Contemporary art bolsters fall auction results

The results of this fall's big evening sales in New York of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art were generally impressive, and certain works commanded enormous sums. Overall, however, the season was a bit unbalanced; a number of key lots of Impressionist and modern art faltered, and most of the energy in the auction rooms centered on contemporary works. When the fortnight of evening auctions ended, Sotheby's came out on top with a $353. 1-million total, below last spring's $403.6-million take, but well above the $244.1 million it earned in the fall of 2003. Christie's total, $280.7 million, outshone its spring $204.6-million earnings as well as the $223.5 million it garnered last year in its fall sale. Phillips de Pury & Co., participating only in the contemporary-art week, and highlighting an important single-owner sale of contemporary photographs, raked in $44.9 million, significantly more than its $25.9-million spring take and far above its $14.7-million total last autumn.

Final prices quoted here include the auction house commissions: Sotheby's and Phillips de Pury & Co. charge 20 percent of the first $100,000 and 12 percent of the rest. Christie's rates are 19.5 percent of the first $100,000 and 12 percent of anything above. Estimates do not reflect commissions.

Impressionist and modern

Kicking off the season a day later than usual due to the presidential election, Christie's evening sale on Wednesday, Nov. 3, produced solid results, but its tone was rather subdued. The auction's total, $128.2 million, was within its $111.7-157.9-million presale estimate, and 47 of 58 lots found buyers. London, the Parliament, Effects of Sun and Fog, a luminous 1904 painting by Monet, was the evening's top lot. It sold for $20.2 million, above its $18-million high estimate. Second was a lively 1938 canvas by Miro, Caress of the Stars, from the collection of the late T.V. producer Nathan L. Halpern, which brought $ 11.8 million (est. $6-8 million). Van Dongen's auction record was broken when his 1905 painting Femme Fatale, once in Ingrid Bergman's collection, was knocked down for $5.9 million (est. $3.5-4.5 million). Prices for Picasso's late works have been rising dramatically over the past few seasons; this time, his large, colorful 1968 canvas Musketeer with Pipe brought $7.2 million, well above its $6-million high estimate. Despite these successes, significant lots by Cezanne, Vuillard, Giacometti and Leger were bought in.

In its sale the following night, Sotheby's sold 48 of the 61 lots offered and achieved some record-breaking prices. But the evening's $193-million total fell short of the $203-million low estimate, and a number of key items were bought in. It was widely reported in the press that the company, in order to attract sellers, had offered undisclosed guarantees for certain lots, a risky strategy in a shaky market. Nevertheless, some works performed exceedingly well, including the night's top lot, Gauguin's bright 1899 Tahiti painting Maternite II. It sold for a staggering $39.2 million, far above the unpublished $30-million estimate, and a record auction price for the artist. Modigliani's large portrait, Jeanne Hebuterne (in front of a Door), 1919, also set an artist auction record when it brought $31.4 million, above the $30-million high estimate. Mondrian's auction record was shattered when his late abstract painting New York/Boogie Woogie (1941-42) from Hester Diamond's collection fetched $21 million (est. $20-30 million). New auction records were established for Henry Moore ($8.4 million), Chaim Soutine ($6.7 million) and Barbara Hepworth ($1.1 million). Contrasting with these successes, important lots by Renoir, Degas, Picasso and Kandinsky failed to find buyers.

Contemporary

The week of contemporary-art sales began at Phillips de Pury & Co. with an extraordinary evening auction of 65 lots from a collection of 184 photographs being sold by Baroness Marion Lambert, wife of the banker Philippe Lambert. Every lot sold, nine new artist auction records were established and the night's total, $9.2 million, was well above the $6.3-million high estimate. The top lot, Barbara Kruger's Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), 1983, trounced its $120,000 high estimate to sell for a whopping $601,600, a record auction price for the artist. Among other highlights, No, a 1992 self-portrait by Charles Ray, from an edition of four, brought $534,000 (est. $300,000-400,000). Another self-portrait, Cindy Sherman's Untitled No. 92 (1981), from an edition of 10, sold for $478,400 (est. $250,000-350,000), a record auction price for the artist. Mike Kelley's auction record was broken when his 1991 self-portrait with stuffed animals, Ahh ... Youth, also from an edition of 10, was knocked down for $411,200 (est. $150,000-200,000).

The following evening, Sotheby's scored a solid success; it sold 50 of 62 contemporary works for a total of $93.4 million, compared with the auction's $104-million high estimate. The star lot, Rothko's 1954 abstract canvas No. 6 (Yellow, White, Blue Over Yellow on Gray), brought $17.4 million, far above its $12-million high estimate, and a new auction record for the artist. The second biggest price was attained by a charcoal drawing by Jasper Johns, 0 Through 9 (1961), fetching a hefty $10.9 million, over its $9-million high estimate. Among the sale's other highlights, Joan Mitchell's 1956 painting King of Spades brought $2.7 million, an auction record for the artist, and Mark Tansey's 1984 painting The Key sold for $1.2 million (est. $700,000-900,000), another artist auction record. Though it was greeted by loud hissing throughout the room as it appeared on the block, Richard Phillips's portrait of George W. Bush in acid pink and gray, The President of the United States of America (2001), sold for $142,400, well above the $90,000 high estimate and a record auction price for the artist.

Christie's Wednesday evening sale, Nov. 10, was similarly lively. The auction total, $92.5 million, was near the $94-million high estimate; 59 of the 63 lots offered sold, 26 of those for over $1 million. The top lot was Warhol's large Mustard Race Riot (1963), which brought $15.1 million, compared to the unpublished $15-million estimate. Robert Motherwell's auction record was broken when his large painting Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 71 (1961) sold for $2.9 million (est. $600,000-800,000), and a new auction high was set for Lee Bontecou, when her untitled 1960 relief brought a resounding $847,500 (est. $500,000-700,000). New auction records were set for Dan Flavin, whose "monument" for V. Tatlin, 1964-65, brought $735,500 (est. $400,000-600,000), and for Carl Andre, whose Steel-Magnesium Plain (1969) garnered $903,500 (est. $400,000-600,000). Not Afraid of Love, a life-size sculpture of an elephant covered in a sheet, by Maurizio Cattelan, whose prices continue to soar at auction, sold for $2.8 million (est. $700,000-900,000), a short-lived auction record that was broken the following evening.

The season closed with Phillips de Pury & Co.'s upbeat sale on Nov. 11, which pulled in $25.6 million, at the midpoint of the $20.9-29.3-million estimate. Only four of 58 lots were bought in. Francis Bacon's 1979 painting Oedipus was the top lot, selling for $3.6 million (est. $4-6 million). The Ninth Hour, Cattelan's imaginative sculpture of the Pope hit by a meteorite, went for $3 million, the artist's new auction record, and Jeff Koons's painted wood sculpture Bear and Policeman (1988) sold for $2.9 million (est. $2.5-3.5 million). Among other highlights, Martin Kippenberger's presciently topical diptych Terrorist/Tourist (1997) brought $612,800 (est. $200,000-300,000), and Tom Friedman's untitled lifesize figure made of countless wooden sticks (2001) went for $310,400 (est. $100,000-150,000).

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