Contemporary Art: Impressions From New York`s Fall Auctions 2017

(Drivebycuriosity) - Last week´ s auctions in New York showed the status quo of the art market. The auctions for post war & contemporary art @ Sotheby`s, Christie`s & Phillips (my reports Sotheby`s  Christie`s Phillips) brought together $ 1,5 billion. The numbers were inflated because Christie`s packed Leonardo da Vinci`s painting "Salvator Mundi" (created ca. 1500) into their Contemporary & Postwar Art Evening Sales. The marketing trick created a lot of buzz and long lines on the street and the painting was sold for $ 450.3 million! The bids came from every part of the world, declared the auction house (artnews).

Not every pundit was impressed by the Renaissance painting: “Even making allowances for its extremely poor state of preservation, it is a curiously unimpressive composition and it is hard to believe that Leonardo himself was responsible for anything so dull,” wrote Charles Hope, an emeritus professor at the Warburg Institute at the University of London (artnews).

But the rest - all created after World War II -  had solid sales, a sign that the art market is in a robust health. Apparently the global art market is again following the stock markets which climbed to all-time high. History shows that stock markets & art markets walk side by side. Art is not only bought by collectors, who love it and want to own it, art is also purchased by investors & speculators who hope to sell it later for a higher price. These people consider art as an asset, comparable to stocks, bonds & real estate - and as long as they become more wealthy, they spend more for art.

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Phillips (altogether more than $ 150 million sales) sold my personal favorite,  Peter Doig`s "Red House" (1995–96) for $21.1 million.  I envy that buyer.  Franz Kline`s "Sayer" sold for $9,9 million and someone took Richard Prince`s "Mystery Nurse" home for $3,25 million.

Sotheby`s ($ 413 million) auctioned Andy Warhol`s "Mao" (1972)  for $32.4 million; Francis Bacon`s "Three Studies of George Dyer" (1966") sold for $36.8 million and Jean-Michel Basquiat´s "Cabra" was bought for $10,9 million.

Christie´s  ($ 890 million, ex Da Vinci $ 440 million) sold Andy Warhol‘s massive "Sixty Last Suppers" (1986, on top of this post) for $60.9 million and Cy Twombly`s "Untitled" (2005) for $46.4 million. Mark Rothko`s  "Saffron" went for $32,375 million. 

The auction houses looked like huge museums and together they over-trumped any major museum exhibition of contemporary art I know including New York´s MoMa, Los Angeles`"Broad" and Chicago`s Art Institute. Plus which, admission was free, and taking pictures was permitted! Priceless.

Enjoy!