Sotheby’s sold $108 million worth of exquisite contemporary art pieces, again testifying the depth and breadth of interest in artworks by well-known names such as Bacon, Twombly, Warhol and Basquiat.
The global auction house had packed its latest sale with no less than 79 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures, mostly by those artists who have fetched top prices in recent auctions. The New York Times report mentioned: “While the salesroom was filled with an international crowd of dealers and collectors, the evening could best be described as more solid than exciting.”
Of the total 79 lots on offer, only 10 failed to sell. The sale had been estimated to bring anywhere between $89.6- $128.5 million. The priciest work for the evening was ‘Warrior’ by Basquiat, a 1982 canvas of a peculiar angry-looking man with a sword in his hand. Two bidders vied for the work on telephone. It ultimately brought $8.7 million (an estimate of $8- $11.3 million).
The Basquiat paintings was one of six in the auction guaranteed to sell owing to what Sotheby’s terms an irrevocable bid (a contractual agreement struck with a buyer to buy an artwork for an undisclosed sum. And if someone else is ready to pay more, the guarantor instead will get a percentage of the stated difference between what he or she was going to pay and the higher price range.)
While the price tag of $8.7 million might not have seemed as much as some analysts would have predicted for the work, it was still more impressive than the its previous performances at Sotheby’s. It had fetched $1.8 million in 2005; $5.6 million, in 2007.
‘Study for a Self-Portrait’ by Bacon was another work in spotlight. The artist’s meditative likeness from 1980 had belonged to a well-known American collector, Stanley J. Seeger. He died last year. The auction house had sold a part of his collection in 2001 in New York. The painting then had brought $1.76 million. Now, it brought $7 million (an irrevocable bid; estimated at $8- $11.3 million) from another telephone bidder.
A dramatic landscape from 1998, titled ‘The Tragic Conversion of Salvador Dali (After John Martin)’, by British artist Glenn Brown selling for $8 million was one of the biggest surprises occurred for the evening.
The global auction house had packed its latest sale with no less than 79 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures, mostly by those artists who have fetched top prices in recent auctions. The New York Times report mentioned: “While the salesroom was filled with an international crowd of dealers and collectors, the evening could best be described as more solid than exciting.”
Of the total 79 lots on offer, only 10 failed to sell. The sale had been estimated to bring anywhere between $89.6- $128.5 million. The priciest work for the evening was ‘Warrior’ by Basquiat, a 1982 canvas of a peculiar angry-looking man with a sword in his hand. Two bidders vied for the work on telephone. It ultimately brought $8.7 million (an estimate of $8- $11.3 million).
The Basquiat paintings was one of six in the auction guaranteed to sell owing to what Sotheby’s terms an irrevocable bid (a contractual agreement struck with a buyer to buy an artwork for an undisclosed sum. And if someone else is ready to pay more, the guarantor instead will get a percentage of the stated difference between what he or she was going to pay and the higher price range.)
While the price tag of $8.7 million might not have seemed as much as some analysts would have predicted for the work, it was still more impressive than the its previous performances at Sotheby’s. It had fetched $1.8 million in 2005; $5.6 million, in 2007.
‘Study for a Self-Portrait’ by Bacon was another work in spotlight. The artist’s meditative likeness from 1980 had belonged to a well-known American collector, Stanley J. Seeger. He died last year. The auction house had sold a part of his collection in 2001 in New York. The painting then had brought $1.76 million. Now, it brought $7 million (an irrevocable bid; estimated at $8- $11.3 million) from another telephone bidder.
A dramatic landscape from 1998, titled ‘The Tragic Conversion of Salvador Dali (After John Martin)’, by British artist Glenn Brown selling for $8 million was one of the biggest surprises occurred for the evening.
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