The auction at Sotheby’s New York. Jeff Koons “Hanging Heart” is at the left
Bacon and Koons shine at Sotheby’s auction, November 2007 Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons shine at Sotheby’s auction of Contemporary Art, November 2007]]>
November 14, 2007, source: Sotheby’s
“Tonight’s results, the most spectacular in Sotheby’s 263-year history, are evidence of the hunger that exists across a global community of buyers for Contemporary art of the highest quality,” said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art and the auctioneer of tonight’s historic auction. “Among the thirteen artist records we established this evening was one for Jeff Koons, set by his remarkable Hanging Heart, which was also a record for any living artist at auction, eclipsing the previous record set at Sotheby’s London earlier this year for Damien Hirst’s Lullaby Spring. I am immensely proud of the extraordinary offering that our international team of specialists was able to assemble.”
Tonight Sotheby’s achieved its highest sale total ever when its evening sale of Contemporary Art in New York brought $315,907,000, exceeding its high estimate (est. $220.3/298.7 million*), with sold values of 98.2% by value and 91.6% by lot1. Francis Bacon’s Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1, 1969, which commanded $45,961,000 and sold to an American dealer, was the top lot of the two week series of sales in New York (lot 29, est. to sell for in excess of $35 million), and his Self Portrait, from the same year, brought $33,081,000, selling to an anonymous buyer (lot 19, est. to sell for more than $15 million). Additionally, a new record for a living artist at auction was set when Jeff Koons’ dazzling Hanging Heart brought $23.6 million. Thirteen artist records were set this evening, including for Koons, Ellsworth Kelly, John Chamberlain, Fang Lijun, Zhang Xiaogang, Anish Kapoor, Ad Reinhardt, Yei Pei Ming, Richard Serra, Josef Albers, Sol LeWitt, Walter de Maria and Matthew Barney. Six lots sold for over $10 million; 16 for over $5 million; and 55 for over $1 million.
Anthony Grant, International Senior Specialist of Contemporary Art, continued, “Sculpture was very present in our sale tonight. Following Sotheby’s world record for a sculpture set by Pablo Picasso’s Tête de femme (Dora Maar) last week, and in addition to the remarkable price achieved for the Koons, we set artist records for sculpture by John Chamberlain, Anish Kapoor, Richard Serra and Sol LeWitt, among others. The widely admired installation of the Koons in Sotheby’s unparalleled 10th floor gallery space inspired bidding in tonight’s sale. Additionally, we had works in our sale dating from 1935 to 2006 of various nationalities and mediums, and over the past week, an unprecedented number of clients came to Sotheby’s from all points around the world.”
The cover lot of the sale, Jeff Koons’ spectacular Hanging Heart (Magenta and Gold), 1994-2006, one of the most important works by Koons ever offered at auction, sold to Gagosian Gallery to applause for $23,561,000, a record for the living artist at auction and also for the artist (lot 14, est. $15/20 million). The previous record was for Damien Hirst’s pill cabinet, Lullaby Spring, which sold for $19.2 million at Sotheby’s London in June. The price almost reached the record for a Contemporary sculpture, currently held by David Smith’s Cubi XXVIII, which sold for $23.8 million at Sotheby’s New York in November 2005. The brilliant magenta heart and gold undulating bow, which took ten years from conception to completion, is one of five uniquely colored versions of this dazzling work from Koons’ famed Celebration series. The perfect surface is coated in more than ten layers of paint. Executed in high chromium stainless steel, Hanging Heart weighs over 3,500 pounds, is almost nine feet tall and took over 6,000 man hours to produce.
The sale also featured two works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, including his large-scale canvas, Untitled (Electric Chair) from 1981-82, watershed years for the artist, which sold for $11,801,000 (lot 16, est. $8/10 million). Untitled (Electric Chair), offered by a Foundation, was selected and purchased prior to completion from Basquiat’s first dealer Annina Nosei Gallery, New York. The work went into the collection of a Foundation, where it has remained ever since; this is the first time the work appeared on the market since it was painted in the artist’s studio in the basement of the Nosei Gallery. Also offered by the same Foundation were works by post-war sculptors, including Donald Judd’s Untitled, 1977, which brought $7,433,000 (lot 26, est. $6/8 million) and John Chamberlain’s Big E, 1962, which achieved $4,633,000 (lot 11, est. $2/3 million), both records from the artist at auction. Another Untitled work by Basquiat from 1981, which depicted one of the most engaging and combative warrior-figure paintings of the artist’s early years, sold for $7,769,000 (lot 48, est. $7/9 million).
Highlighting the 15 works included in the evening sale from a Distinguished Private Collection, which brought $33.4 million (est. $29.9/40.8 million), was Andy Warhol’s Self Portrait (Green Camouflage), 1986, from his last series of self-portraits, which sold for $12,361,000 (lot 47, est. $9/12 million). Other works featured from this offering include Ellsworth Kelly’s Spectrum VI, 1969, formerly from the collection of the curator of 20th century at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Henry Geldzahler, and related to Spectrum V, currently in the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which sold for $5,193,000, a record for the artist at auction (lot 23, est. $4.5/6 million). Alexander Calder’s Untitled, 1935, a rare early wood and wire sculpture, similar to those in the Collections of the Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, sold for $4,409,000 (lot 34, est. $2.5/3.5 million).
Other works by Andy Warhol which brought strong prices included his Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot), 1962, which sold for $8,441,000 (lot 41, est. $7/9 million). This classic pop painting combines Warhol’s keen graphic sensibility with his use of an appropriated image in the manner of Jasper Johns’ flag and target paintings. This work was formerly in the collection of Emily and Burton Tremaine, who had one of the foremost collections of avant-garde and contemporary art on the East coast from the 1950s through early 1980s. Also by Warhol from his Death and Disaster series was Four Jackies, 1964, which achieved $5,641,000 (lot 13, est. $4/6 million), and Suicide, 1964, which brought $5,193,000 (lot 12, est. $3.5/4.5 million).
Works by Chinese Contemporary artists brought strong prices, including Zhang Xiaogang’s Family Portrait, 1994, which sold for $4,969,000 (lot 68, est. $2.5/3.5 million) and Fang Lijun’s Series 2, No. 6, 1991-92, which brought $4,073,000 (lot 65, est. $800,000/1.2 million).
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