Francis Bacon’s 1964 study for self-portrait was valued at $40 million but did not sell at Christie’s. The article notes a broader shift to a buyer’s market with ~2/3 sell rate across Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips, totaling under $1 billion, well below their combined minimum estimate of $1.7 billion. It cites specific unsold works such as Roy Lichtenstein’s Half Face With Collar and the Bacon self-portrait, alongside notable results like Malevich’s work at $60 million and Munch’s Vampire at $38.1 million.
The Observer reports that Lars Ulrich plans to sell his Basquiat Untitled (Boxer) at Christie’s for 12 million to 16 million, amid market turbulence. The piece quotes Christie’s co-heads of postwar and contemporary art, Brett Gorvy and Amy Cappellazzo, discussing the significance and timing of the sale.
Carol Vogel reports that Phillips de Pury & Company's contemporary art auction saw about 40 percent of works unsold and those sold bringing in about $9.6 million, well below the low estimate of $23 million; Donald Judd’s Untitled (77/23-Bernstein) sold for $2.8 million/$3.2 million with fees, amid withdrawals and tepid bidding.
The Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln acquired works by Charles White, Alvin Loving, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Charles Alston, Lois Mailou Jones and Aaron Douglas through auctions and sales in New York. The museum plans to display these acquisitions in the exhibition New Acquisitions: African-American Masters Collection, running December 16 through March 2.
No Guarantees discusses Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Rockefeller Center, noting that despite earlier concerns in the market, the sale yielded strong artistic content and that Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (710) sold for $14.9 million; Louise Bourgeois sculptures were among the notable lots.
Ellen Paris reports on foreign collectors fueling the U.S. art market, citing Damien Hirst’s $126 million sale and rising multi-million dollar auctions as Christie’s reports strong six-month worldwide sales. The piece notes collectors from Russia, the Middle East, India, and China driving prices to new highs and mentions increased activity in Asia and the Middle East.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales sold two paintings to help fund its purchase of a $16.2 million work by Paul Cezanne. Brett Whiteley’s Balmoral sold for $990,000 at Sotheby’s in Melbourne, while John Perceval’s Pleasure Craft sold for $198,000.
Sotheby’s realized $125 million on its November 11 contemporary sale, against a presale estimate of $203 million to $280 million. Gerhard Richter’s Mirror Painting (Blood Red), 1991, sold for $1.3 million; John Currin’s Old Master–style Nice ’N Easy, 1999, sold for $5.5 million; Jeff Koons’s Wishing Well, 1999, sold for $2.1 million; Ed Ruscha’s Desire, 1969, $2.4 million; Robert Rauschenberg’s Bantam, 1959, $2.6 million; and Donald Judd’s Untitled (90-14 Bernstein), 1990, $1.1 million.
Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, and Andy Warhol works struggled to find buyers at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips fall sales, with total auction volume of $803.3 million, down from prior years. Despite the overall decline, high-estimated works by Kazimir Malevich and Edvard Munch sold, and collectors like Eli Broad participated, suggesting rare opportunities for buyers as the market pricing normalizes.