Soaring to $87 million, a Mark Rothko oil painting done in 1961 set a new auction sales record for post-war art, whereas works by Yves Klein, Alexander Calder, Gerhard Richter and Jackson Pollock, smashed artists' records at the recent Christie's event that scaled the highest-ever amounts for post-war art category.
The global auction house drew a total of $388.5 million (inclusive of commission calculated against $236 million- $330 million pre-sale estimate), led by Rothko's stunning ‘Orange, Red, Yellow’. This large-scale painting from the Pincus collection went for a whopping $86,882,500. The figure broke the artist's own record of $72.84 million, eclipsing the $86.3 million for a 1976 ‘Triptych’ by Francis Bacon sold in 2008.
‘Orange, Red, Yellow’ thus became the most expensive post-war work of art ever at auction. Out of the total 59 lots on offer, three failed to find buyers, a near-unprecedented sell-through rate as bidders carried prices beyond their high estimates for many top-priced works. Five works sold for over $20 million, whereas 11 of the 40 artists set new records. Works from the collection of David Pincus, a renowned art patron and humanitarian from Philadelphia who died in December, were ably led by the Rothko. It achieved an impressive total of $175 million, easily above the estimate of $100 million.
The staggering numbers apparently bore out officials' contention that the market, at the top echelons at least, continues to successful tackle global economic and geo-political concerns. "It was phenomenal. It proves there is insatiable demand. The interest is just so deep," remarked the Christie's specialist Koji Inoue (in charge of the sale). He termed it ‘something unprecedented’.
The Christie's international head (post-war & contemporary art), Brett Gorvy, said, "The market really responded, It is a very sophisticated market, a very knowledgeable market, The total global market bidding and a strong American bidding was well evident. We saw seasoned collectors, apart from new collectors who were coming forward.”
The global auction house drew a total of $388.5 million (inclusive of commission calculated against $236 million- $330 million pre-sale estimate), led by Rothko's stunning ‘Orange, Red, Yellow’. This large-scale painting from the Pincus collection went for a whopping $86,882,500. The figure broke the artist's own record of $72.84 million, eclipsing the $86.3 million for a 1976 ‘Triptych’ by Francis Bacon sold in 2008.
‘Orange, Red, Yellow’ thus became the most expensive post-war work of art ever at auction. Out of the total 59 lots on offer, three failed to find buyers, a near-unprecedented sell-through rate as bidders carried prices beyond their high estimates for many top-priced works. Five works sold for over $20 million, whereas 11 of the 40 artists set new records. Works from the collection of David Pincus, a renowned art patron and humanitarian from Philadelphia who died in December, were ably led by the Rothko. It achieved an impressive total of $175 million, easily above the estimate of $100 million.
The staggering numbers apparently bore out officials' contention that the market, at the top echelons at least, continues to successful tackle global economic and geo-political concerns. "It was phenomenal. It proves there is insatiable demand. The interest is just so deep," remarked the Christie's specialist Koji Inoue (in charge of the sale). He termed it ‘something unprecedented’.
The Christie's international head (post-war & contemporary art), Brett Gorvy, said, "The market really responded, It is a very sophisticated market, a very knowledgeable market, The total global market bidding and a strong American bidding was well evident. We saw seasoned collectors, apart from new collectors who were coming forward.”
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