AUCTION REVIEWS

20th-Century Design

By Judith Gura

Published: March 1, 2009

20th-Century Design

Christie's

Important 20th-Century Design from the Collection of George and Frayda Lindemann

54 lots offered
$3,578,250 sold total
19 percent unsold by value
22 percent unsold by lot

Important 20th-Century Decorative Art and Design

84 lots offered
$2,990,125 sold total
26 percent unsold by value
38 percent unsold by lot

Important Works of Art by Tiffany Studios

52 lots offered
$2,536,250 sold total
8 percent unsold by value
12 percent unsold by lot

Phillips

Design

103 lots offered
$2,203,025 sold total
44.8 percent unsold by value
40.1 percent unsold by lot

Sotheby’s

Important 20th-Century Design

125 lots offered
$3,627,999 sold total
33.3 percent unsold by value
39.7 percent unsold by lot

Important Tiffany

36 lots offered
$3,514,000 sold total
22.2 percent unsold by value
16.7 percent unsold by lot

Wright

Important Design

475 lots offered
$3,400,291 sold total
51.7 percent unsold by value
49.3 percent unsold by lot

Ron Arad Maria Pergay Gio Ponti George Nakashima Harry Bertoia Hans Coper Paul Dupre-Lafon Claude Lalanne

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In the end, the auction houses emerged from the week optimistic. After the disastrous September auctions, every sale was seen as cause for celebration, and many savvy professionals agree that a cool-down period could be a good thing for the overheated design market. As Zemaitis points out, "The era of ambitious, aggressive experimentation is over." A reversion to lower prices may, in the long run, lead to sales that are driven by quality and provenance rather than by fleeting trends and speculation.

"20th-Century Design" originally appeared in the March 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's March 2009 Table of Contents.