Rough start, smooth finish at fall auctions - Front Page

Art in America, Jan, 2003 by David Ebony

Against the background of a shaky economy and trepidation about an impending war with Iraq, this autumn's evening auction series of big-ticket Impressionist, modern and contemporary works at New York's three major auction houses promised to be a cliffhanger. At the end of the fortnight of sales, contemporary art yielded generally strong results, although many lots in the Impressionist and modern fields failed to reach the high price levels of the recent past or were bought in. Ultimately, the results at all three houses remained more or less consistent with last season's totals.

Sotheby's came out on top, pulling in $193 million, just under its $206.3-million spring total. At Christie's, the $171.8-million take was not far from its $180.2-million total last spring. Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg came in last with a $35.6-million total, a figure that slightly exceeded its $30.9-million spring total, although last season's results were for contemporary art only. Sale prices quoted here include the auction house commission, which is now the same at all three houses: 19.5 percent of the first $100,000 and 10 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.

Impressionist and Modern

The season started off with a disastrous sale at Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg on Monday evening, Nov. 4. Only 19 of 44 works sold. The night's $7-million total was a mere fraction of the $49.3-$66.7-million presale estimate. Early in the auction, a few items exceeded expectations, including a lively 1909 canvas by Lyonel Feininger, The Newspaper Reader, which brought $2.2 million (est. $1.7-$2 million), and Franz Marc's painting Crouching Deer (1911), which sold for $1 million, above its $900,000 high estimate. Several drawings by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele also did well. But bids were scarce and the audience sat in stunned silence as auctioneer Simon de Pury passed lot after lot, including major works by Monet, Picasso, Matisse and Leger. Certain experts attributed the sale's failure to the works themselves, some of which they claimed were second rate or had appeared too recently on the block. Others speculated that the auction signaled a severe downturn in the art market. It was also noted that Phillips, which sat out the New York sales of high-end Impressionist and modern art last spring, had recently scaled back its operations. In the end, however, the dismal auction cast only a temporary pall. Subsequent sales at Sotheby's and Christie's proved quite successful, and Phillips recovered its momentum with its upbeat sale of contemporary art the following week.

Auction-goers breathed a sigh of relief at Sotheby's on Nov. 5 when the evening sale brought $81.5 million. While the figure was well below the $101.3 presale estimate and only 45 of the 66 lots found buyers, 21 works sold for over $1 million, and several fetched a great deal more. The evening's best-seller, Waterlilies (1906) by Monet, brought $18.7 million, near the midpoint of its $16-$20-million presale estimate. Other highlights included Modigliani's Giovanotto dai Capelli Rossi (1919), consigned by publisher Robert C. Guccione, which garnered $8.5 million, close to its $8-million presale high estimate; and a Pointillist seascape by Theo van Rysselberghe, Sailboats on the Escault (1892), which brought $2.6 million, well above its $1.5-million high estimate and a new auction record for the artist. A new record was also set for Max Ernst when his Surrealist bronze The King Playing with the Queen (1944/54) Went for $2.4 million, near the $2.5-million low estimate.

The auction's rough spots included numerous lots that sold substantially below their low estimates. Among the evening's casualties was a rare Cezanne standing female nude, 1898-99 (est. $10-$15 million), from the collection of Jocelyne Wildenstein, which was bought in after a high bid of $9 million.

The following evening, Christie's, holding its ground but failing to reach its presale $87-million low estimate, took in $67.5 million. Forty of 54 lots sold, and three new artist auction records were established. The evening's top lot was Picasso's 1951 cast bronze Mother and Her Child, the well-known image of a baboon with a toy car for a head, from the collection of jazz impresario Norman Granz, which was knocked down for $6.7 million (est. $5-$7 million), a record for a sculpture by the artist. Among other highlights, Julio Gonzalez's 1937 sculpture Gothic Man brought $3.4 million (est. $1.5-$2 million) and set an auction record for that artist. New auction highs included Alexej Jawlensky ($3.3 million) and Alexander Archipenko ($999,500). Throughout the evening, however, numerous works sold for below their low estimates, and several major lots by artists such as Rodin, Renoir and Giacometti were bought in.

Contemporary

Phillips reasserted itself with a solid evening sale of contemporary art on Monday, Nov. 11. The auction total, $24.87 million, met the evening's $24.95-million low estimate. Forty of 46 lots sold, and two new artist auction records were established. The top lot was Andy Warhol's Silver Liz (1963), a two-panel work that fetched $4.4 million (est. $4-$6 million). An untitled 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for $1.7 million (est. $1.5 million-$2 million), and a large photo, Self-Portrait Marnixbad, Amsterdam (1991), by Rineke Dijkstra brought $95,600 (est. $60,000-$80,000). New auction records were set for Claes Oldenburg, whose 1964 sculpture Light Switches--Hard Version sold for $691,500 (est. $500,000-$700,000), and Blinky Palermo, whose minimalist canvas Stoffbild (1969) was knocked down for $669,500 (est. $500,000-$700,000).