Prices Soar at Spring Sales - major art auctions yield high prices - Statistical Data Included

Art in America, July, 2000 by David Ebony

Bidders and buyers were out in force at this year's big spring auctions. Neither the ongoing controversy surrounding the federal investigation of Christie's and Sotheby's nor the topsy-turvy stock market deterred collectors from spending record sums on works of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. The season was also marked by Phillips's foray into evening sales of pricey lots. While the results were mixed, the company provided some serious competition for its larger rivals, long dominant in the high-stakes field.

This season, Christie's pulled in an impressive total of $256 million for its sales of Impressionist, 20th-century and contemporary art. The company topped its fall earnings of $252 million for these sales and its $182-million take last spring. Sotheby's spring total of $228 million was also strong, although it was less than the auction house's $313-million fall total and its $241-million earnings last spring. Phillips debuted with a $57.5-million take for these sales, falling quite a bit short of expectations.

Prices include the auction house commission, which this year varied among the three companies. Christie's charges 17.5 percent of the first $80,000, and 10 percent of any amount above that. Sotheby's rate is 20 percent of the first $15,000, 15 percent of the next $85,000, and 10 percent on anything above $100,000. Phillips charges 15 percent of the first $50,000 and 10 percent of the rest.

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

There was some tension in the air at Christie's opening evening sale of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art on May 8, as observers pondered the effects of the investigation and Phillips's challenge to the auction scene. However, after the eighth lot, Gustave Caillebotte's Man on the Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann (1880), soared above its $8-million high estimate to sell for $14.3 million, a record for the artist, the sale's success seemed assured. The evening total, $104.5 million, was above the $101.7-million presale low estimate, and 42 of 47 lots offered sold. The top price was $20.9 million for Monet's Waterlilies (1906), slightly above the $20-million presale estimate.

Christie's sale of 20th-century art the following evening was somewhat uneven, although the results were strong. Of the 42 works offered, 34 sold; the evening total, $72.9 million, was comfortably within the presale estimate of $64.3-$84 million. The top lot was Picasso's 1932 painting of a portrait bust of Marie-Therese Walter, Still Life with Tulips, which brought $28.6 million (est. $25-$30 million). A late Picasso, The Painter and His Model (1963), garnered $3.7 million (est. $1.5-$2 million), and a large untitled Sam Francis painting from 1959 sold for $2.2 million, well above the $1.5-million high estimate. However, a number of major lots, including works by Warhol, Johns and Kline, were bought in.

On May 10, Sotheby's delivered a successful evening auction of Impressionist and modern art, pulling in $140.3 million, well above the presale $117-million low estimate. Forty-two of the 50 lots offered sold. Monet's The Portal (Sun), 1892-94, a view of Rouen Cathedral, was the night's best seller; it brought $24.2 million, above its $20-million high estimate. A big price was also paid for Matisse's The Serpentine (1909), a 22-inch-high bronze cast in 1948 in an edition of 10, which sold for $14 million, well above its $10-million high estimate. Among other highlights were Balthus's Nude with Raised Arms (1951), which brought $3.1 million (est. $1.8-$2.2 million), an auction record for the artist, and Dali's large canvas Chair de poule rhinocerontique (1956), which

brought $1.6 million, more than twice the $700,000 high estimate.

Delayed almost an hour and beleaguered by a poor audio system and the cramped quarters of its temporary premises in the American Craft Museum, Phillips's entry onto the big-ticket auction scene was an almost surreal affair. A portion of the evening's proceeds went to the American Foundation for AIDS Research, whose spokesperson, actress Sharon Stone, walked up and down the aisles a number of times during the auction, pleading with the audience to bid. Her efforts were largely futile as lot after lot hit the skids. In the end, only 18 of the 31 works offered sold, many well under the low estimate. The night's total, $43.9-million, was far from the $65.6-$89 million expected.

Nevertheless, the auction, which raised $1.1 million for the AIDS charity, was not without a few highlights, including the top lot, Suprematist Composition (1919-20) by Kazimir Malevich [see "Front Page," May '00]. It sold to an anonymous phone bidder for $17 million, above the unpublished $15-million presale estimate. Sisley's lush 1873 landscape, Garden at Louveciennes, surpassed its $1.5-million high estimate to sell for $3.5 million. And a haunting 1944 Picasso canvas, Reclining Nude and Woman Washing Her Feet, brought $4.4 million (est. $3-$4 million).

Contemporary:

The following week, all three houses held successful sales of contemporary works. Intense bidding at Christie's on Tuesday evening, May 16, produced record prices for 15 artists. Only 5 of the 50 lots offered were bought in, and the sale total, $14.4 million, was above the night's $14.1-million high estimate. The top lot was a 1988 Jeff Koons porcelain sculpture, Woman in a Tub, which garnered $1.7 million, far above its estimate of $800,000-$1.2 million. Sigmar Polke's new auction record was set when his painting Two Women (1968) brought $1.7 million (est. $1-$1.5 million). New auction highs were also reached by Eric Fischl, whose canvas Noonwatch (1983) fetched $996,000 (est. $500,000-$700,000), and Charles Ray, whose over-life-size Boy (1992) went for $886,000 (est. $600,000-$800,000). Janine Antoni's sculpture Gnaw (1992) sold for $204,000 (est. $80,000-$100,000), and John Currin's painting Autumn Lovers garnered $149,000 (est. $50,000-$70,000), new auction records for those artists.