With the Sotheby's results contemporary art sales, the results just keep getting better, selling a total of $315.84 million (including buyers premiums).
The pre sale estimate for the auction was $192 million to $270.8 million (the sale totaled $45 million over the pre sale estimated high). The totaled represented the third highest evening sale of contemporary art for Sotheby's.
The sale offered 73 lots with 62 selling for a very good 84.9% sell through rate. The sale also had a very good 94.7% by value ratio. The top selling lot made $61.68 million, an auction record for the artist, Clyfford Still (see image). The Sotheby's press release only noted the top ten buyers as "anonymous" with no geographical area specified.
This weeks sale show there is still strength at the upper end of the art market, and as the week went on the underlying sales fundamentals seem to have gotten better. Even as the world continues its financial struggles, the upper end of the art market, and HNWIs continue to pursue art for pleasure and as an alternative investment approach.
Sotheby's reported on the sale
Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Director of Contemporary Art, discussing this evening’s sale said: “We had a fantastically successful sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s tonight. One of the company’s best ever, the sale was built around two major groups of works. We want to thank the City of Denver and the Clyfford Still Museum for
entrusting us with the sale of a wonderful group of four highly desirable works by the artist, which created magical moments in the saleroom when they soared above their $71 million high estimate to achieve $114 million, and set a record for the artist at auction of $61.7 million. Then a group of eight stunning abstract paintings by Gerhard Richter
demolished pre-sale expectations of $27 million to bring $74 million, with a record for the artist of $20.8 million.”
Alex Rotter, Head of Contemporary Art for Sotheby’s New York, added: “Some of the most exciting moments in this evening’s sale occurred with the extraordinary record prices we achieved for works by living artists. In addition to the Richter, the most remarkable was the price of $6,578,500 for one of the most famous and coveted pieces by Cady Noland – a new artist record. Other records were set for David Hammons, for Albert Oehlen, and for a work on paper by Ellsworth Kelly.”
Anthony Grant, Sotheby’s Senior International Specialist in Contemporary Art, said: “Balancing the extraordinary offering of abstract works in this evening’s sale was a group of seven masterworks of Minimalism, including key pieces by artists such as Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin and Richard Tuttle who defined this tradition in the 1960s, which aroused competition and sold for $16,200,000, above the low pre-sale estimate.”
The sale was led by four masterworks by Clyfford Still which sold for a combined total of $114.1 million (est. $51/71.5 million).* The exquisite and profoundly important 1949-A-No. 1 - one of the greatest examples of 20th century American painting - was sought after by at least four bidders before being locked into a battle between one bidder in the room and one on the phone. After ten minutes, the hammer finally came down with a final price of $61,682,500, (est. $25/35 million) more than double the previous record for the artist at auction.
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