2003 in review: auction highlights

Art in America, August, 2004

Listed below are highlights from the spring and fall 2003 auction seasons, featuring works of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art from five of New York's most prominent auction houses. Each entry provides the artist's name, title of work, date, final price, the work's presale estimate and the date of sale.

Final prices quoted here include buyers' commission rates, which vary. Sotheby's and Phillips de Pury & Co. charge 20 percent on the first $100,000 and 12 percent on the rest. The commission at Christie's and Doyle is 19.5 percent up to $100,000, and 12 percent on amounts above. Swann charges 15 percent on the first $50,000 and 10 percent on the remainder. Estimates do not reflect commissions.

Sotheby's

Spring:

Auguste Renoir, In the Roses (Madame Leon Clapisson), 1882, $23.5 million (est. $20-30 million), May 6.

Max Liebermann, My House in Wannsee with Garden, 1926, $1.6 million (est. $750,000-950,000), May 6.

Alexander Archipenko, Blue Dancer, 1913, $1 million (est. $700,000-900,000), May 6.

Bradley Walker Tomlin, Number 15, 1953, $904,000 (est. $600,000-800,000), May 13.

Vija Celmins, Untitled (Ocean), 1990-95, $545,000 (est. $200,000-300,000), May 13.

Fall:

Willem de Kooning, Spike's Folly I, 1959, $11.2 million (est. $10-15 million), Nov. 12.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Two Heads on Gold), 1982, $6.4 million (est. $2.5 -3.5 million), Nov. 12.

Brice Marden, 10 (Dialog 2), 1987-88, $2.5 million (est. $2-3 million), Nov. 12.

Agnes Martin, Leaves, 1966, $2.6 million (est. $1.8-2.2 million), Nov. 12.

Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1959-60, $456,000 (est. $50,000-70,000), Nov. 12.

Barbara Kruger, Money Can Buy You Love, 1985, $108,000 (est. $40,000-60,000), Nov. 13.

Glenn Ligon, Wall Whitman #1, 1991, $87,000 (est. $50,000-70,000), Nov. 13.

Jose Clemente Orozco, Prometo, 1944, $534,400 (est. $300,000-350,000), Nov. 19.

Christie's

Spring:

Paul Cezanne, Self-Portrait, ca. 1895, $17.4 million (est. $15-20 million), May 7.

Pier Mondrian, Composition in White, Blue and Yellow, 1936, $8.1 million (est. $6-9 million), May 7.

Mark Rothko, No. 9 (White and Black on Wine), 1958, $16.4 million (est. $19-12 million), May 14.

Yves Klein, RE 2, 1958, $5.3 million (est. $3-4 million), May 14.

Alexej von Jawlensky, Schokko, 1910.

Ellsworth Kelly, Green White, 1968, $1.4 million (est. $1.2-1.6 million), May 14.

Chuck Close, Cindy II, 1988, $1.5 million (est. $1.2-1.6 million), May 14.

Takashi Murakami, Miss ko2, 1996, $567,500 (est. $300,900-400,000), May 14.

Piero Manzoni, Achrome, 1958, $1 million (est. $600,000-800,000), May 14.

Matta, Endless Nudes, 1941-42, $1.7 million (est. $1-1.5 million), May 28.

Fall:

Amedeo Modigliani, Reclining Nude (on Her Side), 1917, $26.9 million (est. $20-25 million), Nov. 4.

Fernand Leger, Woman in Red and Green 1914, $22.4 million (est. $15 million), Nov. 4.

Henry Moore, Three Piece Reclining Figure Draped, 1975, $6.2 million (est. $4-5 million), Nov. 4.

Alexej yon Jawlensky Schokko, 1910, $8.3 million (est. $5-7 million), Nov. 4.

Alexander Calder, Untitled (Red Steel Stabile), 1968, $5.8 million (est. $4-5 million), Nov. 11.

John Chamberlain, Murmurous Moto, Maestro, 1991, $576,500 (est. $150,000-200,000), Nov. 12.

Malcolm Morley, Farewell to Crete, 1984, $343,500 (est. $120,000-150,000), Nov. 12.

Phillips de Pury & Co.

Andreas Gursky, Klitscho, 1999, $459,500 (est. $250,000-350,000), May 15.

Neo Ranch, Gegenlicht (Back Liqht), 2000, $196,500 (est. $100,000-150,000), May 15.

Jack Pierson, Stardust, 1995, $158,000 (est. $40,000-60,000), May 15.

Damien Hirst, Something Solid Beneath the Surface of All Creatures Great and Small, 2001, $1.16 million (est. $800,000-1.2 million), Nov. 13.

Lac Tuymans, Within, 2001, $427,000 (est. $150,000-200,000), Nov. 13.

Juan Munoz, Looking Sideways, 1996-97, $185,500 (est. $100,000-150,000), Nov. 13.

Wim Delvoye, St. Stephanus II, 1990, $89,650 (est. $50,000-70,000), Nov. 13.

Doyle

Jack Butler Yeats, The View, 1949, $427,000 (est. $400,000-500,000), Dec. 3.

Zao Wau-Ki, Composition, 1950, $388,300 (est. $150,000-200,000), Dec. 3.

Martin Johnson Heade, Glass of Roses on Gold Cloth, ca. 1880, $130,700 (est $100,000-150,000), Dec. 3.

Swann

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Three Trees, 1643: etching, $164,750 (est. $60,000-90,000), Nov. 6.

Alma Thomas, Splashdown of Apollo 13, 1970, 1970, $68,500 (est. $10,000-15,000), May. 1.

Frantisek Drtikol, Etude, 1926, photo, $48,300 (est. $40,000-60,000), May 5.