What a Difference a Year Makes

By Kris Wilton, Adam Green

Published: May 4, 2009

Pablo Picasso Alberto Giacometti Mark Rothko Francis Bacon David Hockney Jeff Koons Robert Gober Claude Monet

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NEW YORK—This week, the May New York auction season kicks off with major modern and Impressionist sales at Sotheby's (May 5) and Christie's (May 6), while next week the action continues with postwar and contemporary auctions at Christie's (May 13), Sotheby's (May 14), and Phillips de Pury & Company (May 15).

It's a far cry from the heady May auction season of 2008, which topped out with a $362 million total at Sotheby's evening contemporary sale, and achieved jaw-dropping individual results like $86,281,000 for Francis Bacon's Triptych, 1976 at Sotheby's and $50,441,000 for Mark Rothko's No. 15 (1952) at Christie's.

This year, the top-estimated works, Alberto Giacometti's Le Chat (1951/9) and Pablo Picasso's La Fille De L'artiste A Deux Ans Et Demi Avec Un Bateau (1938), both hitting the block at Sotheby's Imp/mod sale on Tuesday night, are pegged at $16–24 million, and the top-estimated total auction result is for Christie's Imp/mod sale on Wednesday, tapped to earn $94.9–134.6 million. Even at the higher end of that range, the sale would gross significantly less than half of 2008's top numbers. What a difference a year makes.

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Continue reading about the top lots of 2008 and 2009 in the photo gallery at left. And see below for comparisons between this year's estimates and last year's results.

Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale
This year: May 5, 2009
Est. $81.5–111.8 million
36 lots
vs.
Last year: May 7, 2008
Achieved $208.63 million ($235.33 million with buyer's premium)
52 lots

Christie's Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale
This year: May 6, 2009
Est. $94.9–134.6 million
50 lots
vs.
Last year: May 6, 2008
Achieved $246 million ($277.28 million with buyer's premium)
58 lots

Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale
This year: May 12, 2009
Est. $52–72.2 million
49 lots
vs.
Last year: May 14, 2008
Achieved $320.64 million ($362 million including premium)
85 lots

Christie's Post War and Contemporary Evening Sale
This year: May 13, 2009
Est. $71.5–104.5 million
54 lots
vs.
Last year: May 13, 2008
Achieved $294 million ($331.42 million including premium)
57 lots

Phillips de Pury Contemporary Art Sale Part 1
This year: May 14, 2009
Est. $12.2–17 million
43 lots
vs.
Last year: May 15, 2008
Achieved $51.35 million ($59 million including premium)
65 lots