Contemporary Proves Its Mettle

Andy Warhol John Chamberlain Willem de Kooning Mark Rothko Lucian Freud Robert Ryman Wayne Thiebaud Fred Tomaselli

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Christie’s jump-started the week on November 12 with Selections from the Allan Stone Collection. The cherry-picked trove from the storied New York dealer set 12 artist records, including for Wayne Thiebaud, whose 1970 Pop art confection Seven Suckers (est. $1.4–1.8 million) shot to $4,521,000.

Stone’s celebrated eye certainly boosted buyer confidence, even for tough and aggressively estimated works. John Chamberlain’s crushed, painted and chromium-plated steel-and-iron Hatband, from 1960 (est. $2.5–3.5 million), sold for an artist high of $2,841,000 to Mary Hoeveler, of the Citi Art Advisory Service. That record would last only 48 hours.

The art market machine shifted into even higher gear the next night at the firm’s various-owner bonanza, with 16 artist records set and 51 of the 62 lots sold fetching more than $1 million dollars. Auctioneer Christopher Burge describes the two-hour bidding fest as “probably one of the most exciting sales I’ve ever taken. The market is obviously flourishing.”

In all but a few instances, the works that soared past their high estimates were exceptional ones by younger living artists, such as Fred Tomaselli’s Gravity in Four Directions (est. $350–450,000). The 2001 composition, crafted from pills and leaves, rose to a record $937,000, almost three times the artist’s previous record, set in May 2007 at Phillips de Pury & Company.

Buyers also went wild for iconic images by first-tier artists, as evidenced by the bidding battle for Richard Prince’s Piney Woods Nurse, from 2002 (est. $1.8–2.2 million). It eventually sold to Jay Jopling, of London’s White Cube, for an artist high of $6,089,000, crushing Prince’s previous record, $2,840,000, set at the same house in May for Cowboy, a large 2001 Ektachrome print.

All 10 Warhols offered sold, once again affirming the artist’s unrivaled stature in the market, although Liz, from 1963 (est. $25–35 million), weighed down by a pricey guarantee for seller Hugh Grant, made only $23,561,000. A phone bidder beat out New York art trader Alberto Mugrabi to win the painting.

Christie’s substantial risk taking—to the tune of $170 million in guarantees, according to a source inside the company—paid off for the house on a hit-and-miss basis. Donald Judd’s wall piece of stacked iron and red Plexiglas squares, Untitled, 1979 (79-40 Bernstein), was the only casualty with a guarantee, flopping at $6.5 million (est. $7–9 million). Guaranteed lots that performed below par included Jeff Koons’s SUV-size stainless-steel ring, Diamond (Blue), 1994–2005 (est. on request; up to $20 million), from his “Celebrations” series, consigned by German publishing magnate Benedikt Taschen. It sold to Larry Gagosian, the artist’s dealer, for an anticlimactic though record $11,801,000, eclipsing the artist’s previous high of $5,615,750, achieved in May 2001 at Sotheby’s New York for Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988. Again, the record was short-lived.

The evening’s top lot, Mark Rothko’s radiant Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange), from 1955 (est. $25–30 million), another guaranteed entry, turned out to be a good bet for the house, thanks to a gaggle of phone bidders who drove the price up to $34,201,000. Although it was the second-highest sum ever achieved by a Rothko, it came nowhere near the record $72.8 million paid for White Center (Yellow, Pink, and Lavender on Rose), from 1950, at Sotheby’s New York in May 2007.

Among the starring British entries was Lucian Freud’s uncharacteristically warm and fuzzy Ib and Her Husband, from 1992 (est. on request; about $20 million), showing the snoozing couple spooning on a bed, which sold for a record $19,361,000.

Christie’s evening tally was its second-highest ever, exceeded by its $385 million result in May 2007. “The difference between this season and last,” says Robert Manley, head of the sale, “is that there weren’t as many things with enormous upside potential.”

That firm’s smooth sailing in a jittery market helped set the stage for Sotheby’s magnificent result the following evening. Buyer confidence was evident right out of the gate, as Robert Ryman’s masterful circa 1960–62 pastel abstraction, Untitled (est. $300–400,000), sold to New York dealer Philippe Ségalot for $769,000.

Not even difficult subject matter deterred buyers. Warhol’s shiver-inducing Suicide, a unique 1964 silkscreen of a grainy newspaper photograph showing a figure plummeting from a blazing skyscraper (est. $3.5–4.5 million), went to Zurich dealer Doris Ammann for $5,193,000.

Among the 13 artists who achieved records was Chamberlain, whose 1962 sculpture made from crushed car parts, Big E (est. $2–3 million), was bought by Robert Mnuchin, of New York’s L&M Arts, for $4,633,000. New artist highs were also set for Chinese talents Fang Lijun, Yan Pei Ming and Zhang Xiaogang.

Two remarkable 1969 paintings by Francis Bacon, both guaranteed, proved good wagers for the house. Damien Hirst, bidding on the phone through specialist Oliver Barker, purchased Self Portrait (est. in excess of $15 million) for $33,081,000. A similar-size self-portrait from the same year sold at Christie’s London in February 2006 for a then-astonishing £5,160,000 ($9 million).

But even that staggering price paled in comparison with the $45,961,000 paid for Bacon’s Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 (est. in excess of $35 million), which recalls the finest works of Goya and Picasso, with a matador locked in mortal (or coital) combat with a ferocious bull. Five people chased the prize until Ségalot offered the successful bid, making it the most expensive work in the two weeks of sales, although still trailing the artist‘s record of $52,680,000, set at the same house this past May for his Study from Innocent X, from 1962.

And then there was the Koons. It was a giant gamble for Sotheby’s to guarantee the 3,600-pound Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold), 1994–2006 (est. $15–20 million), also from “Celebrations,” which, when installed, looks light as a feather. The sculpture represented about 10 percent of the $200 million in guarantees Sotheby’s made for the evening, although it’s impossible to determine how much risk was shared by third-party guarantors.

Seller Adam Lindemann had acquired the stainless-steel behemoth through Gagosian four years ago, while it was still in production, for $2.5 million, according to a source. Three bidders went after the work until Gagosian snagged it—reportedly on behalf of Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk—for $23,561,000, setting a record not just for Koons but for any work by a living artist, an honor held since June 2007 by Hirst.

“There’s a global hunger for contemporary art of the highest quality,” says Tobias Meyer, auctioneer and worldwide head of contemporary art. “If it’s extraordinary, the sky is the limit.”

Sotheby’s success didn’t lend much momentum to Phillips de Pury’s run-of-the-mill sale on November 15. The night began with a 90-minute charity auction that raised $8.2 million for the New Museum, and attention fatigue was evident by the time the various-owner portion began.

Even so, the firm managed to sell its guaranteed cover lot, Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XVI, 1982 (est. $5–7 million), to a phone bidder for $5,865,000. Prince’s Registered Nurse, 2002 (est. $1.5–2.5 million), also guaranteed, went to an unidentified buyer for $4,297,000. The underbidder was Moscow-based newbie collector Oleg Baibakov, who had more luck with Hirst’s spin painting Beautiful Where Did All the Colour Go Painting, 1992 (est. $600–800,000), winning it for $690,600.

But the evening’s highlights were works by less-established artists, including Mark Grotjahn’s abstraction Untitled (Orange Butterfly M02G), from 2002 (est. $300–400,000), which sold to Andrew Fabricant, of New York’s Richard Gray Gallery, for a record $937,000.

Ultimately, despite the media’s death wish for the art market, the contemporary field emerged not only unscathed but again triumphant.

"Contemporary Proves Its Mettle" originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's January 2008 Table of Contents.