Christies Opens Fall Season with $8.4M Post War Sale

Albert Oehlen Alexander Calder Edward Ruscha Martin Eder Fall Forecast Conversation with Robert Indiana Gagosian Plans Moscow Show in Former Chocolate Factory Ruscha and Dill Fight to Save Outdoor Studio

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Christie’s First Open auction of Post War and Contemporary art finished up yesterday with a total sales figure just above $8.4 million.

As the first auction of the fall season and a bellwether for what is to come, First Open showed that the art market is still very buoyant, observed Zach Miner, who heads the sale for Christie’s. “It proved once again that the market responds to quality and beautiful pictures, and to works by established artists and some of the newer masters.”

The top lot of the day was a 1971 vinyl and acrylic painting by Jean Dubuffet, entitled Esperantus, that sold for $340,800, just shy of its pre-sale high estimate ($250,000-$350,000).

But while Dubuffet’s work was on par, other lots up for sale far exceeded the auction house’s expectations, particularly two pieces by Ed Ruscha and Alexander Calder that roughly doubled and tripled their estimates: The Joshua, Ruscha’s 1987 acrylic on canvas (est. $120,000-$180,000) sold for $262,400; and Calder’s 1931 work on paper Cycle Act (est. $70,000-$90,000) sold for $228,000.

Miner called the Calder drawing “a whimsical piece that reflects some of the best work he was doing at the time.” And he attributes the success of that sale to the increased interest in the artist’s work that came from the reinstallation of Calder’s Circus at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The best news of the night, though, was the sale record set for Martin Eder. The artist’s 2004 oil on canvas, entitled From the New World Towards the Next (est. $70,000-90,000), was auctioned off for $198,000.

Rounding out the list of top sellers: Right of Way Forever, a 1998 oil on canvas by Albert Oehlen that went for $240,000; and Richard Prince’s untitled protest painting from 1990, comprising six joined canvases mounted on a panel, for $228,000.

Miner noted that American collectors made up the majority of buyers yesterday, and the newly launched Christie’s Live online auction tool “worked seamlessly with the in-house and phone bidding” on its first major outing.