Art auctions
In 2021, top auction houses are reinvesting time and energy in evening auctions that have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a long hiatus, they managed to attract collectors from all over the world back to large auctions. In the process, these auctions set records for various artists. Here's a comprehensive story that Phoenix Art brings to you.
Over the past November, a painting by Agnes Martin from Harry and Linda Macklowe's collection sparked a bidding battle that ended up selling for $17.7 million; Christie's set a milestone for Gustave Caillebotte at auction for Texas oil magnate Edwin Cox' collection Works by Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Lee Bontecou and others also set other price records. While these large sums tend to capture the eye, interesting activity also takes place in smaller deals, with Swann Galleries' African-American art division setting a new high at the end of 2021.
Below is a survey of 10 decisive auction records for the year.
#1
The portrait of Sandro Botticelli sold for $92.2 million, more than the $80 million estimate, setting the second highest auction price for a work by an old master. The painting comes from the collection of the late New York real estate magnate Sheldon Solow, who bought it in 1982 for £810,000 ($1.3 million), breaking the record of $10.4 million previously created by the Renaissance artist, which was created at Christie's auction in 2013 by Rockefeller Madonna (about 15th or 16th century). The work was bid by a Russian buyer through Lilija Sitnika, a private client consultant at Sotheby's London. Botticelli's record brings new life to the sluggish category of ancient masters, proving that classics like these can still perform as well at auction as contemporary art.
#2
In November, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles bought Gustave Caillebotte's 1876 "Jeune homme à sa fenêtre" (Young Man in the Window) for a record $53 million at a night auction of Impressionist art. The result surpassed the French painter's highest auction price of $22 million at Christie's auction two years ago. The painting comes from the property of Texas oil tycoon Edwin Cox, who held the painting for 50 years before his death in 2020. Along with the works of Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas, the painting was sold as part of a single-owner auction for the Cox Collection for $332 million.
#3
In November, at Christie's evening auction, Peter Doig's large-scale painting The Swamp (1990) was bought for $39 million. On a guaranteed basis, it was bought by bidders through a phone call with Christie's New York chairman, Alex Rotter. The work features a small white boat floating in pond weeds and stumps, and was last auctioned in 2015, when a European collector who sold the work bought it for $26 million. Swamp re-established Doig's record, which hasn't changed since "Rosedale" (1991) was sold at the Phillips auction in New York in 2017. Auction houses are paying more attention to living artists this year, and Deog's auction is a sign that this new attention is paying off.
#4
The self-portrait, created by Frida Kahlo, has been in a private collection for 30 years and sold for $34.9 million at Sotheby's in New York last month. The painting depicts the weeping artist, with an image of her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, superimposed on her forehead, representing the third eye. The result quadrupled the artist's previous $8 million auction record, which was set in 2016 when her 1939 painting Two Nudes in the Forest (The Land Itself) was auctioned at Christie's in New York. The self-portrait for sale was bought by collector Eduardo F.Costantini. This price makes it the most expensive Latin American artwork to sell in a public place and one of the most expensive women's works ever auctioned. However, Carlo's record does not come close to that of georgia O'Keeffe, the most expensive female artist, whose 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 sold for $44.4 million in 2014.
#5
At sotheby's Harry and Linda Macklowe collection auction in November, Agnes Martin's Untitled #44 was auctioned alongside works by Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, a 1974 work. It triggered one of the most suspenseful auction battles of the night. After a competition of five bidders, a buyer who spoke to Sotheby's Asia chairman Patti Wong won the work for $17.7 million, including a premium. The result far exceeded Martin's previous record of $10.6 million at Christie's in New York. Private collectors and museums are refining the historical gap in which women and artists of color are underrepresented in their collections, while Martin's market has been on the rise since the Tate Modern retrospective in 2015. From this point of view, this record indicates the trend of the entire market to promote neglected figures not only within museums, but also in auctions.
#6
At Christie's Hong Kong Contemporary Art Evening Sale in December, Amoako Boafo's "Hands Up" (2018) ,—— a painting of a young woman modeling sunglasses, attracting multiple bidders from Hong Kong, New York and London. After a long auction, it was eventually sold to a buyer from Asia for HK$26.7 million (US$3.4 million), 13 times the HK$2 million estimate. The result sets a new record for the Ghanaian-born painter and is three times the size of the $1 million auction milestone he previously created in 2019. At the evening auction in Hong Kong, a frenzied auction for Boaph and other young artists showed the enduring desire of buyers in the heart of the Asian market for emerging artists.
#7
Barbara Kruger, a 1981 book by Barbara Kruger from Abe Steinberger, a neurosurgeon from New Jersey, was auctioned at Christie's Modern and Contemporary Art Auction in November. The work sold for $1.2 million at the Kruger Retrospective, which opened at the Art Institute of Chicago in October, a result that surpassed Kruger's previous record of $902,500, which was created in 2011 when Christie's auction of Peter Norton's collection. Such results are a reminder that the historical influence of female artists often far exceeds their market value, which often lags behind their male counterparts.
#8
At an auction of African-American art at Swan Gallery in New York, Elizabeth Catlett's stone sculpture Head (1943) sold for $485,000, more than four times its $100,000 estimate. The limestone statue is one of only two known stone sculptures by Catallet before she finally immigrated to Mexico in 1947, and she sought more freedom than black American women could have pursued her artistic career at the time. That price surpasses her previous record of $389,000 at Swann's auction in 2019 and could signal a bigger expansion of Carteret's market in the coming years.
#9
At the Phillips Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong in June, the emerging artists attracted the biggest attention from bidders. Salman Toor's girl with a driver (2013) sold for HK$5.5 million (US$890,000), five times its estimated HK$1.2 million (US$155,000). It surpassed Thor's $867,000 auction record a month before sotheby's, further proving that Thor was one of the fastest-rising young artists in the auction world.
#10
At London's Sotheby's Evening Sale in March, this sandstone sculpture of a female torso created in 1924 by little-known British modern artist Frank Dobson was one of the most surprising works. The piece once belonged to Alberto Giacometti and has been preserved in the same private collection for 30 years. It sold for a record £2.04 million ($2.8 million), eight times its estimate of £250,000 ($344,000). This result surpasses Dobson's previous record of £338,500 ($643,000) set in 2005. Bringing top works from less valued artists to auction is a set goal for auction houses this year. Dobson's case shows how this long-neglected treasure shines in unpredictable ways.
Some of the graphics come from the Internet
(Phoenix Art Comprehensive Report Editor/Wu Yuhan)
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