Gerhard Richter leads Christie’s 21st century art auction

An abstraction by Gerhard Richter led Christie’s 21st century art auction on May 10, 2022, from which a triptych by Jean-Michel Basquiat was withdrawn at the last minute.

By G. Fernández · theartwolf.com · Image: Georgina Hilton selling Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild

Following the historic sale of Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” for $195 million the night before, and two days before the auction of the Anne H. Bass Collection, Christie’s organised its auction of 21st century art, in which the two – a priori biggest stars were a triptych by Jean-Michel Basquiat and an abstraction by Gerhard Richter.

Painted in 1994, “Abstraktes Bild” is a typically vibrant abstraction by Gerhard Richter, which was auctioned for $36.5 million, which, without taking inflation into account, is the third highest price paid at auction for a work by Richter, after another “Abstraktes Bild” (1985) sold for $46.3 million in 2015, and the photorealistic “Domplatz, Mailand“, auctioned for $37.1 million in 2013. However, the “success” of this attractive abstraction by Richter was relative: the painting had sold in October 2012 at Sotheby’s London for £21.3 million (about $34 million), a figure which, taking inflation into account, is higher than what was paid for the work yesterday.

“Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict” is a spectacular and somewhat strange self-portrait by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which Christie’s described as “both self-portrait and altarpiece“. Carying an “estimate upon request”, but according to some sources “in the region of $30 million“, the work was withdrawn shortly before the start of the auction, perhaps a further indication that the market is already noticeably oversaturated with Basquiats. Could this be a warning for the upcoming auction of the excellent “Untitled“, which Phillips expects to sell for around $70 million in a few days’ time?

Image: “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict” (1982) © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat

On the other hand, in line with other recent auctions of 21st century art, several young artists achieved results well above expectations. Ewa Juszkiewicz, who had already been at the centre of some of the market’s most notable surprises during 2021, saw her “Portrait of a Lady (After Louis Leopold Boilly)” sell for $1.56 million, more than five times its most optimistic pre-sale estimate, a result very similar to that of “Summertime“, a work by the lately ubiquitous Anna Weyant. “To Life“, part still life, part neo-pop composition, painted in 2020 by Joel Mesler, sold for $907,200, more than six times its most optimistic pre-sale estimate.

Strong Asian activity

According to Muhammad Dzamar Reza, Asian market analyst student, Asian buyers were more active than in Christie’s Ammann sale, buying or underbidding for young artists like Matthew Wong, Shara Hughes, and Anna Weyant. Particularly, Anna Weyant’s “Summertime” was acquired after a final bid from Hong Kong, while Asian collectors also bought the record-breaking Matthew Wong’s “Green Room” for $5.3 million (pre-sale estimate: $1.5 million to $2.5 million), the successful bid coming from Jackie Ho, who represents Asian buyers.