A Review and Look at November’s Biggest Sales in the Art World
During the month of November, thousands flock to New York City, are wined and dined, raise their paddles in the air, and possibly lose a few zeros from their bank accounts. The New York sales by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips expect more than $2.1 billion (all prices in USD) to be sold in Impressionist, Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary Art.
SOTHEBYS – $726.7 million in two days & a $70.5 million Cy Twombly
In the beginning of November, Sotheby’s netted $726.7 million after two days of sales in Manhattan. The auctions included their Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, as well as two auctions from the estate of former Sotheby’s chairman A. Alfred Taubman. A major piece on the block included Pablo Picasso’s La Gommeuse—painted during the artist’s blue period in 1901—which was sold to Swiss art dealer Dors Ammann for $67.5 million. The second highest sum was Vincent Van Gogh’s Paysage which was sold for $54 million to a telephone bidder.
Sotheby’s sales throughout November continued to remain strong with their “Contemporary and Post-War Evening Sale” culminating a nearly $300 million total. Leading the evening was an untitled 1968 blackboard work by Cy Twombly that sold for $70.5 million, a record for the artist. Other notable works sold include Andy Warhol’s Mao which fetched $47.5 million and Jackson Pollock’s Number 17 which sold for $22.9 million.
CHRISTIES – $170 million for a single piece
The star of Christie’s “Artist’s Muse: A Curated Evening Sale” on Monday 9 November in Manhattan—Amedeo Modigliani’s Reclining Nude or Nu Couché— sold for a staggering $170 million. Painted between 1917 and 1918, Reclining Nude created a scandal when first exhibited in Paris due to the nudity of the unknown model. It was bought by Chinese billionaire, art collector, and former taxi driver Liu Yiqian; he outbid six others competing for the canvas. Mr. Liu and his wife, Wang Wei, are known to have amounted a huge number of artworks that are showcased in their two private Shanghai museums. The New York Times reports that Mr. Liu previously bought a tiny Ming dynasty porcelain cup at Sotheby’s for $36.3 million and was seen in a photograph sipping tea from it. It is reported that he pays for all of his purchases on an American Express credit card, in order to obtain travel points.
Reclining Nude is the second highest price ever fetched at auction, with Pablo Picasso’s Women of Algiers (Version O) setting the record at $179.4 million in May 2015. In total, the 9 November sale realised nearly half a billion dollars ($491,352,000) for only twenty-four lots sold, including Roy Lichtenstein’s painting Nurse that sold for $95.3 million, almost doubling the previous record for the artist of $56 million.
PHILLIPS – $66.9 million, auction total
For their November auction, Phillips decided to have an inaugural “20th Century and Contemporary Art” sale. Totalling $66.9 million, a highlight included Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XXVIII that sold for $11.4 million. The sale was different from previous Phillips auctions as it tried to focus on blue chip artwork rather than the usual cutting edge, emerging artists Phillips is known for. The auction total was just above the low estimate, however these numbers will not remain this low for long. In September, Phillips revamped their 20th century and contemporary art departments, with former Christie’s specialists leading the way. It will be interesting to see what their May auction brings.