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Here Are the 15 Most Expensive Artworks Sold at Auction Around the World in September 2021
Two of the top 15 most expensive works came from the NFT-verse.
Two of the top 15 most expensive works came from the NFT-verse.
Caroline Goldstein ShareShare This Article
The auction world returned from summer vacation with a bang last month when Sotheby’s sold 101 apes from Yuga Labs’s Bored Ape Yacht Club for a heart-stopping $24.4 million (yes, we’re talking about NFTs again).
The sale not only set a new single-event crypto-art record for the auction house, but also signaled that NFTs are here to stay, at least for a little while longer—even if the apes themselves seem pretty blasé about the whole thing. (If you have no idea what we’re talking about, check out our Bored Apes backgrounder here.)
The rest of the month’s top prices were for good old fashioned physical artworks, with a smattering of always-popular Les Lalanne decorative objects stirring up healthy demand at Christie’s Paris.
The Big Three auction houses weren’t the only ones that offloaded top lots. Galerie Kornfeld’s marquee sale series, usually held in June but rescheduled due to COVID, achieved the highest total in its 157-year history, netting CHF 72 million (about $78 million). The “white-glove” sale at the Bern house saw 10 works exceed the CHF 1 million threshold, including those by Paul Cézanne, Robert Delaunay, and Sam Francis.
Below, we’ve culled the Artnet Price Database to bring you the full list of the top 15 auction sales in September.
Final Price: $24.4 million
Estimate: $12 million to $18 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, September 9, 2021
Final Price: 41.7 million CNY ($6.5 million)
Estimate: 40 to 50 million CNY ($6.2 million to $7.7 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co. Ltd., Beijing, September 25, 2021
Final Price: €3.7 million ($4.4 million)
Estimate: €800,000 to €1.2 million ($946,000 to $1.4 million)
Where & When: Christie’s Paris, September 14, 2021
Final Price: $4.3 million
Estimate: $3.5 million to $5.5 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, September 30, 2021
Final Price: 3 million CHF ($3.2 million)
Estimate: 2.5 million CHF ($2.7 million)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: 3 million CHF ($3.2 million)
Estimate: 1.25 million CHF ($1.3 million)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: €2.1 million ($2.5 million)
Estimate: €300,000 to €500,000 ($355,000 to $591,000)
Where & When: Christie’s Paris, September 14, 2021
Final Price: 2 million CHF ($2.1 million)
Estimate: 2 million CHF ($2.1 million)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: 1.7 million CHF ($1.8 million)
Estimate: 1.5 million CHF ($1.6 million)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: 1.65 million CHF ($1.8 million)
Estimate: 1 million CHF ($1.1 million)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: 1.5 million CHF ($1.6 milion)
Estimate: 1.6 million CHF ($1.7 million)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: 1.5 million CHF ($1.6 million)
Estimate: 800,000 CHF ($859,383)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: $1.83 million
Estimate: $1.5 million to $2 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, September 9, 2021
Final Price: 1.4 million CHF ($1.5 million)
Estimate: 500,000 CHF ($537,115)
Where & When: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021
Final Price: $1.6 million
Estimate: $300,000 to $500,000
Where & When: Christie’s New York, September 22, 2021