PRESS RELEASE | LONDON | 14 OCTOBER 2015

A VISUAL ODYSSEY: SELECTIONS FROM LAC

 (LAMBERT ART COLLECTION) ACHIEVES

£14,975,123 /$22,867,015/ €19,991,791

London – ‘A Visual Odyssey: Selections from LAC (Lambert Art Collection)’ achieved £14,974,563 with sell-through rates of 89% by lot and 95% by value. Bidders from 42 countries and five continents showed their strong appreciation for objects across the centuries and demonstrated an appetite for the spirit and flair of cross-category collecting as exemplified by the Lambert Art Collection. Together Christie’s and de Pury brought a completely new approach to the auction combining an exhibition at Ely House, Dover Street, with a radical online presence with specially commissioned content and photography. The success of this bold collaboration has been proven by the stand-out prices throughout the sale and the huge response from over 5,000 visitors to Ely House throughout 10 days of the exhibition.   

The highest price achieved during the seven hour sale was for Christopher Wool’s Untitled at £4,898,500, which was recently featured the artist’s Guggenheim retrospective in 2014. The work led a trio of paintings by Wool that were offered in the auction including, East Broadway Rundown (£2,210,500) and King Walk (£1,426,500) and together achieved a figure of £8,535,500. Another highlight of the auction was a Louis XV ormolu mounted ebony bureau plat, which sold for £818,500.

Energy was present from the very start of the auction with a particularly lively response to Louise Lawler’s Portrait (1982), which reached a figure of £68,500 - almost seven times its low estimate.  More highlights included Donald Judd’s Desk and Two Chairs, which reached £158,500; a set of three political prints, that reached a figure of £5,000 (against an estimate of £300-£500) and Henri Cartier Bresson’s photograph of Salerno, Italy that more than doubled its estimate. In demand artists included David Hammons, Günter Förg, Claire Rojas, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, Karen Kilimnik, Lisa Yuskavage and Thomas Schütte. 

Other lots that were highly sought after included furniture throughout the ages, including a Xavier Lust ‘Mountains’ dining table, which sold for £9,375, and an early Louis XV Giltwood Side Table, which achieved £15,000, four 1980s haute couture dresses by Roberto Capucci and a 1953 Topolino car, which achieved a figure of £17,500, doubling its pre-sale estimate.

Francis Outred, Chairman and Head of Post War and Contemporary Art, EMERI said: ‘I am delighted by the outstanding success of this extra special auction.  Bidders from 42 countries have responded with huge enthusiasm to objects from eight collecting categories and three centuries, which represent five generations of Lambert family collecting.  The reception for this completely new approach has been reflected in the fantastic prices throughout the auction, from the very earliest pieces in the collection to some of the most recently acquired, including the trio of Christopher Wool paintings. It has been a great pleasure to work the Lambert family and de Pury on this unique collaboration.’

Simon de Pury said: ‘It has been a privilege to work on such an incredible sale. We have created something new and exciting with A Visual Odyssey, introducing never-seen-before elements to the traditional auction format, including an expertly curated exhibition of 306 objects in Ely House by Jacques Grange, and an online platform offering market information and interviews with artists and experts. Our partnership with Christie’s has been a particularly unique and ground-breaking feature of this sale, and brought together an extraordinary pool of talents that was testament to the unparalleled range of objects spread across eight categories and three centuries brought together by the Lambert Art Collection. The Christopher Wool works, in my opinion amongst the best paintings the artist ever produced, have achieved strong prices and found wonderful new homes.’

Auctions at Christie’s continue on Friday 16 October with the Post War and Contemporary Evening Auction and Italian Sale, followed by the Post-War and Contemporary Day Auction on Saturday 17 October. 

PRESS CONTACT: Christies: Belinda Bowring: bbowring@christies.com +44207 389 2677

De Pury: Racheal Campbell Racheal@scott-andco.com +44203 487 0077

More information: Christies.com / de-Pury.com

About Christie’s

Christie’s, the world's leading art business, had global auction and private sales in 2014 that totalled £5.1 billion / $8.4 billion, making it the highest annual total in Christie’s history. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's has since conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers around 450 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie's also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters and Jewellery. Private sales totalled £916.1 million ($1.5 billion).

Christie’s has a global presence with 53 offices in 32 countries and 12 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Mumbai. More recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in growth markets such as Russia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, New Delhi, Mumbai and Dubai. 

*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium.  Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and do not reflect costs, third-party financing fees or application of buyer’s or seller’s credits.

About de Pury

de Pury is the new online-led auction business founded by Simon and Michaela de Pury. The company aims to set a new standard for online auctions, drawing on the extensive expertise and experience of its principals and a prestigious board of investors and collaborators including CEO Arnaud Massenet, co-founder of Net-a-Porter, the world’s biggest online luxury fashion business. With a firm belief that the Internet represents the biggest challenge and opportunity for the art market, de Pury aims to realise the potential of digital-led sales through developing a radical new online experience.   

Simon de Pury is one of the art market’s most recgonisable figures. Until the end of 2012, Simon was Chairman and Chief Auctioneer of Phillips de Pury & Company, having worked earlier in his career as Chairman Europe and Chief Auctioneer Worldwide at Sotheby’s and curator of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. With 135,000 followers on Instagram, Simon is one of the most savvy social media users in the art world.  Dr Michaela de Pury joins de Pury as President, having been Senior Director at Phillips de Pury & Company and before Senior Partner. Michaela was instrumental in securing major consignments and private transactions surrounding key works in all sales categories of Contemporary Art, Design and Photography.

With Arnaud Massenet as CEO, the de Pury team delivers unrivalled senior level experience and digital know-how, with a remit to innovate and develop the auctions business in new and exciting directions.

About LAC  

The Lambert family has been collecting for generations. In 1853, the original Lambert, Samuel founded the Banque Lambert, and became an agent for the Rothschild family in Belgium. He leveraged his talent and skills to become an influential adviser to King Leopold II. His son, Léon subsequently married the daughter of Gustave de Rothschild.  Works by Chagall, Rodin and Matisse, Rothko, Giacometti and Warhol were on public display in Banque Lambert, a financial institution that under the brilliant leadership of Baron Léon Lambert became the second largest in the country.

The current Baroness Lambert, spouse of the late Baron Philippe Lambert, followed the tradition of her family-by-marriage and was responsible for an acclaimed collection of contemporary photography, which toured the world after being rejected by a director of the bank for its perceived inappropriate content. This collection, entitled Veronica’s Revenge,  including amongst others works by Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky,  Thomas Schütte and Peter Fischli/David Weiss, was auctioned by Simon de Pury in 2004.

About Jacques Grange

A graduate of Boulle Camondo school in Paris, Jacques Grange initiated his professional career as an assistant to Henri Samuel in 1965. He subsequently joined Alain Demachy and Didier Aaron in 1967 and has been working independently since 1970. Having decorated residences for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, his style is known for its architectural balance and vivid sense of colour. Mr Grange has mainly focused on private residences, but his work has also included well known hotels such as The Mark Hotel in New York and the exclusive The Palazzo Margherita, owned by Francis Ford Coppola in Bernalda, Italy.  A passionate collector of art and design of the 19th and 20th centuries, Mr Grange is very supportive French artisans whose skills and talent, according to his own account, enable him to express himself in an unequalled manner.  His passion for quality and French craftmanship, is one of the reasons that Mr Grange was promoted Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour. A book by Pierre Passebon was published in 2008, in both English and French, documenting over four decades of Jacques Grange’s exceptional work.  

*The vehicle is not sold as a means of transport and no promise is made that the vehicle is of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose or roadworthy or that the engine is made totally of Fiat engine parts. Christie’s makes no representation as to the accuracy of “mileage” or odometer readings. If the successful buyer subsequently decides to use the vehicle as a means of transport, he/she is responsible for all tests and repairs and any other legally required formalities that are necessary to convert this vehicle from a collector’s item to a roadworthy vehicle.

Interested buyers are advised to contact Christie’s staff to obtain the Condition Report for this lot. While any description of the vehicle or its condition is given honestly and with appropriate care, Christie’s staff are not vehicle specialists and it is the responsibility of the buyer to carry out such inspection as the buyer thinks necessary before bidding.

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Images available on request

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