Contemporary Art Energizes Fall Auctions

Art in America, Jan, 2001 by David Ebony

The following night's contemporary sale at Sotheby's was also strong. All but 12 of 62 lots sold, bringing the evening total to $43.1 million, within the $40-$56-million presale estimate. Eight lots sold for over $1 million, and 10 new artist auction records were established. The star lot was Mark Rothko's 1953 canvas No. 2 (Blue, Red and Green), bought for $11 million (est. $8-$10 million). A big red Calder stabile, Stegosaurus (1972-73) was knocked down for $4.2 million (est. $2.5-$3.5 million), a record for the artist.

Brice Marden's triptych, For Pearl (1970), being sold by the Lannan Foundation to support its new acquisitions and projects fund, brought $1.9 million (est. $2-$3 million), an auction record for the artist. Other Lannan works included a large Kenneth Noland target painting, Heat (1958), which sold for $797,550 (est. $250,000-$350,000); and Cronos (1962), a bronze by Isamu Noguchi, which brought $643,750 (est. $600,000-$800,000), a record auction price for the artist. Joan Mitchell's large oil, Monongahela (1955) sold for $830,750 (est. $400,000-$600,000), another record.

Among other important lots, an untitled 1970 "stack" piece by Donald Judd brought $ 819,750 (est. $200,000-$300,000); and Dan Flavin's fluorescent work, Alternate Diagonals of March 2, 1964 (To Don Judd), sold for $335,750 (est. $120,000-$180,000), new auction records for those artists. More artist auction records were broken when Robert Gober's 1984 sculpture Deep Basin Sink garnered $830,750 (est. $500,000-$700,000); and Gary Hume's painting Pauline (1996), fetched $159,750 (est. $90,000-$120,000).

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, Christie's presented a lively sale of postwar art. The evening's total, $59.7 million, was beyond the $58.3-million low estimate, and 46 of 54 lots sold. The top lot was Re 1 (1958), a large blue sponge painting by Yves Klein, which sold for $6.7 million (est. $4-$5 million); Francis Bacon's Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966) brought $6.6 million (est. $3.5-$4.5 million) auction records for those artists. New auction records were also established for Gerhard Richter, whose 1965 photo-based painting, Der Kongress (Professor Zander) brought $5 million (est. $3-$4 million), and for Ellsworth Kelly, whose red-and-white 1959 canvas, Falcon, sold for $1.1 million (est. $300,000-$500,000).

The fortnight of evening sales ended with a bang the following day at Christie's contemporary art auction. Frantic bidders drove prices for certain lots skyward. Of the 62 works offered, 53 sold, including 10 that established new artist auction records. The sale totaled $12.7 million, surpassing the $11.8-million presale high estimate.

Top lot was Charles Ray's nude Male Mannequin (1990), from an edition of three, which brought a whopping $2.2 million, trouncing its $700,000-$900,000 estimate, and a new auction record for the artist. In second place was Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Untitled (Blood), 1992, a work consisting of a plastic beaded curtain, which soared past its $400,000-$600,000 estimate to sell for $1.7 million, another artist auction record. Jean-Michel Basquiat's large painting Life Like Son of Barney Hill (1983), sold for $1.4 million (est. $700,000-$900,000); and Jeff Koons's porn ink-on-canvas, Red Butt (Distance), 1991, brought $369,000 (est. $150,000-$200,000). Maurizio Cattelan's, Untitled (stuffed ostrich), 1997, sold for $270,000 (est. $100,000-$150,000), a record auction price for the artist. New auction records were also established for Mona Hatoum, Gabriel Orozco, Yasumasa Morimura, Donald Baechler and Fischli & Weiss.