Christie’s secured some standout up to date and trendy consignments, although the latter underperformed: works by masters like Chagall, Pissarro and Beckmann failed to satisfy their reserves and have been among the many unsold plenty of the night. The public sale started with power, marked by aggressive bidding that pushed two René Magritte masterpieces—Shéhérazade (1947) and the night time scene L’invitée (1956)—to ultimate costs of £882,000 and £1,200,000 respectively, with solely the latter backed by a third-party assure. Shortly after, one other Magritte, Le Grand Fashion (1952), bought for £2.6 million ($3.4 million) on the telephone with Christie’s Xin Li—the work had reportedly first bought to Waddington Gallery for £51,000. Amongst different robust performers within the Surrealism class was a fragile, fresh-to-market Leonor Fini, which exceeded expectations to promote for £907,000 towards an preliminary estimate of £450,000-650,000.
Sturdy outcomes continued within the early heaps, equivalent to Ed Ruscha’s Music (lot 4), which realized £378,000 after a three-way telephone bidding conflict. Jenny Saville’s portrait closed at £378,000, adopted by a Cecily Brown that sparked energetic competitors earlier than reaching £3,065,000. Two museum-quality Lucian Freud work additionally surpassed their decrease estimates, together with considered one of his largest nudes, Ria, Bare Portrait (beforehand exhibited on the Nationwide Gallery), although each in the end hammered for a measured £11,810,000.
A burst of pleasure got here just some heaps later with Edgar Degas’s work on paper, Danseuse à mi-corps rajustant son épaulette (1896-1899), which soared to £1,008,000 towards its unique estimate of £400,000-600,000. The opposite extraordinary efficiency for a Nineteenth-century work was achieved by Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi, whose piece fetched £1.25 million—79 % above the excessive estimate of £500,000. Hauser & Wirth’s current exhibition of Hammershøi might have given this sale a “light push.” On the up to date aspect, bidding was energetic however largely modest, with Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s 1 pm Saturday promoting for £819,000, setting a brand new public sale report for the artist, and Sarah Sze’s Spell reaching £756,000.
The night’s high lot got here from one of many public sale’s most buzzed-about consignments: items from the private assortment of Damien Hirst. His Jeff Koons Blue Rabbit Balloon bought for £9.9 million through specialist Stephanie Rao, more likely to an Asian purchaser. Additionally from Hirst’s assortment, Richard Prince’s Untitled (Cowboy) (1997) closed at £2.1 million after intense bidding, surpassing its excessive estimate of £1.8 million, whereas Hurricane Nurse (2004) from Prince’s sequence bought under estimate at £4.2 million, possible because of overly formidable expectations. One other high-profile disappointment was Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XVIII (1986), which didn’t attain its low estimate, hammering at £3.5 million regardless of being a part of a coveted consignment from Eric Clapton’s assortment.
Christie’s will proceed its October auctions in Paris subsequent week, beginning with the “Assortment Danute et Alain Mallart Bruxelles, Paris – Vilnius on October 17 at 2 p.m., adopted by Avant-Garde(s) together with Pondering Italian the subsequent day at 6 p.m., with the Day Gross sales to comply with.
The identical night time, the gavel shifted to Sotheby’s for its Modern Night Public sale, which proved to be a comparatively subdued affair, struggling out of the gate as a number of high names both handed or barely hit their reserves. This included Andy Warhol’s Self-Portrait (1963-64), consigned by Peter Brant, which went unsold, together with Yoshitomo Nara’s Damaged Coronary heart Bench (2006-07), which didn’t meet its arguably inflated low estimate of £2,500,000. Of the twenty-two heaps provided, a minimum of ten bought beneath their estimates or have been handed completely. Among the many few vivid spots, David Hockney’s L’Arbois, Sainte-Maxime (1968) stood out as the highest lot of the night time, attracting aggressive bidding and shutting at £13,150,000 with charges, greater than ten instances its final public sale value. The portray had beforehand bought at Sotheby’s in 2011 for £1.3 million towards an estimate of £1-1.5 million.
A extra measured outcome got here for Matthew Wong, whose Van Gogh-inspired nightscape Moonlight Mile bought simply above its estimate at £1,563,816. Stronger performances adopted with Bridget Riley’s Zig sequence, Gaillard 2, which bought to an Asian collector for £1,920,000, and Anselm Kiefer’s Der Morgenthau Plan, acquired by an Indian collector for £1,020,000, barely exceeding its estimate. Lucian Freud’s Baby with a Toy Canine hammered for £1,980,000, whereas one of many night time’s surprising breakouts got here from Banksy’s Vest, which sparked a flurry of bids and in the end bought for £780,000, doubling its preliminary estimate of £200,000-300,000. Total, nevertheless, Sotheby’s wrapped up with a reasonable whole of £37,582,816, simply over the low estimate and considerably under final 12 months’s outcome for a similar sale.
Sotheby’s will proceed its October public sale sequence at its new Paris headquarters, kicking off on October 12 forward of Artwork Basel and the town’s busy artwork week. Highlights embrace Joseph Beuys: The Schellmann Assortment on October 17 at 7 p.m., adopted by Surrealism and its Legacy and Modernités on October 18 beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Phillips’s Fashionable and Modern Night Sale noticed a a lot livelier ambiance, closing at £15 million with a 77 % sell-through by lot and 79 % by worth. Main the sale was David Hockney’s much-anticipated Path Via Wheat Subject, July (2005), featured in his Royal Academy exhibition, which exceeded its excessive estimate to realize £3,315,000. There was robust curiosity in Andy Warhol’s iconic portrait of Princess Diana, which bought to a girl within the entrance row for £1,000,000, although a portrait of then-Prince Charles failed to satisfy its £750,000 low estimate, regardless of the identical bidder beginning to present curiosity. Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin (M) (2016) attracted energetic bidding however solely narrowly surpassed its low estimate, touchdown at £1,984,000 with charges. Equally, Lucio Fontana’s Concetto spaziale, Attese (1967) barely handed the low estimate, closing at £889,000, whereas Marino Marini’s sculpture did not discover a purchaser at its reserve.
A shock hit was Andreas Gursky’s New York, Mercantile Trade (2000), which doubled its £250,000-350,000 estimate, promoting for £609,600 regardless of skepticism about pictures’s market efficiency. Equally, Wolfgang Tillmans’s Freischwimmer 104 bought properly at £190,400. Tracey Emin’s That is Life With out You – You Made Me Really feel Like This (2018) achieved a strong £889,000 on the upper finish of its estimate, supported by a assure and pre-sale curiosity. In the meantime, younger painter Francesca Mollett noticed a promising outcome along with her piece hammering at £42,000 (£53,340 with charges), and Derek Fordjour’s work, beforehand exhibited at his St. Louis museum present, bought beneath estimate at £180,000.
SEE ALSO: Phillips’ Specialist Patrizia Koenig On What to Count on This Public sale Season
Notable performances got here from Michaela Yearwood-Dan, who bought simply above her excessive estimate at £165,100, and Jenna Gribbon’s portrait of her girlfriend, final seen at gallery MASSIMODECARLO, which went for a modest £101,600. Anna Weyant’s So Bored (2021), which as soon as fetched half 1,000,000 at public sale, closed at £266,700, exceeding a conservative £120,000-180,000 estimate, reflecting a recalibration nearer to her main market pricing. The standout second of the night time was the public sale debut of London-based Joseph Yaeger, whose Sphinx With out a Secret (2021) sparked a bidding conflict amongst seven consumers and in the end achieved £203,200, far surpassing its unique estimate of £20,000-30,000.
“We sourced fresh-to-the-market works that resonated with collectors globally and priced them pretty,” Katherine Arnold and Keith Gill, who led the sale for Christie’s, instructed the press, and this season’s strategy seems to be the important thing driver behind that public sale home’s relative success. Nonetheless, this technique additionally requires advanced negotiations with sellers, who should both recalibrate their expectations to suit the present local weather or maintain off for a greater second. The excessive drama on the block is noticeably absent—a minimum of in London—and this season revealed few, if any, market shifts towards rising names because the artwork world leans extra conservatively into established artists with confirmed markets.