Art Market Review · year 2019

Art auctions 2019 Review: highlighted by a record-breaking Monet and a $91 million “Rabbit” by Jeff Koons, we present our personal review of the 2019 Art Auctions season, its superstars, successes, bargains and disappointments.

by G. Fernández – theartwolf.com

The Superstars of the Year

Claude Monet: Meules
Executed in 1890
Sold for $110,747,000 at Sotheby’s New York, May 2019
Monet’s “Meules (Haystacks)” series is essential to understand modern painting, and this canvas is one of the most beautiful of the entire series. The price achieved is a record for a work by the French artist.

Jeff Koons: Rabbit
Executed in 1986
Sold for $91,075,000 at Christie’s New York, May 2019
Along with his “Balloon dogs”, “Rabbit” ranks among the finest creations by Koons. Coming from the from the collection of S.I. Newhouse, this work was the second from a series of three, and appeared on the market for the first time in almost 30 years.

Robert Rauschenberg: Buffalo II
Painted in 1964
Sold for $88,805,000 at Christie’s New York, May 2019
Sold in the same auction than Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit” (see above), this large painting set a new world auction record for a work by Rauschenberg.

Sanyu (Chang Yu): Five nudes
Painted in the 1950s
Sold for HKD 303,985,000 / $38,850,000 at Christie’s Hong Kong, November 2019
An icon of modern Chinese painting, Sanyu’s “Five nudes” is a large and colorful painting in which the influence of Matisse and Picasso is evident.

The Successes

Umberto Boccioni: “Forme uniche della continuità nello spazio (Unique Forms of Continuity in Space)”
Conceived in 1913 and executed in 1972
Sold for $16,165,000 at Christie’s New York, November 2019
Pre-sale estimate of $3,800,000 to $4,500,000
Described by Christie’s as “an icon of Modernism”, “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” is arguably Boccioni’s most remarkable achievement in the field of sculpture.

Manner of Rembrandt: “Portrait of the Artist“
17th century?
Sold for $675,000 at Christie’s New York, November 2019
Pre-sale estimate of $15,000 to $25,000
As you surely guess, the final price reflects the fact that this “Manner of Rembrandt” painting may actually be a genuine Rembrandt.

A rare bronze figure of Shiva Nataraja
13th century
Sold for $1,035,000 at Christie’s New York, March 2019
Pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000
This small bronze figure (22 cm. high) is similar to a larger sculpture in the Government Museum, Chennai,

The Bargains

Paul Gauguin: “Les Oies“
Painted in 1889
Unsold at Christie’s New York, November 2019 (pre-sale estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000)
Painted in Brittany in 1889, this is, simply put, a sensational Gauguin, colorful and almost abstract. “But the art market is only interested in Gauguin’s tropical paintings”, you might think. Well, last year, “La Vague” (1888) sold for $35 million at the Rockefeller sale. While not as striking, this painting should also be valued at at least $5 million.

Diego Velázquez: Portrait of Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj
Painted in 1649-50
Sold for 2,375,000 GBP / $3,350,000 at Sotheby’s London, July 2019
Needless to say, the attribution of this painting is still subject to debate, but, unlike other paintings recently attributed to Velázquez, this work not only has a quality worthy of the master, but there is also an important documentary burden that supports its attribution. If its attribution is finally proven, the buyer of this painting may have made the purchase of the decade.

John Constable: Study for “The White Horse”
Painted in 1817
Unsold at Sotheby’s London, July 2019 (pre-sale estimate of GBP 2,000,000 — 3,000,000)
Offered at the same auction that the previous painting, this oil study has a vibrant, almost impressionistic brushstroke.

Hans Memling: “Portrait of Francisco (?) de Rojas”
Painted c.1470
Unsold at Christie’s London, July 2019 (pre-sale estimate of GBP 1,500,000 — 2,500,000)
Hans Memling is one of the most important painters from the Northern Renaissance, and this colorful painting should have attracted the attention of many collectors.

The Disappointments

Claude Monet: ‘Saule pleureur et bassin de nymphéas’
Painted in 1916-19
Unsold at Christie’s London, February 2019
Pre-sale estimate in the region of GBP 40 million
So, Monet was the biggest superstar of the year (see his “Meules” on the top of this page) and also the biggest flop. This large late work by Monet did not attract any bid when it was offered for sale in London.

Fernand Léger: ‘Femme dans un fauteuil‘
Painted in 1913
Unsold at Christie’s London, June 2019
Pre-sale estimate in the region of GBP 25million
An important work by Léger, one of the five paintings of seated women that the artist created in 1913. Despite some alleged interest, bidding stopped at GBP 19.5 million.

William Bouguereau: ‘La Jeunesse de Bacchus‘
Painted in 1884
Unsold at Sotheby’s New York, May 2019
Pre-sale estimate of $25 to $35 million
A clear example of the market’s lack of appreciation for 19th century painting was the absence of bids for this work. In former times, this masterpiece by Bouguereau would have been considered the main star of the auction season. However, it found no buyer when it was offered by Sotheby’s in May.

Porsche Type 64
1939-1940
Unsold at RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August 2019
Pre-sale estimate in the region of $20 million
Not only a brilliant piece of engineering, but also a remarkable example of “rolling art”, and the earliest Porsche in existence.