The 22nd edition of the annual Armory Show was, by all accounts, one of the most robust when it came to both attendance and sales, with names and numbers rolling in at a quick pace immediately after the VIP opening on March 3. Prices for works on offer ranged widely, from $1,000 for a multiple to a seven-figure Alberto Giacometti artwork.
A number of celebrities seen at the fair—including David Byrne, Anderson Cooper, Sofia Coppola, Neil Patrick Harris, Steve Martin, and Michael Stipe (whom we spotted riding the subway like a normal person on our way there)—helped cement the Armory Show’s reputation as a site for curious encounters. Drew Barrymore, we were told by a source who asked to remain anonymous, picked up a work at the booth of Galeria Andreas Huber and Bruce Haines.
See what sold below.
New York’s Sean Kelly Gallery sold out of all editions of Kehinde Wiley‘s Bound (2015) sculpture, placing one edition with a prominent American institution. The gallery also sold out of all Hugo McCloud works on the stand.
Lower East Side’s 11R gallery, run by partner Augusto Arbizo, sold works including: three abstract paintings by Jackie Saccoccio for $45,000; two textile works by Mika Tajima for $30,000: three acrylic and burlap paintings by Evan Nesbit for $12,000 each; a painting by Jerónimo Elespe for $14,000; and a 1989 drawing by Moira Dryer for $14,000.
London’s Tim Taylor Gallery sold two paintings by Richard Patterson for $100,000 and $250,000, respectively.
Another London-based gallery, Blain Southern, sold works by Chiharu Shiota and Bosco Sodi, both of whom it began representing recently, as well as pieces by veteran artists in its stable, such as Jonas Burgert, Marius Bercea, Francesco Clemente, and Abdoulaye Konaté.
Sources told artnet News that George Lucas bought a Robert Indiana painting at Bologna-based Maggiore Gallery for a seven figure sum. The gallery, which was situated at the modern section of the fair on Pier 92, would not confirm the purchase, though director Alessia Calarota, stated in a release following the fair: “We are pleased to have sold a Robert Indiana painting from 2003, Where Oh Where Hides Peace, sold to a major West Coast museum. We also have sold works by Giorgio Morandi, Roberta Matta and Marc Chagall to American collectors in Miami and New York.”
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, of Paris and Salzburg, sold works by Richard Artschwager and Robert Longo—the latter of which went to a major US museum.
New York’s Allan Stone Projects sold three works by Wayne Thiebaud, ranging in price from $25,000 to $500,000.
Milan’s Cardi Gallery sold three works by Pino Pinelli for prices ranging from $30,000 to $85,000.
INK Studio from Beijing sold several works by Zheng Chongbin to a New York museum, including Unfolding Landscape from his new “Land Art Series.”
New York gallery James Cohan sold a piece by Trenton Doyle Hancock for $80,000, and an Elias Sime collage for $90,000.
Leila Heller Gallery in New York sold an Ed Ruscha work on paper for $550,000.
London’s Mazzoleni gallery, which devoted its booth to works by Nunzio and Alberto Burri, sold several of each artist for prices that ranged from $40,000 to $700,000.
New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery is also in the six-figure club, when it sold a painting by Kerry James Marshall for $250,000 and a Barkley L. Hendricks painting for $200,000.
London’s Sprüth Magers joined the fold, selling a work by LA-artist Sterling Ruby for $175,000.
Roving gallerist James Barron said he is always “thrilled” to exhibit at the Armory Show, noting that this year he placed works by Sol Lewitt, Cy Twombly, and others in “some of the most important collections in America.”