YAYOI KUSAMA AND BEN SLEDSENS LEAD CHRISTIE’S POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART DAY SALE
On the eve of a major exhibition by Yayoi Kusama, opening in Manchester on 30 June, the artist’s painting Pumpkin sold for £504,000, more than double the low estimate, jointly leading the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale. Three further works were offered by the artist:
- The sculpture Pumpkin sold above estimate for £119,700
- Deep Sea Necklace realised £126,000
- Flower O.W.E. achieved £100,800
Figurative painting drew deep competition across the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale
- Ben Sledsens’ narrative painting Throwing Dice led the sale alongside Yayoi Kusama, achieving £504,000, more than eight times the low estimate of £60,000, a World Auction Record for the Artist
- Following a strong price realised for her work in the 20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale on 28 June, Caroline Walker’s Oasis sold for £239,400
- Peter Doig’s Hockey Head sold for £201,600 against a low estimate of £100,000
- Salman Toor’s Takeout realised £352,800
- Limpid pools like me by Jenna Gribbon sold for £239,400
Additional highlights included:
- Tony Cragg’s Untitled, which realised £478,000 against a low estimate of £250,000
- Cy Twombly’s Untitled sold for £403,000 (estimate: £180,000-250,000)
- Bridget Riley, Blue on Orange and Ochre (£201,600)
- William Kentridge, Porter Series: Egypte (£138,600)
Additional Artist Records
- Daisy Dodd-Noble, Purple Forest (£69,300)
- Sarah Graham, Magnolia Grandiflora (£69,300)
- Brice Guilbert, Fournez (£35,280)
- Allison Katz¸ Cellophane Bouquet IV (£59,220)
- Takesada Matsutani, Work 65-W (£214,200)
- Grayson Perry, Expulsion from Number 8 Eden Close (from The Vanity of Small Differences) (£226,800), Record in the Medium for a Tapestry by the Artist
- Alessandro Twombly, Untitled (£47,880)
Sales continue with the Impressionist and Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale on Friday 30 June, and First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art Online, which remains open for bidding until 5 July.
Selfhood: Explorations of Being and Becoming in 20th and 21st Century Art, a selling exhibition focusing on art as a vehicle for the expression of self-identity, part of the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Mode campaign, remains on view until 13 July. The cross-platform exhibition will also be available online until 31 August and includes works by Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Alice Neel, Suzanne Valadon and many more.
