SOTHEBY’S SALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART BRINGS $128,752,000

Friday, 12 May 2006 10:13

New York City - Sotheby’s highly successful sale brought $128,752,000 surpassing the high estimate of $123,650,000 and achieving the highest total for an evening sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s. New auction records were established for 10 artists, including Robert Ryman, Andreas Gursky, Christopher Wool, John Chamberlain, Lisa Yuskavage, Cecily Brown, Mark Di Suvero, Sean Scully, Blinky Palermo and Neo Rauch.

Highlighting the evening was Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XVI, a beautiful abstract painting from 1975, which drew competition from no fewer than five bidders finally selling for $15,696,000, and far surpassing its $8.5 million pre-sale high estimate.  It shared the position of the evening’s top lot with Roy Lichtenstein’s iconic pop painting Sinking Sun which also brought $15,696,000.  The sale was 96.9% sold by value and 95.4% sold by lot, with 35 lots selling for more than $1 million each.

“This was the most extraordinary sale we’ve ever had, exceeding expectations in every way,”commented Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art.  “Collectors are buying with enormous passion and determination at levels we haven’t seen before.  Rare and iconic works with strong visual impact sparked ferocious competition with masterpieces transcending all price points.”

“Minimalism went maximum tonight,” commented Anthony Grant, Senior Vice President of Contemporary Art. “Robert Ryman’s Untitled, an exceedingly rare large-scale work from 1962, brought an extraordinary $9,648,000, shattering the previous record set nearly 20 years ago.”  The sale appealed to a wide variety of collectors with classic examples of Abstract Expressionist, Pop, and Minimalism, as well as works by younger artists which set numerous new records.”

The evening began with explosive bidding and record setting prices for several works from a younger generation of artists, among them Andreas Gursky’s highly important 99 Cent, a large scale photograph from 1999 that sold for $2,256,000 (est. $1/1.5 million), a record for the artist as well as a Contemporary photograph at auction.  Christopher Wool’s Helter Helter from 1988 sold for $1,416,000 (est. $1.2/1.8 million), Lisa Yuskavage’s voluptuous Honeymoon from 1998 brought $1,024,000 (est. $500/700,000), and Cecily Brown’s lush and evocative High Society sold for $968,000 (est. $200/300,000).

Bidding for Mark Rothko’s luminescent White, Orange and Yellow was frenzied this evening, as six different bidders competed for the canvas from 1953, driving the final price to $4,160,000, above the high estimate of $3 million.  Also by Rothko was his darker and more somber Untitled from 1968 which surpassed the high estimate of $1.8 million to sell for $2,928,000.

Jean Dubuffet’s enthralling and enchanting Trinité-Champs-Elysées from 1961 was also among the top-selling lots this evening, bringing $5,168,000.  From the artist’s most highly esteemed and consequential series, Paris Circus, the canvas had been estimated to sell for $3/4 million.  Also by Dubuffet was Le Tissu Social painted in 1977 and offered by the Exxon Mobil Foundation topped the $1.2/1.8 million estimate selling for $2,480,000.

Among the Contemporary sculpture offered tonight was Jeff Koons’ New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Red, Brown, New Hoover Deluxe Shampoo Polishers Yellow, Brown Doubledecker which exceeded the $3.5 million high estimate to bring $5,280,000, second only to the price achieved at Sotheby’s in May of 2001.  Additionally, two works by Andy Warhol far surpassed expectations: Ladies and Gentlemen, a large-scale work from 1975 soared to $3,264,000 (est. $700/900,000), and Gun from 1981 sold for $2,368,000 (est. $600/800,000).

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