Contemporary Art Ignites Bidding Wars at Spring Auctions - Statistical Data Included

Art in America, July, 2001 by David Ebony

Overall, it was a bumpy ride at the big sales of Impressionist and modern art, but contemporary works were strong at all three major auction houses this spring. The salesrooms were packed for two solid weeks, but bidding was generally cautious and there were some major disappointments. However, amidst economic uncertainty, soaring gasoline prices and the ongoing federal investigation of Christie's and Sotheby's, some notable and record-breaking prices were realized, especially in the contemporary-art field.

This season, Phillips de Pury and Luxembourg finally cracked the $100-million mark for a single evening sale, thus emerging as the serious challenger to Sotheby's and Christie's that the smaller company had long threatened to be. For the first time in a number of years, Sotheby's was this spring's leader with a

$222.3-million sales total, above the $196 million it earned in the fall and near the $228-million total it reached last spring. Christie's pulled in $189.9 million, down from its $261.5-million take in the fall and its $256-million total of spring 2000. Ensconced in its new 57th Street digs, Phillips brought in a total of $143.7 million for the two weeks of sales, far above its $45.8-million fall total and the $57.5 million it earned last spring.

Prices quoted here include commission rates, which vary among the three houses. Christie's charges 17.5 percent of the first $80,000 plus 10 percent of the rest. Sotheby's takes 20 percent on the first $15.000, 15 percent of the next $85,000, and 10 percent of any amount above $100,000. Phillips charges 15 percent of the first $50,000 and 10 percent of anything above.

Impressionist and Modern

The season opened the evening of May 7 with Phillips's greatly anticipated but ultimately disappointing sale of Impressionist and modern art. The auction total, $124 million, was far below the evening's $170-$236-million estimate, and 15 of the 41 lots offered failed to find buyers.

Prior to the auction, an intense buzz surrounded a group of seven important works which were being sold by German collector Heinz Berggruen. To bring the works to the block, Phillips offered Berggruen a guarantee of an undisclosed sum that the auction house promised to pay for the items even if they failed to reach that figure at auction. Experts estimate the guarantee at around $120 million. The strategy had mixed results. Offered at the start of the auction, five of the Berggruen lots sold, most for less than the low estimate. The highest price was paid for a spectacular Cezanne landscape, Montagne Sainte-Victoire (1888-90), the evening's top lot. It went to an anonymous phone bidder for $38.5 million, just above the $35-million low estimate. Cezanne's Young Girl with a Doll (1902-04), also sold well, bringing $15.5 million (est. $15-18 million). However, another portrait by the artist failed to find a buyer. The Getty Museum purchased van Gogh's drawing Aries, View from the Wheat Fields (1888), for $4.4 million, just at its low estimate. But one of the evening's star lots, The Public Garden (1888), a large van Gogh landscape, was passed after listless bidding wound up at $26 million (estimate $30-40 million).

At Sotheby's evening sale the following night, bidding was considerably perkier. The single-owner auction of works assembled over the past four decades by American-born London collector Stanley J. Seeger brought $54 million, well above its $39-million high estimate. All but 3 of the 62 lots offered sold. Top lot was Francis Bacon's large triptych Studies of the Human Body (1979), which was knocked down for $8.9 million, an auction record for the artist. Miro's 1940 Nocturne, a work on paper from his "Constellation" series, brought $5.6 million, far above its $3.5-million high estimate. Max Beckmann's Perseus's (Hercules's) Last Duty (1949) sold for $3.9 million, more than four times its $900,000 high estimate; and Picasso's Rose-period drawing Young Man and Horse (1906) fetched $1.7 million, well above the $1.2 million high estimate. Among other notable lots, Jasper Johns's small oil Colored Alphabet (1959) sold for $3.7 million, beyond its $3-million high estimate; and Malcolm Morley's 1979 painting Christmas Tree (The Lone Ranger Lost in the Jungle of Desires) brought $511,750 (est. $350,000-$450,000).

Unable to match the heat of the Seeger sale, Christie's Impressionist and modern art auction on May 9 was a tepid affair. The auction total, $83.4 million, was far below the $116-$150 million expected. Only 6 of the 46 works offered were bought in, but many items sold for considerably less than the low estimates. The top lot of the evening was Monet's large Waterlilies (1916-19), which brought $9.9 million, just under the 10-million low estimate. Another successful lot was Matisse's pastel The Dancer (1925), which brought $5.3 million, well above the $4-million presale high estimate. But the biggest surprise was the star lot of the evening and perhaps the entire season, Picasso's portrait of his first wife, Olga Picasso (1923), which failed to sell. Widely regarded as a major work of the artist's Classical period, and a painting that was new to the auction market, the large canvas was expected to bring at least $30 million, but was bought in after a high bid of $24 million.