Abstract Painting of Cy Twombly Leading Auctions, Two Important New York Auctions Ended With USD $370 Million
New York as an auction center of art, has gathered lot of important works over the years. In October of this fall, the auction season in the second half of the year is in full swing. The two important auctions of Christie's New York's 20th Century Evening Sale and Contemporary Curated of Sotheby's New York also started with high expectation. Two auctions sold total 227 pieces and created total turnover more than USD $370 million. Seven pieces sold over ten millions of dollars, and 48 pieces over one million dollars. Now, please review the exciting moments of the auctions with ArtPro.
Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale
Follow by ONE: A Global Sale of the 20th Century, Christie's New York launched a new 20th Century Art series auctions. By local time October 6, the highlight special 20th Century Evening Sale was jointly opened in Hong Kong, London and New York. With much anticipation, 46 works were sold in these auctions, with a sold-by-lot rate of 83.6%, and a total of USD $340,851,500 were obtained. Among them, there are 7 works worth more than ten million dollars and 43 works sold over one million dollars.
The Most Expensive Top1:
Untitled (Bolsena), created in 1959, has simple lines and free brushstrokes. It is a classic series of works by Cy Twombly, the American master of abstract art. This work received an estimate of 35-50 million dollars, and was sold with 35 million dollars in the end, including commission fee of 38.685 million, leading auction as highest priced work.
The Most Expensive Top2:
The skull work Tyrannosaurus Rex was the last piece to be unveiled in this auction. As soon as started, it attracted more than 60 rounds fierce bidding. Its appraisal was at USD $6-8 million before the auction, and finally sold for 31.847 million. It received thunderous applause and became a well-deserved dark horse at this time.
The Most Expensive Top3:
Abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko created a unique painting style in the 1940s. The work Untitled in this auction was created in 1967 and is Rothko's most representative color block painting. It was sold for USD $28 million and the transaction price including commission fee was 31.275 million dollar.
The Most Expensive Top4:
Pablo Picasso created a portrait painting for his lover and Muse Dora Marr in 1941, called Femme Dans Un Fauteuil. This work triggered fierce competition through telephone commission. After several minutes of bidding, the painting was sold for USD $29,557,500. In addition, a total of 7 works of Picasso were auctioned and 6 were sold.
The Most Expensive Top5:
The watercolor painting Nature Morte Avec Pot Au Lait, Melon Et Sucrier by Paul Cézanne in his later years has attracted much attention from the market before the auction. This work was finally sold for USD $26 million and USD $28.65 million including commission fee, making it the fifth most expensive lot in this auction.
Other Exciting Works:
Red Composition of Jackson Pollock is a representative masterpiece of his early drip paintings, it was sold at USD $13 million. Damien Hirst's bronze sculpture Mickey as the first lot appeared in this auction, its price reached 3.3 times higher than estimate. In addition, German artist Emil Nolde broke personal record.
And Kenneth Noland renewed his personal Top list after the auction in October 2rd; many artists such as William de Kooning , Tamara de Lempicka, Frank Stella and Cecily Brown have achieved great success. For more auction results, please click below to enter the special session to view.
Sotheby's Contemporary Curated
Contemporary Curated of Sotheby's New York raised the hammer on October 2rd. A total of 242 works were at auction, and the sold-by-lot rate was 74.8%, with a total turnover of USD $30,020,890. Among those, there are 45.4 % of the works were sold above the estimated price.
The Most Expensive Top1:
The auction led by the famous American color fields artist Kenneth Noland with his work Ember in 1960. This painting is Noland's most iconic "Target Painting". The monochromatic circle has a pure and vigorous color. Embers was sold with 2.561 million dollars which is among Noland personal Top5.
The Most Expensive Top2:
The second highest-priced lot in this auction was created by the American artist Kerry James Marshall, who developed an iconic painting style in his early artistic career, the images of black people were a common theme in his works. The Wonderful One was created in 1986 with 1774.5 thousand dollars and reached 3.5 times higher than estimate.
The Most Expensive Top3:
African American artist Barkley Hendricks set a personal record in May 2019. His acclaimed portrait painting of African Americans were mostly created in the late 1960s and early 1980s. This portrait was made in 1980, and has participated in many museum and art gallery exhibitions, its turnover has reached beyond appraisal.
Several Artists Set Personal Records：
A number of record-breaking works by several artists are the focuses of this auction, including Titus Kaphar and Shepard Fairey who are both post-70s artists. Post-80s artists Alex Da Corte, Firelei Baez, African-American artist Romare Howard Bearden, Simone Leigh, sculptor Richard Hunt, Melvin Edwards, and American abstract painter Dan Christensen.
For more auction results, please click below to enter the auctions.
Artworks showing their market values in secondary distribution, and excellent works will be the target of bidding for collectors. Part of the auction has ended, but wonders will still continue. Please follow ArtPro to view more auction previews and live-streams.
