Van Gogh Fires Up Fall Auctions - statistics for auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's - Abstract

Art in America, Jan, 1999 by David Ebony

This fall's auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art were strong though fairly routine events at both major auction houses until, on the last night of the two weeks of sales, a van Gogh self-portrait sold at Christie's for a stunning $71.5 million, nearly three times its high estimate. Capping the season, the sale brought Christie's fall total to a respectable $276.6 million, compared with the spring's $152.2 million, and last fall's $329.1 million (which included revenues from the Ganz collection). Sotheby's total this season was $211.5 million, in contrast with $150.3 million garnered last spring and $194.2 million earned a year ago. Christie's larger take in part reflects the extra evening sale it has added to its lineup since rearranging its departments last year [see "Front Page" Nov. '97]. [Figures include the auction house commission of 15 percent on the first $50,000 and 10 percent on the remainder.]

Contemporary:

The season started off with Christie's lively sale of contemporary art on the evening of Nov. 12. Of the 49 lots offered, 42 found buyers, for a total of $9.2 million, just under the evening's $10 million high estimate. Top lot of the evening was Jean-Michel Basquiat's large Self-Portrait (1982), which broke the artist's auction record when it sold for a hefty $3.3 million, more than five times its $600,000 high estimate. Other big sellers included Robert Gober's Untitled (Man in Drain), 1993-94, which brought $552,500 (est. $450,000-$650,000), a new auction record for the artist; and a 1971 portrait of Brigid Polk by Gerhard Richter, which sold for $750,500 (est. $800,000-$1.2 million).

A series of seven photos of two men dressed as satyrs, Envelopa: Drawing Restraint 7 (1993) by Matthew Barney, brought $123,500, far above the $80,000 high estimate; and Richard Estes's Hot Foods (1967) garnered $244,500 (est. $150,000-$200,000). A Mona Hatoum sculpture, A Couple (of Swings), 1993, with glass plates for swing seats, sold for $46,000, well above the $30,000 high estimate, and a new auction record for the artist.

On the evening of Nov. 17, Sotheby's combined its sale of contemporary art with an auction of 27 works of modern art from the collection of the late direct-mail entrepreneur Morton J. Neumann, which had been on loan to the National Gallery. The auction total of $42.2 million was shy of the $47.6 million presale low estimate; only 56 of the 72 lots offered sold. The evening's top lot, Picasso's Cubist Nude Woman (1909), brought $11 million just above the $10-million low estimate. The second-highest price was paid for Richard Diebenkorn's large 1959 landscape Horizon--Ocean View, from the Reader's Digest collection, which brought $3.96 million, well above its $2-million high estimate and a new auction record for the artist. Highlights of the sale included Brice Marden's Yellows (1972), which sold for $1.48 million (est. $1.5 million-$2 million), an auction record for that artist.

Jeff Koons's auction record was also broken when his polychrome wood sculpture String of Puppies (1988) sold for $288,500 (est. $250,000-$350,000); an auction high was set for Charles Ray when his motorized white wall piece Rotating Circle (1988), brought $189,000, far above its $50,000 high estimate. Damien Hirst's large colorful "spots" painting, Amphotericin B (1993), sold for $145,000 (est. $100,000-$150,000). One of the surprising flops of the evening was Jasper Johns's White Numbers, 1958, (est. $7 million-$9 million), which was bought in after a high bid of $5.5. million.

Daytime sales of contemporary art at both houses were uneven, but produced some strong results. Notable lots at Sotheby's included Arman's towering bronze Counterpoint for Cellos (1984), which garnered $277,500, far above its $70,000 high estimate; and Jannis Kounellis's large untitled construction (1987), which brought $70,700 (est. $60,000-$80,000). Yayoi Kusama's Accumulation on the Cabinet No. 1, 1962, (est. $25,000-$35,000) brought $54,625, and Gary Hill's video sculpture Cut Pipe (1992) sold for $25,300 (est. $15,000-$20,000).

At Christie's daytime auction a large 1976 Sean Scully painting, Horizontal Cream, from the collection of Asher B. Edelman, went for $46,000 (est. $25,000-$35,000), and Leon Golub's Horsing Around I (1982) sold for $36,800, well above its $30,000 high estimate. Kara Walker's collage Gatorbait (1996) brought $25,300, more than double its $12,000 high estimate; and a large photo by Thomas Ruff, Portrait (Anna Giese), 1990, went for $13,800 (est. $8,000-$10,000). Tony Oursler's video-projection sculpture Instant Suckling (1994) brought $26,450 (est. $12,000-$18,000).

19th-century, 20th-century, Impressionist and modern:

Sotheby's auction of Impressionist and modern art on Monday evening, Nov. 16, was a surprisingly lackluster affair, in spite of the fact that the sale featured 37 top-notch works from the collection of Reader's Digest Association, Inc., that were fresh to the market [see "Front Page," Nov. `98]. The house managed to pull in $123.8 million, but the figure was well below the $140-million low estimate. Only 52 of the 78 lots offered found buyers. The evening's best sellers (all from the Reader's Digest collection) included Modigliani's elegant Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne (1919), the top lot of the night, which soared past its $12-million high estimate, selling for $15.1 million, an auction record for the artist; Cezanne's lush View of L'Estaque through the Pines (1882-83), which brought $11 million, just under the high estimate of $12 million; and Giacometti's bronze The Forest: Seven Figures and a Head (1950), which sold for $7.5 million, above the $6 million high estimate, establishing a new auction record for the artist. Another highlight of the sale was Renoir's vibrant pastel Portrait of Cezanne (1880), which brought $2.7 million ($2.5-$3.5 million).