Auction Highlights - Brief Article

Art in America, August, 2000

The Spring and Fall 1999 auction seasons produced strong-results in the fields of 19th-century, Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. Below is an overview of the year's highlights at five major New York auction houses.

The list includes the artist's name, title of work, date, final price (including the auction house commission of 15 percent on the first $50,000 and 10 percent on the remainder), the work's presale estimate and date of sale.

Sotheby's

Spring:

Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Curtain, 1893-94, $60.5 million (est. $25-$35 million), May 10.

Georges Seurat, Landscape, Island of the Grand Jatte, 1884, $35.2 million (est. $35 million), May 10.

Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Bottle of Rum, 1911, $7.9 million (est. $4-$6 million), May 10.

Berthe Morisot, Hide and Seek, 1873, $3.9 million (est. $1.6-$2.2 million), May 10.

Lucian Freud, The Painter's Mother, 1982-84, $3.3 million (est. $2.5-$3 million), May 18.

Robert Irwin, Disc, 1966-67, $134,500 (est. $90,000-$120,000), May 18.

Fall:

Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman in a Garden, 1938, $49.5 million (est. $40 million), Nov. 10.

Fernand Leger, Still Life with Pipe, 1927, $1 million (est. $800,000-$1.2 million), Nov. 10.

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917/1964, $1.7 million (est. $1-$1.5 million), Nov. 17.

Mark Rothko, #15, 1952, $11 million (est. $4-$6 million), Nov. 17.

Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1959, $4.1 million (est. $1.8-$2.2 million), Nov. 17.

Sam Francis, Toward Disappearance I, 1958, $3.4 million (est. $800,000-$1.2 million), Nov. 17.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Baptismal, 1982, $1.4 million (est. $700,000-$900,000), Nov. 17.

Vija Celmins, Untitled (Big Sea II), 1969, $398,500 (est. $60,000-$80,000), Nov. 17.

Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Stools, 1965, $134,500 (est. $50,000-$70,000), Nov. 17.

Julian Schnabel, Maria Callas No. 4, 1982, $321,500 (est. $200,000-$250,000), Nov. 17.

Christie's

Spring:

Van Gogh, Canal with Washerwomen, 1888, $19.8 million (est. $20 million), May 12.

Claude Monet, Antibes Seen from the Sallis Gardens, 1888, $5.3 million (est. $3.5-$4.5 million), May 12.

Jasper Johns, Two Flags, 1973, $7.1 million (est. $7-$9 million), May 13.

Robert Gober, Leg with Candle, 1991, $794,500 (est. $350,000-$450,000), May 19.

Richard Serra, Sign Board, 1969, $431,500 (est. $100,000-$150,000), May 19.

Matthew Barney, Cremaster 4 (vitrine), 1995, $387,500 (est. $100,000-$150,000), May 19.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #48, 1979, $200,500 (est. $60,000-$80,000), May 19.

Fall:

Claude Monet, Waterlilies, 1906, $22.6 million (est. $15 million), Nov. 8.

Pablo Picasso, Nude in a Black Armchair, 1932, $54.1 million (est. $40 million), Nov. 9.

Giovanni Segantini, Springtime in the Alps, 1897, $9.6 million (est. $4-$6 million), Nov. 9.

Jeff Koons, Pink Panther, 1988, $1.8 million (est. $600,000-$800,000), Nov. 16.

Chuck Close, Cindy II, 1988, $1.2 million (est. $600,000-$800,000), Nov. 16.

Martin Kippenberger, Untitled, 1988, $717,500 (est. $40,000-$60,000), Nov. 16.

Damien Hirst, Untitled, 1990-91, $354,500 (est. $250,000-$350,000), Nov. 16.

Phillips

Edward Weston, Nude and Pine Branch, 1923, $55,200 (est. $30,000-$40,000), Apr. 26.

Rene Magritte, Le Seize Septembre, 1956, $442,500 (est. $400,000-$500,000), Nov. 5.

Anselm Kiefer, Dein Goldenes Haar, Margarethe Johannis-Nacht, 1981, $442,500 (est. $400,000-$500,000), Nov. 16.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ass Killer, 1984, $167,500 (est. $150,000-$200,000), Nov. 16.

Barry Flanagan, Uni Hare on Crescent and Bell, 1995, $140,000 (est. $120,000-$180,000), Nov. 16.

Swann

Reginald Marsh, Tattoo-Shave-Haircut, 1932, $41,400 (est. $20,000-$30,000), May 13.

Man Ray, Lee Miller, ca. 1929, $27,600 (est. $25,000-$35,000), Oct. 7.

Mary Cassatt, Reine and Margot Seated on a Sofa, ca. 1902, $37,950 (est. $20,000-$30,000), Nov. 11.

Alvin Langdon Coburn, New York (first edition), 1910, $28,750 (est. $5,000-$6,000), Dec. 9.

Doyle

Theodore Rousseau, Les Marais, n.d., $82,250 (est. $40,000-$60,000), May 26.

Jean Dubuffet, Givre et Memoire, 1956, $189,500 (est. $140,000-$180,000), June 7.

Robert Indiana, One Indiana Square, 1970, $55,000 (est. $40,000-$50,000), June 7.

Sidney Nolan, Ned Kelly, Outlaw, n.d., $178,500 (est. $30,000-$50,000), Nov. 17.

Eastman Johnson, The Little Soldier, 1864, $607,500 (est. $60,000-$80,000), Dec. 7.