Slim and Conservative, Sotheby’s Sale Proves a Winner

Alexander Calder Andy Warhol Julie Mehretu Maurizio Cattelan Peter Doig Nicolas de Stael Investors Indulge Appetite for Luxury Shaq's Big Debut

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That was evident with the strong result for Maurizio Cattelan’s delightful mini-self-portrait. Depicting the artist — all 14½ inches of him — perched on the edge of an art-book-filled bookshelf, Mini-Me (1999), in resin, rubber, fabric, hair, and paint media, sold to a telephone bidder for a rousing £493,250 (est. £180–250,000).

Considering the work hails from an edition of 10, though each one comes with a unique outfit, it was an impressive price. And, hey, it’s a living artist. Another work from the edition sold for $441,600 at Christie’s New York in May 2005.

“We feel if you price it right,” said Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s contemporary-art chairman for Europe, “the market responds to it positively.”

Judd Tully is Editor at Large of Art+Auction.

The contemporary action in London resumes on Monday evening, June 29, at Phillips de Pury & Co.