- Picasso, Tete de Jeune Garcon ($800-1.2m) $2.7m
- Henri Martin, La Joie de Vivre ($600-800k) $1.7m
- Laszlo Moholy-Nagy ($300-400k) $1.3m
- Salvador Dalí, Nature Morte ($400-600k) $1m
- Barbara Hepworth, Three Squares and Circles ($180-250k) $962,500
- Henri Le Sidaner, Les Hortensias ($500-700k) $932,500
- Georges Braque, Nature Morte ($600-800k) $872,500
- Georges Braque, Nature Morte aux arums ($600-800k) $872,500
- Andre Breton, Chanson-Objet ($250-350k) $866,500
- Joan Miro, Painting ($180-250k) $722,500
- Gabriele Munter, Hof im Schnee ($250-350k) $578,500
- Renoir, Le Village de Cagnes Vu de la Terrase des Collettes ($300-400k) $590,500
- Alberto Giacometti, Rare Lampadaire ($120-180k) $530,500
- Alberto Giacometti, Lampadaire ($150-250k) $482,500
- Salvador Dali, Victory, A Song of Thanksgiving ($40-60k) $314,500
- Diego Giacometti, Tabouret En X ($70-90k) $266,500
- Max Ernst, Janus ($70-90k) $242,500
- Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Les Amants, 5eme Etat ($70-90k) $230,500
- Tsuguharu Foujita, Le Petit Chaperon Blanc ($100-150k) $206,500
- Lynn Chadwick, Maquette for Teddy Boy & Girl ($40-60k) $206,500
- Henry Moore, Draped Reclining Figure, Knee ($60-80k) $170,500
- Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Torse de Jeune Homme ($40-60k) $158,500
- Henri Lebasque, Vue de L’Esterel ($60-80k) $158,500
Auction Results
0May 03, 2012
Sotheby’s NY IM Day Sale = $41.7m
Auction Results
1May 02, 2012
Sotheby’s NY IM Eve = $330.6m
- Edvard Munch, The Scream ($80m) $119.9m
- Picasso, Femme Assise dans un fauteuil ($20-30m) $29.2m
- Dalí, Printemps Necrophilique ($8-12m) $16.3m
- Joan Miro, Tete Humaine ($10-15m) $14.8m
- Constantin Brancusi, Promethe ($6-8m) $12.68m
- Gauguin, Cabane sous les arbes ($5-7m) $8.48m
- Max Ernst, Leonora in the Morning Light ($3-5m) $7.9m
- Picasso, Tete de Femme ($4-6m) $6.9m
- Leger, La Femme au Miroir ($2-3m) $4.1m
- Alfred Sisley, Un Noyer dans la Prairie de Thomery ($2.8-3.5m) $4m
- Joan Miro, Personnage Fascinnant ($2.5-3.5m) $3.78m
- Monet, Champ a Giverny ($1-1.5m) $2.66m
- Giacometti, Buste de Diego ($600-900k) $1.76m
- Jean Arp, Torse ($800-1.2m) $1.65m
- Magritte, La Vie Heureuse ($800-1.2m) $1.53m
- Magritte, La Voix du Sang ($600-800k) $1.3m
Auction Results
0May 02, 2012
Christie’s NY IM Works on Paper = $10.15m
- Wassily Kandinsky, Vibrierend ($500-700k) $782,500
- Van Gogh, Head of Peasant Woman ($250-350k) $722,500
- Odilon Redon, Vision sous-marine ($200-300k) $518,500
- Marc Chagall, Au village ($150-200k) $290,500
- Edouard Manet, Le Gamin et Le Chien ($50-70k) $230,500
- Fernand Leger, Nature Morte au broc rouge ($120-180k) $218,500
- Giacometti, Portrait de Soshana ($40-60k) $116,500
- Joan Miro, Chien ($50-70k) $134,500
Auction Results
0May 01, 2012
Christie’s NY Imp Mod Eve Sale = $117m
Christie’s worked very hard to get a 90% sell-through rate on their $117m sale. They did it by aggressively lowering estimates. At one point, auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen had $550k bid and offered that $600k would take the lot even though the bidding was far from the low estimate.
- Cezanne, Card Player ($15-20m) 19.1m
- Matisse, Les Pivoines ($8-12m) $19.1m
- Picasso, Le Repos ($5-7m) 9.88m
- Monet, Desmoiselles de Giverny ($9-12m) $9.6m
- Picasso, Femme assise ($2.5.-3.5m) $5.2m
- Henry Moore, Reclining Figure ($4-6m) $5m
- Georges Braque, Mandoline a la sonate $2.5-3.5m) $3.44m
- Pierre Bonnard, Femme endormie ($1.8-2.5m) $1.43m
General
0April 05, 2012
Christie’s Compact May Imp Mod Sale: 32 Lots with $100m Estimate
Christie’s entire Impressionist and Modern catalogue can be seen here. This May’s sale represents a shift in strategy focusing on fewer, rarer works including the Cezanne card player watercolor, a Matisse that sits on the cover and a Monet haystacks and a strong Braque still life capitalizing on the Acquavella show’s reception and Christie’s own success with the Brody Braque two years ago.
Altogether the sale is 32 lots, a far cry from the massive 70 or more lot sales during the previous art market peak. The combined estimate is $100m.
Artists
1February 26, 2012
Munch v. Cézanne: How High The Scream?
The pre-auction build-up for Sotheby’s sale of The Scream has started very early. More than two months away and Georgina Adam reports in the Financial Times that there’s a betting line going in London with prices well into nine figures. With Cézanne’s Card Players offering a reference point well above the $80 million level, the question is whether the big hitters will feel constrained by the public format of the auction:
How much will Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” (1895) fetch when it is auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York in May? A British bookie is offering odds of 3/1 that it will break the $125m barrier, way over its $80m-plus estimate – the first time, to my knowledge, that the price of an artwork has been subject to public betting. But then “The Scream” is one of the best-known art images in the world. This picture has rarely been seen in public, however, because of the four versions Munch painted it is the last in private hands. (The other three are in Norwegian museums.) “I think that bidding will be totally international, it’s a trophy that any collector would love to have,” says Munch specialist and dealer Jens Faurschou.
The Art Market: Freudian Grip (Financial Times)
Artists
1February 21, 2012
Munch’s Scream to Sell at Sotheby’s: Do We Hear $80m?
The last example of Edvard Munch’s Scream held in private hands (there are four) will be sold at Sotheby’s in May. Naturally, they’re excited:
“Munch’s The Scream is the defining image of modernity, and it is an immense privilege for Sotheby’s to be entrusted with one of the most important works of art in private hands” commented Simon Shaw, Senior Vice President and Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art department in New York. “Instantly recognizable, this is one of very few images which transcends art history and reaches a global consciousness. The Scream arguably embodies even greater power today than when it was conceived. At a time of great critical interest in the artist, and with the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2013, this spring is a particularly compelling time for The Scream to appear on the market. For collectors and institutions, the opportunity to acquire such a singularly-influential masterpiece is unprecedented in recent times.”
Mr. Shaw continued: “Given how rarely true icons come to the market it is difficult to predict The Scream’s value. The recent success of masterpieces at Sotheby’s suggests that the price could exceed $80 million.”
Impressionist & Modern Art – The Scream – New York, 2 May 2012
Auction Results
0February 16, 2012
Saffronart Imp-Mod Feb ’12 = $1.2m
Saffronart’s first foray into Impressionist and Modern art was tough sledding with only 44% of the 73 lots finding buyers. Half of the sale value was entirely in one painting, the van Gogh above, that sold for $697k
Auction Results
0February 10, 2012
Christie’s Single-Owner Sale = £32.84m
While commentators were declaring the auction market volatile, Christie’s demonstrated the placid tone of sales in London yesterday. They held a single-owner sale of a European collection, which spanned African to Contemporary art with some notable Old Master works thrown in, of 52 lots. 43 of those sold for an 83% sell-through rate and a $47.6m total.
There were a smattering of strong prices below the top ten works, mostly for Miró, Calder, Tom Friedman and a few of the objects. Other contemporary artists performed within or just below estimates. In all, it suggests a smooth functioning market. The statistics for the week also suggest a market that is anything but volatile. Both houses registered just under £20m in Day sale lots with many upside surprises.
