London – The Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions at Christie’s concluded on the 10 March 2017 with Handpicked: 100 Artists Selected by the Saatchi Gallery, which brought the total sales for Post-War and Contemporary Art this week to £113,097,313, a 56% increase on last year. The overall total for the London sales of 20^th Century at Christie’s reached £276,196,199/ $340,505,764 / €321,076,473, a 45% increase on the equivalent auctions in 2016. World records were set across the season for leading artists of the 20^th Century including Cecily Brown, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, René Magritte, Albert Oehlen, and Günther Uecker and Henry Taylor. The season overall confirmed that the 2017 global art market is confident and continually evolving with a significant increase in participation from Asia.  

Post War and Contemporary Art realised an overall total for the category of £113,097,313 / $137,526,333 / €129,609,521, overall the week saw 92% of all works sold. The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 7 March achieved exceptional sell through rates of 95% by lot and 98% by value. The top work was Peter Doig’s captivating snow scene from 1994, Cobourg 3 + 1 More, which sold for £12,709,000 / $15,530,398 / €14,640,768. American artists accounted for 39% of the evening total, highlighted by Mark Rothko’s No. 1 (1949) (10,693,000 / $13,066,846 / €12,318,336), Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Self Portrait (£2,225,000 / $2,718, 950 / €2,563,200) from the collection of U2’s Adam Clayton and Robert Rauschenberg’s Transom (£4,645,000 / $5,676,190 / €5,351, 040). The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale saw sell-through rates of 93% by lot and 94% by value with 19% of the bids sold to or directly underbid by online bidders. It was led by the single-owner collection ‘Next Chapter’, which included work by Julie Mehretu, Yayoi Kusama, Wade Guyton, Marlene Dumas, Luc Tuymans and Alex Katz. Works donated to support Zeitz MOCAA, the first major contemporary art museum in Africa, brought a high energy to the saleroom with El Anatsui’s Warrior selling for an overestimate £725,000 / $883,775 / €835,200. Further highlights included sections supporting charitable causes: the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Campus Appeal: Ash to Art; and Children & the Arts, a UK charity dedicated to delivering quality arts experiences to disadvantaged children.  Handpicked: 100 Artists Selected by the Saatchi Gallery was led by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Cemetary which realized £37,500. The auction concluded the week’s successful run of sales seeing records for Barry Reigate, Scott King, Donald Urquhart and Annie Kevans. Further works from ‘Next Chapter: Contemporary Art from an Important Italian Collection’ are included in a dedicated online-only sale which is open for bidding until 14 March 2017 and the second instalment of Handpicked: 100 Artists Selected by the Saatchi Gallery will take place in New York on 22 March, 2017.

Francis Outred, Chairman, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, EMERI:

“The outstanding sell-through rates and depth of bidding for works by European and American masters confirms London’s position of strength in the global art market, from the masterpieces of the season through to the new talent that met with success in Handpicked: 100 Artists Selected by the Saatchi Gallery. The season was highlighted by painters such as Peter Doig, with one of his last monumental early paintings to come to auction for the first time, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, who set an astonishing record with only her third painting to come to auction, selling for £2,517,000 / $3,075,744 / €2,899,585. The energy felt in the saleroom for American artists including Carl Andre, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Robert Rauschenberg and Mark Rothko demonstrated the strong international profile of London in the art market today.”

Impressionist, Modern and Surreal Art

Impressionist, Modern and Surreal Art achieved a total of £163,098,886 / $202,352,178 / €190,790,750, with an average sell through rate across all sales of 82% by lot and 94% by value. Works from prestigious collections including the Personal Collection of Barbara Lambrecht, the Heidi Weber Museum Collection, the family of Max Ernst and the Art Institute of Chicago inspired spirited bidding at the launch of 20^th Century. The top work of the week was Paul Gauguin’s, Te Fare (La maison), which achieved £20,325,000 / $25,243,650 / €23,780,250. The Personal Collection of Barbara Lambrecht Sold to Benefit the Rubens Prize Collection in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Siegen was 100% sold and realised a total of £20,112,100 / $24,950,059 / €23,531,157. Important works by Le Corbusier from the Heidi Weber Museum Collection saw collectors from Europe, America and Asia pursue three oil paintings and four works on paper by the artist and was led by Nature morte et figure (£3,301,000 / $4,099,842 / €3,862,170). Further highlights include Paul Delvaux’s Le village des sirènes (£3,077,000 / $3,821,634 / €3,600,090), sold by the Art Institute of Chicago, Yves Tanguy’s La lumière, la solitude (£1,565,000 / $1,943,730 / €1,831,050), and Portrait érotique voilè by Max Ernst, sold by the artist’s family (£2,285,000 / $2,837,970 / €2,673,450).

Jay Vincze, Head of Impressionist & Modern Art Department, London and Olivier Camu, Deputy Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art, Christie’s:

“Works from prestigious collections such as the Personal Collection of Barbara Lambrecht and the Heidi Weber Museum Collection engaged collectors internationally with notable participation from Asia. The total of £163,098,886 / $202,352,178 / €190,790,750 achieved across a series of five sales was at the top end of the pre-sale estimate and confirms that the global appetite of buyers for Impressionist, Modern and Surreal Art continues to be strong across category and price points with records achieved for artists in the evening, day and works on paper sales. A particular highlight of the season was the huge record price achieved for René Magritte’s La Corde Sensible. The exceptional provenance of works was matched by passion and enthusiasm at the launch of 20^th Century at Christie’s.” 

20^th Century at Christie’s was a series of sales at Christie’s that took place from 28 February to 10 March 2017 and provided platforms for both new and established collectors across every level of the global art market.

SALE TOTALS

Impressionist & Modern Art and Art of the Surreal Evening Sale       

£136,874,598       $169,998,251       €160,143,280

Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale                                                         

£16,584,225         $20,481,518         €19,403,542

Impressionist & Modern Works on Paper                                                  

£6,485,375           $8,009,438           €7,587,888

Impressionist & Modern Art Sale, South Kensington                              

£1,985,438           $2,434,147           €2,309,064

Picasso Ceramics                                                                                            

£1,169,250           $1,428,824           €1,346,976

Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale                                        

£96,384,000         $117,781,248       €111,034,368

Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale                                            

£16,316,313         $19,889,586              €18,796,393

Handpicked: 100 Artists Selected by the Saatchi Gallery                     

£397,000               $482,752               €454,962              

TOTAL                                                                                                                  

£276,196,199       $340,505,764       €321,076,473