'And in the middle of a recession...'
November 10 2011
Sotheby's last night triumphed in the battle of the auction sales, with their contemporary art total of $316 million beating Christie's $247 million. This follows on from Sotheby's whooping Christie's... gavel in the impressionist sales last week. From Reuters:
The $315,837,000 total including commissions easily beat the presale estimate of $192 million to $270 million.
"It was one of the best auctions I've ever seen in my life," said Nicolai Frahm, a leading London-based contemporary art adviser. "And in the middle of a recession," he added.
Sotheby's scored a coup by landing a group of four Stills [Clyfford Still, two works above], whose works virtually never come to market and which were being sold by the city of Denver to benefit a new Still museum opening there this month.
Led by "1949-A-No. 1," which soared to $61,682,500 against an estimate of $30 million and smashed the record for the artist, the group of abstracts took in $114 million, nearly twice the pre-sale estimate.
Is this the contemporary art market temporarily defying gravity? Or a sign that everything will be alright? Who knows. I'd like not to be reminded of the record breaking Damien Hirst sale on the day of the Lehman collapse...
