CHRISTIE’S GLOBAL SERIES OF 20TH CENTURY AUCTIONS DURING MARCH REALISES A COMBINED TOTAL OF£361,428,211 / $500,791,398 / €419,223,317 / HK$3,870,565,123
CHRISTIE’S GLOBAL SERIES OF 20TH CENTURY AUCTIONS DURING MARCH REALISES A COMBINED TOTAL OF
£361,428,211 / $500,791,398 / €419,223,317 / HK$3,870,565,123
CHRISTIE’S CONTINUED MARKET INNOVATION DELIVERS RECORD RESULTS FOR ARTWORKS THAT SPAN THE
20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES
CHRISTIE’S WILL SHIFT ITS APPROACH TO PRESENTING THE ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES IN ANTICIPATION OF A NEW ERA FOR THE ART WORLD
• Christie’s convened international collectors in London via livestreamed links to the salerooms in Hong Kong and New York on 1 and 23 March 2021
• Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Warrior sold for HK$323,600,000 / £30,265,619 / $41,857,351 / €35,077,853, becoming the most valuable western artwork ever offered in Asia
• Banksy’s tribute to international frontline workers sold for a world auction record price, raising more than £16,000,000, which will fund community healthcare and wellbeing projects
• The 20th edition of The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale totalled £48,426,000 / $66,973,158 / €56,125,734 / HK$517,770,792, the second highest total to date for any auction dedicated to dada and surrealism
• Picasso’s Femme nue couchée au collier (Marie-Thérèse), 1932, and Femme assise dans un fauteuil noir (Jacqueline), 1962, highlight the 20th Century Evening Sale • The Impressionist and Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale was led by Conrad Felixmüller’s Selbstbild (Kopf), which sold for £706,500, more than five times its low estimate
• The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale was led by Nicole Eisenman’s Mermaid’s Catch, a record for the artist at £862,500 • First Open realised a total of £1,766,875 / $2,431,220 / €2,063,710 / HK$18,810,151, with a world auction record for Ray Johnson, and a record in the medium for a work on paper by Tschabalala Self. An exceptional price was achieved for Bob Thompson's Upside-Down Man on Donkey (Dream) (£212,000 / $291,712 / €247,616 / HK$2,256,952)
• Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, the first purely digital NFT-based work of art offered by a major auction house, achieved $69,346,250 / £49,746,234 / €58,004,109 / HK$535,667,446 in a Christie’s online-only sale
• Man Ray et les surréalistes. Collection Lucien et Edmonde Treillard attracted 332 online bidders, 24% of which were new clients to Christie’s • De Caillebotte à Calder : Itinéraire d'une passion realised a total of €9,323,000 / £7,982,021 / $10,983,260 / HK$84,976,591 and was led by Gustave Caillebotte's exquisite painting Le Petit bras de la Seine à Argenteuil, which sold for €3,620,000 / £3,099,315 / $4,264,658 / HK$32,995,308, over three times the high estimate
• Hong Kong’s 20/21 Online Sale achieved HK$39,840,000 / £3,724,061 / $5,154,100 / €4,331,082, the highest online sale total for any category across Christie’s Asia
• Sir Winston Churchill’s record broken twice in the Modern British Art Evening Sale, with the sale of Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque setting the new world auction record £8,285,000 / $11,590,715 / €9,577,460 / HK$89,478,000
• Van Gogh’s La Mousmé realised one of the highest prices for a work on paper by the artist, £7,459,614 / $10,436,000 / €8,623,314 / HK$80,563,831, in A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud
GLOBAL SALE BREAKDOWN: MARCH 2021
| Sale Title | Total Realised |
| 20th Century Evening Sale | £150,290,619 / $207,851,926 / €174,186,828 / HK$1,606,907,300 |
| The Art of the Surreal | £48,426,000 / $66,973,158 / €56,125,734 / HK$517,770,792 |
| Impressionist & Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale | £10,845,125 / $14,857,821 / €12,536,965 / HK$114,904,099 |
| Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale | £13,468,125 / $18,410,927 / €15,569,153 / HK$142,371,549 |
| First Open [London] | £1,766,875 / $2,431,220 / €2,063,710 / HK$18,810,151 |
| Post-War to Present | £16,669,946 / $23,087,875 / €19,437,157 / HK$178,501,780 |
| Contemporary Edition | £1,225,018 / $1,697,875 / €1,428,371 / HK$13,121,168 |
| First Open [New York] | £1,339,491 / $1,867,250 / €1,561,846 / HK$14,423,636 |
| Contemporary Art Asia | £902,459 / $1,257,125 / €1,051,364 / HK$9,711,358 |
| Aboudia | £765,883 / $1,066,875 / €892,254 / HK$8,241,667 |
| Beeple, The First 5000 Days | £49,746,234 / $69,346,250 / €58,004,109 / HK$535,667,446 |
| 20/21 Online [Hong Kong] | £3,724,061 / $5,154,100 / €4,331,082 / HK$39,840,000 |
| Man Ray et les surréalistes. Collection Lucien et Edmonde Treillard | £5,146,466 / $7,138,148 / €5,933,875 / HK$55,159,820 |
| De Caillebotte à Calder : Itinéraire d'une passion | £7,982,021 / $10,983,260 / €9,323,000 / HK$84,976,591 |
| Modern British Art Day Sale | £5,427,375 / $7,527,769 / €6,257,763 / HK$58,170,605 |
| Modern British Art Evening Sale | £25,631,750 / $35,858,818 / €29,630,303 / HK$276,822,900 |
| A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud | £18,070,765 / $25,281,000 / €20,889,804 / HK$195,164,260 |
| Total | £361,428,211 / $500,791,398 / €419,223,317 / HK$3,870,565,123 |
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• The Global Season of 20th Century Auctions saw registered bidders from 69 countries. The depth of bidding across platforms, time zones and geographies demonstrates global market is active and expansive. New registrants accounted for 24% of registered bidders in March
• New evening sale format in London situates modern masters alongside new contemporaries, reflecting the eclectic tastes of Christie’s international collector base • Tens of millions of viewers tuned in to watch and participate in the March sale series, through Facebook, You Tube, We Chat, Weibo, Artron, ArtPro, Yitao, Christies.com and Christie’s Live™
• The underbidder on Banksy’s Game Changer placed a final bid of £14,300,000, the highest bid to date on Christie’s LIVE™
EXCEPTIONAL WORKS – OUTSTANDING PROVENANCE: COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS
• The Claude Hersaint Collection: £23,316,500 / $32,246,720 / €27,023,824 / HK$249,300,018
• Deutsche Bank Collection running total: £4,480,425 / $6,069,160 / €5,099,168 / HK$46,886,224
• 20th Century Modern Masters from a Private French Collection: £27,342,500 / $37,814,678 / €31,689,958 / HK$292,346,010
• The Estates of L.S. Lowry and Carol Ann Lowry: £2,323,125 / $3,241,134 / €2,683,303 / HK$25,024,355 • The Foundation Mireille And James Lévy: £9,469,756 / $13,181,980 / €10,969,415 / HK$101,816,412 during the March season
SETTING THE AGENDA: MAY AT CHRISTIE’S
• Christie’s will now offer major auctions of “20th Century Art” and “21st Century Art”, replacing Impressionist and Modern and Post-War and Contemporary nomenclatures
• The new format will underscore the radical nature of the Modern Masters and their lasting impact on the art being created today
• By removing art from the context of its assigned movements, Christie’s seeks to make new stylistic connections, approach topics such as race and revolution from a new lens, and create space to amplify voices that have been historically overlooked and undervalued • New York Marquee Week to be Led by a Modern Masterwork by Monet
30 ARTIST RECORDS SET THROUGHOUT MARCH 2021
• Aboudia, Untitled
• Derrick Adams, Figure in the Urban Landscape 31
• Banksy, Game Changer
• Banksy, Lost Children’s Sign from Glastonbury Festival – Record for a Unique Work on Paper by the Artist
• Jean-Michel Basquiat, Warrior – Most Expensive Western Work Sold in Asia
• Beeple, Everydays: The First 5000 Days
• Vanessa Bell, Autumn Bouquet
• Javier Calleja, Waiting for a While
• Sir Winston Churchill, Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque
• Sir Michael Craig-Martin, With Red Shoes
• Ian Davenport, Poured Lines: Dark Cobalt Study
• Nicole Eisenman, Mermaid’s Catch
• Jean Fautrier, Pièges (Traps)
• Otto Freundlich, Fragments de figure à l’ensemble des plans
• Jammie Holmes, Untitled (Aunt) • Augustus John, Head of a Girl (Edie McNeill)
• Ray Johnson, Comb
• Edmund Kesting, Rote Mühle
• Elaine de Kooning, Red Bison/Blue Horse
• Joy Labinjo, No Wahala
• Ronald Moody, Man Kneeling
• John Nash, A Window in Bucks • A.R. Penck, Zen-Trum – Record for a Sculpture by the Artist
• Peter Phillips, Custom Painting no. 8
• Patrick Procktor, Still life with flowers in a jug, on a table top
• Gerhard Richter, Ohne Titel – Record for a Work on Paper by the Artist
• Lucas Samaras, Box #119 • Tschabalala Self, Colored 2 – Record for a Work on Paper by the Artist
• Claire Tabouret, The Last Day
• William Turnbull: 13-1958 – Record for a Painting by the Artist
• Issy Wood, Over Armour (non-linear, non-violent)
