Greta Beretta reports that Sotheby’s ended 2012 with an overall loss of 8% or $63.3 million, a 37% drop in net gain and a 10% decline in sales, affecting commission revenue. Positive notes include growth in the Chinese market, more private sales, and strong results in Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary art, including a record NYC sale of The Scream by Edward Munch at $119,922,500 and a Contemporary sale in November totaling $375,149,000 with top results for Rothko, Pollock, Warhol, and others.
The article reports Christie’s First Open sale of postwar and contemporary art at Rockefeller Center, where 239 of 297 lots sold for a total of $12.4 million, a record for First Open sales, with over $830,000 for Artists Space and just over $500,000 for the Brooklyn Museum. Notable works included Gerhard Richter’s untitled oil on paper (1986) selling for $782,500 and Peter Doig’s Coburg 3+1 more (1995) at $626,500; Kehinde Wiley’s Randerson Romualdo Cordeiro Study II (2012) sold for $35,000 and benefited the Brooklyn Museum, along with other strong results for artists such as Keltie Ferris and Angel Otero.
Nicolas Poussin’s Hannibal Crossing the Alps on an Elephant is to be offered at Christie’s London on 2 July 2013 in the Old Master & British Paintings Evening Auction. The work, dating from the early period of Poussin, is expected to realise £3 million to £5 million and has provenance from Cassiano dal Pozzo and Rubin Lipchitz, among others.
Pablo Picasso ceramics sold out at Sotheby’s London in a two-sale day, with all 100 important pieces from a private collection and strong results across a broader ceramics and prints auction. The event achieved £1,455,750 for Picasso ceramics, part of £2,075,125 for the ceramics and prints group, and the top Picasso item was Vase gros oiseau vert at £104,500. The morning session of Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Prints yielded top price Edvard Munch's Two Human Beings, The Lonely Ones at £986,500, with Warhol prints also featuring in the sale.
The article discusses a rare Henri Matisse wife portrait by Andre Derain and Jackson Pollock's The Blue Unconscious, both expected to fetch as much as $20 million and up to $30 million respectively at New York spring auctions. Christie's highlights the 1905 Derain portrait of Amélie Matisse, and Sotheby's highlights Pollock's The Blue Unconscious from 1946, with prior records and exhibition plans mentioned.
Auction offers rosy picture despite market doldrums. The Laverty Collection auction, at Bonhams, drew 398 bidders and topped $5 million, with Aida Tomescu's Albastra III selling for $74,520 including premium. The event was described as the most successful contemporary art auction ever held in Australia.
Steve A. Cohen reportedly purchased Picasso's 1932 portrait Le Rêve from Steve Wynn for $155 million, establishing a new record for the highest price paid by a US collector for an artwork. The deal was previously negotiated in 2006 for $139 million, but Wynn damaged the painting, leading to repairs and an eventual decline in its value before Cohen's acquisition, according to reports cited by The New York Post.
Pablo Picasso's Le Reve (The Dream) sold privately for 155 million dollars, purchased by Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors. The sale makes Le Reve the most valuable Picasso and the second most expensive artwork ever sold.
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy heirs sue over Picasso's Madame Soler (1903) sold under Nazi duress; the painting is now with the Bavarian State Paintings Collection in Munich, with prior sale involving Mendelssohn & Co. and Justin Thannhauser; the heirs allege restitution issues and Nazi persecution implications.
Pablo Picasso, “Madame Soler”; the heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy filed suit against the German State of Bavaria in SDNY to recover Picasso’s oil painting Madame Soler (1903). The case cites related 2009 and historical persecution of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, noting the family’s wealth, prominence, and the impact of Nazi policies on their assets and art collection.