Sotheby's Rallies with $242.2 Million Auction
12 May 2016 - 1:40PM
Dow Jones News
Sotheby's sold a squiggly painting by Cy Twombly for $36.7
million Wednesday during a lively sale of contemporary art in New
York that suggested collectors—especially ones from Asia and the
U.S.—are still in the hunt for new art.
The $242.2 million sale represented a major comeback for the
house three days after its disappointing sale of impressionist and
modern art spooked the art market. Wednesday's sale topped
Sotheby's own $201 million expectations, with all but two of its 44
pieces finding buyers, a turnabout from its $145 million sale of
older art on Monday that saw a third of its offerings go
unsold.
Sotheby's specialists said they doubled their efforts, and their
phone logs, in the days since to call and reassure collectors that
the markets for impressionist and contemporary art operate under
different rhythms and that it was safe to show up and bid
Wednesday. Collectors apparently got the message, with collectors
such as Lightyear Capital's Donald Marron and dealers like Adam
Lindemann—whose untitled Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for $57.3
million to Japanese online retailer Yusaku Maezawa at Christie's
the night before—packing into the house's York Avenue salesroom.
Dozens more called into Sotheby's phone banks, which were manned by
a few veteran specialists as well as many newcomers.
Still, the air remained eerily thin for the sale's priciest
trophies, with only one bidder winning the Twombly, a
chalkboard-gray canvas covered in waxy blue loops, "Untitled (New
York City)," well below its $40 million estimate. Sale prices,
unlike estimates, include the house's commission. Another red
Twombly, "Untitled (Bacchus 1st Version V)," sold for $15.4
million, below its $20 million estimate.
Yet elsewhere in the sale, bidders jumped over each other to
compete, with five collectors chasing a 1970 double portrait by
Francis Bacon, "Two Studies for a Self-Portrait," to $35 million,
over its $30 million high estimate. The winner bid by telephone.
London dealer Pilar Ordovas said the Bacon appealed in part because
it had been in the same private collection for 46 years.
"Sotheby's faced lots of pressure coming into this sale, but
they had good things at good prices—and that's really all you
need," Ms. Ordovas said. "We saw a depth of bidding in this sale
like we've not seen all week."
Case in point: Sam Francis' "Summer #1," a vibrant jumble of
indigo, red and yellow splotches on a creamy backdrop that won a
coveted spot on the cover of the artist's 2011 catalogue raisonne,
a definitive list of his works. "Summer #1" hadn't been up for bid
since it sold for $825,000 in 1986. Collectors have begun
re-evaluating Francis' merits and now consider the abstract painter
a bargain. That may explain why at least five bidders doggedly
fought for it, with Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad winning it
for $11.8 million, near its $12 million high estimate and
establishing a new auction record for the artist.
Sotheby's also sold David Smith's "Zig 1" sculpture from 1967 to
a telephone bidder for $9.2 million, over its $8 million low
estimate. An untitled 1942 Alexander Calder tabletop sculpture that
the artist gave to Alfred Barr, the first director of New York's
Museum of Modern Art, soared to $8.3 million. It was only expected
to sell for as much as $4 million.
Asian bidders had a bigger presence this time. Mr. Maezawa, the
40-year-old Japanese billionaire based in Chiba who went on a
Basquiat-fueled shopping spree at Christie's on Tuesday, picked up
another paddle at Sotheby's. His winnings included a $13.9 million
untitled Christopher Wool painting and a $2.6 million Adrian Ghenie
"Self-Portrait as Vincent van Gogh." The Ghenie, which drew six
rival bidders, was painted in 2012.
Christie's will round out the spring sales Thursday with its
sale of impressionist and modern art.
Write to Kelly Crow at kelly.crow@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2016 23:25 ET (03:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Sothebys (NYSE:BID)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Sothebys (NYSE:BID)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024