{"id":2415,"date":"2013-05-17T15:09:18","date_gmt":"2013-05-17T15:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raulmourao.com\/blog\/?p=2415"},"modified":"2013-05-17T15:09:18","modified_gmt":"2013-05-17T15:09:18","slug":"christies-rakes-in-495-million-the-highest-total-for-any-art-auction-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archive.raulmourao.com\/blog\/?p=2415","title":{"rendered":"Christie’s Rakes In $495 Million \u2014 the Highest Total for Any Art Auction, Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0Auction history was made at\u00a0Christie\u2019s<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0postwar and contemporary evening sale on Wednesday, which raked in $495,021,500 \u2014 the highest ever tally for any auction in any category. It nicked the $491.4 million mark set at Christie\u2019s Impressionist and modern evening sale back in November 2006, the previous high for any single auction. The tally also eclipsed last May\u2019s $388.4 million total.<\/div>\n
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Tonight, only four of the 70 lots offered failed to find buyers for a near-perfect buy-in rate by lot and value of six percent. The tally crushed presale expectations of $288.9-401.4 million, though that spread does not reflect the buyer\u2019s premium included in the overall result. Head-turning statistics included the fact that 59 of the 66 lots sold hurdled the million-dollar mark. Of those, 23 made over $5 million. More incredibly, nine topped $10 million.<\/p>\n

A dozen artist records were set, led by the ravishing cover lot,\u00a0Jackson Pollock<\/strong>\u2019s small but mighty \u201cNumber 19, 1948,\u201d a stunning drip painting in oil and enamel on paper mounted on canvas, which sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for a whopping $58,363,750 (est. $25-35 million). The epic bidding battle for the Pollock began at $18 million and quickly escalated at million-dollar increments to a point where three bidders were still competing at the $40 million plus mark, including dealers\u00a0Jose Mugrabi<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Dominique Levy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Described in the catalogue as the property of an American foundation, the shimmering painting, which last sold at auction at Christie\u2019s New York in May 1993 for $2,422,500, subsequently entered the collection of Potomac, Maryland billionaire\u00a0Mitchell Rales<\/strong>\u00a0and his\u00a0Glenstone Foundation<\/strong>. The price obliterated the mark set by \u201cNumber 4,\u201d a 1951 canvas that made $40,402,500 at\u00a0Sotheby\u2019s New York<\/strong>\u00a0last November.<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t have hurt that critic\u00a0Clement Greenberg<\/strong>, reviewing the Pollock exhibition atBetty Parsons Gallery<\/strong>\u00a0in January 1949, singled out \u201cNumber 19,\u201d saying it \u201cseemed more than enough to justify the claim that Pollock is one of the major painters of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edvard Munch<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cThe Scream\u201d may have sold for $120 million at Sotheby\u2019s last year, but still, the fact that an AbEx work on paper could sell for $50-plus million is an extraordinary milestone. The question easily arises, what the heck happened between\u00a0Sotheby\u2019s strong but sober $293.5-million sale on Tuesday\u00a0<\/a>and Christie\u2019s fantastic results on Wednesday?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two single-owner collections,\u201d said\u00a0Marc Porter<\/strong>, chairman of Christie\u2019s America and global head of private sales, shortly after the fireworks ended, \u201cand we had great single works, so we had the culmination of both elements.\u201d Porter was referring in part works from the\u00a0Armand<\/strong>and\u00a0Celeste Bartos<\/strong>\u00a0collection, which together made $30.2 million, and a trove of paintings from the estate of crooner\u00a0Andy Williams<\/strong>, which brought $46 million.<\/p>\n

Singular artworks across a broad spectrum of time and styles went through the roof, including the huge and funky\u00a0Jean-Michel Basquiat<\/strong>\u00a0painting, \u201cDustheads\u201d (1982), executed in acrylic, oilstick, spray enamel, and metallic paint on canvas, which sold to another anonymous telephone bidder for a record $48,843,750 (est. $25-35 million). The Wild West bidding for this Basquiat, known in the trade as a classic \u201cpissing contest,\u201d saw two mega-rich individuals duke it out in a cat-and-mouse bidding game that started at $20 million. It left the previous Basquiat record, set at Christie\u2019s New York last November when \u201cUntitled\u201d (1981) made $26,402,500, in the dust.<\/p>\n

Semi-retired art dealer\u00a0Annina Nosei<\/strong>, who harbored Basquiat in her basement space on Prince Street at the dawn of the 80s, and sold the painting for under $5,000 to\u00a0Maggie Bult<\/strong>\u00a0(at least as she recalled it), attended the sale. Now a senior champion ballroom dancer, Nosei said, \u201cI wish I kept it. I never come to auctions, but I did for this painting. It is a masterpiece, both for its intrinsic size, the painterly language, and the structure itself. I\u2019m without words.\u201d<\/p>\n

The record Basquiat came to market with a third-party guarantee, taking the risk off Christie\u2019s and assuring that the anonymous speculator made a fortune on the transaction.<\/p>\n

Another Basquiat, this one a work on paper, \u201cFurious Man,\u201d also made a huge sum, selling toJerry Lauren<\/strong>\u00a0for $5,723,750 (est. $1-1.5 million). It last sold at Sotheby\u2019s New York in May 2001 for $302,750. Here, it was one of the standout pieces from the Andy Williams collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a folk art collector,\u201d said Lauren, as he exited the heaving, standing-room-only salesroom, \u201cand I can identify with this because it\u2019s American street folk art.\u201d Lauren, who bid from a last row seat in the salesroom, is the creative head of men\u2019s fashion at\u00a0Ralph Lauren<\/strong>\u00a0(no relation). He explained that he collects\u00a0Bill Traylor<\/strong>, a storied folk artist, as well as American weathervanes, stoneware, and \u201cvery rare Americana.\u201d Needless to say, it is his first Basquiat.<\/p>\n

Another record went to the remarkable\u00a0Roy Lichtenstein<\/strong>\u00a0painting from 1963, \u201cWoman With Flowered Hat,\u201d a pastiche-slash-Pop-appropriation of a Picasso painting that sold to London-based jewelry magnate\u00a0Laurence Graff<\/strong>\u00a0for $56,123,750 (est. on request in the region of $30-40 million).<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a masterpiece and I\u2019m very lucky, because it\u2019s one of four ladies Lichtenstein did and this is the best example,\u201d said a still-elated Graff, buttonholed outside Christie\u2019s Rockefeller Center headquarters. \u201cThere are fewer and fewer masterpieces coming to market and I love this painting.\u201d Graff also cracked that it is just weeks away from his birthday, \u201cso it\u2019s going to be my birthday present.\u201d<\/p>\n

The painting mashed the previous high set a year ago at Sotheby\u2019s New York when Lichtenstein\u2019s \u201cSleeping Girl\u201d (1964) sold for $44,882,500.<\/p>\n

The art market tonight appeared giddily bulletproof as London-imported auctioneer\u00a0Jussi Pylkannen<\/strong>\u00a0confidently extracted multi-million-dollar bids from the room and banks of telephone bidders. In this super-charged atmosphere, certainly reminiscent of past bubble moments, uncanny prices popped like vintage champagne corks. The top-class and widely exhibited\u00a0Philip Guston<\/strong>\u00a0AbEx-era painting, \u201cTo Fellini\u201d (1958), which was chased by at least five bidders, soared to a record $25,883,750 (est. $8-12 million).\u00a0Piero Manzoni<\/strong>‘s folded abstraction, \u201cAchrome\u201d (1958) made a huge $14,123,750 (est. $6-9 million).<\/p>\n

In fact, no matter where you turned, it seemed as if the spigot was left on. Another AbEx icon,Mark Rothko<\/strong>\u00a0and his darkly luminous \u201cUntitled (Black on Maroon),\u201d also dated from 1958, sold to New York dealer\u00a0Dominque Levy<\/strong>\u00a0for $27,003,750 (est. $15-20 million). (Levy also bought\u00a0Willem de Kooning<\/strong>‘s sexy, 28-by-20-inch \u201cWoman (Blue Eyes),\u201d from 1953, for $19,163,750 [est. $12-17 million]).<\/p>\n

Gerhard Richter<\/strong>\u2019s richly textured and colorful \u201cAbstraktes bild, Dunkel (613-12)\u201d (1986) sold to a telephone bidder for $21,963,750 (est. $14-18 million). The anonymous seller bought it fromSperone Westwater<\/strong>\u00a0in New York during one of Richter\u2019s first exhibitions in the U.S. in 1987. At the time, the work was well under $100,000.<\/p>\n

But the standout evening wasn\u2019t all about the past either, as evidenced by\u00a0Julie Mehretu<\/strong>\u2019s mural-like architectural landscape, \u201cRetopistics: A Renegade Excation\u201d (2001), which sold for a record $4,603,750 (est. $1.4-1.8 million).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a landmark moment for us,\u201d said\u00a0Koji Inoue<\/strong>, Christie\u2019s head of the evening sale in an after-sale remark. \u201cIt was a win-win across all categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

The contemporary action closes out the season Thursday evening at Phillips.<\/p>\n

To see highlights from Christie’s record-setting sale, click on the slideshow.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

by<\/em>\u00a0Judd Tully<\/div>\n
Published:\u00a0May 16, 2013<\/div>\n
l\u00e1 no BLOUINARTINFO<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n