This week has shown that there is still plenty of money flowing in the London art market. Christie’s three-pronged 21st/20th Century evening sale on Thursday brought in £197.5 million ($265 million), a day after Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary sale brought in £131 million ($175 million).
The result marks 52% increase Achieved compared to equivalent sales of homes last year The batch transaction rate reached 96% and 98% by value. Henry Moore, Toyen and Dorothea Tan. Four works by Cecily Brown, Bridget Riley, Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach Withdrawn before kick-off, the total estimate was as high as nearly £17 million.
Christie’s Auction – 21st/20th Century, ‘Surreal Art’ and ‘Modern Dreamers’ – “The Roger and Josette Van Tournoot Collection” (in order) – It felt tough at times, with more than 200 lots sold in nearly four hours. But the two auction houses’ results counter recent suggestions that London’s status as a cultural powerhouse is slipping. Although the Labor government abolished non-domiciled status in the UK last April, meaning all UK residents now pay income tax regardless of where they earn it, the rich are still spending big here. Some top dealers and consultants tell art news Last year, they worried the move would push more collectors to buy art elsewhere. Concerns that the ongoing war between the United States, Israel and Iran would hamper bidding were also eased, at least for top lots that sold well.
Lot 7, Henry Moore king and queen The bronze exceeded its high estimate of £15 million and sold for £26.3 million ($35.2 million), setting a new auction record for the artist. The packed crowd gasped when the bid jumped from £20.5m to £22m. Before the sale, Katherine Arnold, Christie’s vice-chairman of 20th/21st century art and head of European postwar and contemporary art, described the work as “the most exciting sculpture I have ever seen come to market.”
Phillip Hoffman, founder of The Fine Art Group, conveyed his perspective to me from the front row via WhatsApp: “As we saw with Moore, quality and rarity translate very well in this market.” king and queen The bronze is the last casting from the series still in private hands.
Auctioneer Adrien Meyer, global head of private sales, Impressionist and Modern art at Christie’s, went to great lengths to attract bidders early on at the auction house’s new podium. When Lot 8 Appears – Works by Gerhard Richter abstract image– He refused to add £100,000, which would have brought the price to £6.1 million. “We still have 90 lots to go tonight and you need to do better,” he said. It eventually sold for £7.6 million ($10.1 million).
Lot 11, Works by Wassily Kandinsky red wheelThe work had a high estimate of £15.5 million (approximately US$21.3 million) and was ultimately sold for an estimate of £12.5 million (approximately US$16.8 million). Eduardo Chillida Space Module III The selling price is £3.3 million (high estimate: (£1.2 million), Rose Wylie’s tube girl fetched £152,400 (high estimate: £70,000), Coinciding with her large solo exhibition Royal Academy. The auction total on the 20th/21st was £114 million.
Issue 25《“Surreal Art” reached 100% sell-through rate by lot and value, total £43 million ($57.4 million) The sale also set two world auction records: for Dorothea Tanning children’s games made £4.7 million($6.2 million) and Toyen’s free destiny fetched £3.7 million ($4.9 million). Works by Rene Magritte nature’s grace It also sold for £8.5 million ($11.4 million).
at last, “Modern Dreamers – The Roger and Josette Vantunute Series” Total turnover was £40.3 million (US$53.9 million), with a sell-through rate of 97% by lot and 94% by value. The biggest highlight of the auction is Pablo Picasso’s “Nu Debout et Femmes Assises”, The transaction price was £7 million ($9.3 million).
Although Christie’s sold £131 million that night, Jussi Pylkkänen, Christie’s former global president and founder of Art Pylkkänen, told me in the foyer after the sale that we were still in a “soft market.” “Tonight’s estimates are generally too high, which means fewer and fewer people are bidding,” he said. “When a work only has one or two bids, it often doesn’t represent its true value.”
Olivier Camu, deputy chairman of Impressionist and Modern art at Christie’s, said the evening’s results were “a powerful tribute to Roger and Josette Vanthournout’s 60-year passion for discovery and collecting”.
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Milan consultant Mattia Pozzoni was bullish on London that night. “This week it feels like London is back on the market map,” she said. “Between the buzz of the auctions and the Tracey Emin exhibition at the Tate, it feels like we’re back a few years ago, when collectors came to London expecting to see important works and prepared to spend big bucks on them.”
