landscapes attributed to Wang Yuanqi (1642 – 1715), offered as a single lot estimated at HK$80,000 – 120,000, which confounded conservative expectations to achieve a final price of HK$10.18 million.
Auction Results
0November 10, 2011
Bonhams Sells Qianlong Vase for £9m
Bonhams Chinese Works of Art sale in London featured 700 lots including this vase which made £9m
turquoise Imperial vase, decorated with chrysanthemums, which sold for £9,001,250, making it the highest priced Asian artwork in London this year. After keen and protracted bidding by three separate phone buyers it was knocked down for £9m to a round of applause from the packed saleroom. Its pre-sale estimate was £5m to £8m.
Auction Results
0November 01, 2011
Irma Stern Can’t Prop Up South African Market in London
Colin Gleadell sums up Bonhams South African sale which was a disappointment for any artist not named Irma Stern:
Bonhams’ latest sale of South African art, held in London last week, received something of a setback when only 154 out of 411 lots offered were sold. In its select evening sale of “Masterpieces”, where 20 lots were expected to fetch more than £5 million, only six works sold, to bring £1.9 million.
Art Market: Degas’s Dancer Goes Under the Hammer Tonight (Telegraph)
General
0September 20, 2011
Bonhams in the Guarantee Business
Colin Gleadell points out that Bonhams is buying its way into the Contemporary art market. Running its first-ever Frieze-week sale, the auction house’s new Contemporary department, led by Anthony McNerny, is guaranteeing a Glenn Brown. Though not nearly the effort that Phillips de Pury has been making with in New York with big guarantees for Contemporary art, the move offers sellers yet another hungry player in the Contemporary category:
Glenn Brown’s Little Death is one of the most consistently sought after paintings by museum curators exhibiting his work. From a series that was based on the paintings of Frank Auerbach which challenge the notion of originality in art, it was included in Brown’s retrospective exhibition at Tate Liverpool in 2009. It has never been at auction before, and has been guaranteed with an estimate of £700,000 to £900,000. Since the artist has been represented by the Gagosian gallery, three of his paintings have sold for more than £1 million, so the price, if not for bargain hunters, is reasonable.
For its other two top lots, Bonhams offered cash advances to the sellers. A 1963 painting by the French “pop” artist Martial Raysse, whose work has recently soared in value, is estimated at £350,000. But most will depend on one of the rarest works by Alghiero Boetti, an Italian conceptual artist who is to have a retrospective at Tate Modern next year. Anno 1984 is a 30ft long arrangement of 216 drawings of magazine covers. Three works by Boetti have sold for a million pounds, and, if McNerney’s hunch is right, this will do so as well.
Bonhams Strikes a Modern Note (Telegraph)
