Results: Christie's NY Contemporary Sale

Carol Vogel of the NY Times is reporting mixed results for last evenings Contemporary art sale at Christie's in NY. One of the top lots by Francis Bacon with an estimate of $40 million failed to sell, actually it failed to gain a bid. While a a selection of other items sold and did rather well bucking the current trend of many lots doing less than expected. That being said, there were many lots which did less than expected.

The art market is very inconsistent right now, and the auctions are proving that with recent results. Some lot sales and prices have shown strong signs, some realizing better than expected results, yet many individual lots and even full sales are fairing rather poorly. From following the sales over the last month or two, there have been some individual winners, but overall, many consignors, and perhaps more importantly, the auction houses have suffered. Perhaps the good news is many collectors are getting some bargains right now.

Vogel states in her article Some works that were considered overpriced sold — but for what buyers wanted to pay, not what the house had envisioned. After the sale, dealers and collectors milled about trying to make sense of the results. “The auction house may not have done well,” said Allan Schwartzman, an art adviser, “but some collectors did.”

Sales totaled $113 million against a low estimate total of $227 million, with 75 lots being offered for sale and 51 actually selling. The top ten lots brought in $61 million, or 54% of the sale amount.

To read the NY Times article, click HERE.