Event: Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art (Evening) Auction
Date & Time: 30 June 2009, 1900h
Venue: London, King Street
(Peter Doig: Night Playground 1997)
Auction Summary:
1. Total sales of £19.1m anchored at the median of the estimated range of £17.4m to £25m.
2. 34 of 40 lots were sold with an 85% sell-through rate, at the thinly bid session dominated mostly by bargain hunters still on a lookout to flee into the safe havens of popular names and timeless works.
3. 15 lots outperformed high estimates, 15 sold within range and 4 sold below their low estimates. 3 lots were bought-in, with a Gober passed and a Basquiat withdrawn.
4. Surprise Performer: Bruce Nauman‘s Untitled (Wax Cat), 1989 had 4 bidders. The winning bid of £180k beat its high estimate of £150k.
Top Lots (Prices inclusive of premiums):
1. Peter Doig, Night Playground 1997
(oil on canvas. 78¾ x 108in.)
Winning Bid: £3.01m (Joel Mallin, a New York collector, beat 5 other bidders)
Estimate: £1.5m – £2.0m
2. Richard Prince, Country Nurse 2003
(inkjet print and acrylic on canvas 79½ x 52¼in. only guaranteed lot at this auction.)
Winning Bid: £1.7m (3 bidders)
Estimate: £1.5m – £2.0m
Note: Historical prices clearly indicate that the value of Prince’s works are on a downward trajectory
- In May 2008, Man Crazy Nurse (2002) sold at Christie’s New York for £3.8m.
- July 2008, Overseas Nurse (2002), fetched £4.2m at Sotheby’s London.
3. Gerhard Richter, 1025 Farben (1025 Colours) 1974
(lacquer on canvas 47¼ x 48¾in.)
Winning Bid: £1.4m (2 bidders)
Estimate: £1.3m – £2.0m
4. Jeff Koons, Moustache 2003
(one of three in Popeye series, plus one artist proof. polychromed aluminium, wrought iron, coated steel chain. height variable x 75½ x 21in )
Winning Bid: £1.1m (1 bidder: Millicent Wilner of Gagosian Gallery, London)
Estimate: £1.3m – £2.0m
Question is, where is the art market heading. According to Judd Tully,
It’s safe to say that price fluctuations have probably found a foundation to build on, and if sellers are willing to put desirable property back on the market, more progress can be made.
Marion Maneker has the lot-by-lot account.
thangdynasty is a work-in-progress maintained by an accidental equity trader whose brief foray into the world of investments turned out… not so brief.
Although unmotivated by the senseless pursuit of money in and for itself, she remains sadistically intrigued by the complex anatomy stealthily at work behind the whole spectrum of Markets – Fine Art, Financial, Fish and Fools.
A budding art collector and supporter of emerging artists, she slogs to prevent collateral damage to her bank account resulting from occasional manic art buying sprees.