Monthly archive
12 headlines
Source-linked reporting
artobserved.com
Martin Kippenberger’s ‘Untitled’ via Sotheby’s sold for $4.1 million, within estimates and setting a new record for the artist. Christopher Wool’s ‘Untitled’ via Sotheby’s sold for $1.8 million, within estimates and setting a new record for the artist.
nytimes.com
The New York Times reports on Sotheby’s contemporary art sale, noting a recalibrated market with total sales of about $47 million, below its low estimate; Jeff Koons's Baroque Egg With Bow (Turquoise/Magenta) sold for $5.4 million to Larry Gagosian.
artnews.com
Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening sale topped by Jeff Koons’s Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta) (1994-2008) which sold for $5,458,5000. The sale totaled $47,033,500 with an 81% sell-through by lot and 78% by value, when compared to estimates and prior years. Other notable results include Martin Kippenberger’s untitled self portrait sold for $4.1 million (auction record for the artist), Christopher Wool’s Untitled (P105) at $1.8 million, Richard Prince’s Can You Imagine at $1,370,500 and My Girlfriend at $662,500, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Red Man One at $3,554,500, and Alexander Calder’s Ebony Sticks in a Semi-Circle at $3.5 million.
thetelegraphandargus.co.uk
David Hockney’s Beverley Hills Housewife sold for 7,922,500 US dollars (£5,236,328) at Christie’s in New York, a record for the artist. The painting is part of the California Dreaming series (1966–1967) and depicts a 1960s California woman on a patio, from Betty Freeman’s collection.
latimes.com
David Hockney’s 1966 painting Beverly Hills Housewife sold at auction for a record $7.9 million in New York. The work features Betty Freeman on her patio with a zebra‑print Corbusier lounge chair and an abstract sculpture; Freeman died in January at age 87. The sale was part of Christie’s auction of Freeman’s estate, where 18 of 20 lots sold for a total of $31.6 million, with two works unsold because bids did not meet the reserve price.
thetimes.com
David Hockney’s Beverly Hills Housewife diptych sold for $7.9 million (about £5.1 million) at Christie’s in New York, setting a new record for the artist. The sale occurred during Christie’s postwar and contemporary art auction and involved aggressive bidding from high-profile collectors.
theglobeandmail.com
Peter Doig’s 1993 oil painting Night Fishing sold for $4,674,500 (USD) at Christie’s in New York, selling within an estimated range of $3-4 million. The auction total for the sale was $93.74 million across 49 lots from 54 on offer, with the work purchased by Victoria Gelfand of Gagosian Gallery.
fineartpublicity.com
Damien Hirst's butterfly artwork Tranquility sold for HK$13.37 million (US$1.71 million) at Seoul auction Hong Kong Ltd's sale in Hong Kong on 15 May 2009, becoming the artist's most expensive work sold at auction in Asia. The top lot also set a world auction record for a sculpture by Yayoi Kusama.
artinvestment.ru
The page reports on Christie’s handling of Sam Francis’s painting Gray during a May 13 auction in New York, including a dispute over the final bid of $3 million and testimony involving Joanne Heyler of the Broad Art Foundation. The plaintiff, Gregory Callimanopulos, alleges the painting was sold at $3 million after a bid confusion; Christie’s defense centers on the bid being recognised by Heyler and other staff.
auctionpublicity.com
Christie's New York Latin American Art Evening Sale realized $11,004,350 led by Mario Carreño, Leonora Carrington, and Diego Rivera, with five new world auction records for Carrington, Portocarrero, Oiticica, Aizenberg, and Pape. The sale was 68% sold by lot and 77% by value.
theartnewspaper.com
J. Ezra Merkin, a central figure tied to the Madoff fraud, offloads a $310 million Rothko collection that will be shown at Moscow’s Garage Center for Contemporary Art. The sale, brokered by PaceWildenstein’s Marc Glimcher, involved 12 paintings and a work on paper dating from 1949 to 1969, with receipts currently frozen as investigations proceed.
Christie’s
Christie’s reported HK$1.07 billion from its Spring 2009 Hong Kong auction series, with more than half of 1,659 lots exceeding high estimates. The auction house said average lot values were about 30% above Autumn 2008 levels despite totals remaining below the early-2008 peak.