Having a key evening on the same night as a rival, and on the same day as the opening of two major art fairs, might sound like a terrible idea to some, but Christie’s decided to try it out. On Wednesday, October 9, Christie’s London staged its 20th/21st Century Evening Sale, which went head to head with Sotheby’s evening art sale. Many had to dash from Frieze London and Frieze Masters after a whirlwind VIP preview of the two fairs at Regent’s Park.
Christie’s results did not disappoint (too much), considering the current state of the art market. Having just delivered a less-than-spectacular inaugural evening art sale at its new Asia headquarters in Hong Kong less than a month ago, the house managed to hold the fort. The sales total was a whopping 83 percent jump from the same event last year.
That was to be expected, though, since the house canceled its June London sales to focus on the Frieze Week auction. The positive vibe was very much welcome in this tough market. Buyers and bidders came from 23 countries, with 50 percent from EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), 28 percent from the U.S., and 22 percent from Asia.
The sale also saw an expansion of the scope of art covered, stretching beyond the usual postwar and contemporary categories. Coinciding with the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto, works by notable names from the move, including René Magritte, Leonor Fini, and Léon Spilliaert, sold for prices well above their presale expectations. Magritte’s Le grand style sold for £2.6 million ($3.4 million) including fees (presale low estimate £1 million/$1.3 million). A new auction record was set for Spilliaert with the sale of Phare sur la digue, sold for £982,800 ($1.3 million). Sarah Sze also achieved a new auction record with the sale of Spell for £756,000 ($986,009).
Lucian Freud, Ria, Naked Portrait (2006-07). Courtesy Christie’s.
Below, the story by the numbers…
Total Sales After Fees: £81.98 million ($107 million)
Total Sales of Equivalent Sale Last Year: £44.7 million ($54.5 million)
Hammer Total: £66.9 million ($87 million)
Top Seller: Lucian Freud’s Ria, Naked Portrait (2006–07). The work created in his 80s hammered at £10 million ($13 million), which met the fees-free presale low estimate. The work sold for £11.8 million ($15.4 million) after fees.
Lots on Offer: 52
Lots Withdrawn: 4
Lots Sold: 46
Lots Bought In: 6
Sell-through Rate: 82 percent
Sell-through Rate After Withdrawals: 89 percent
Presale Low Estimate: £72.5 million ($94 million)
Presale Low Estimate After Withdrawals: £66.9 million ($87 million)
Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate: £5.6 million ($7 million)
Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate After Withdrawals: 0
Lots Guaranteed: 27
Total Low Estimate of Guaranteed Lots: £55 million ($71.9 million)
Total Low Estimate of Withdrawn Lots: £5.4 million ($7 million)
Lasting Memory: As Artnet writer Colin Gleadell revealed, artist Damien Hirst and rock star Eric Clapton were among the celebrity consignors for this sale. The good news for them is that all the lots they consigned found buyers, but the bad news for Clapton is that he had a major work fail to meet its presale expectation. Clapton’s late Willem de Kooning ribbon painting hammered at £2.8 million, below its presale low estimate at £4 million ($5.24 million) and slightly more than the £2.7 million he paid for it in 2008. The work sold for £3.5 million after fees ($4.5 million).
Hirst’s six consignments, all guaranteed, bagged a total of £15 million ($19.6 million) including fees, selling within or above presale estimates. These included Jeff Koons’s electric blue polished steel sculpture Balloon Monkey (Blue), which sold for £7.6 million ($9.9 million) after fees, against a presale low estimate of £6.5 million ($8.5 million). Annie Morris’s Stack 8, Viridian Green sold for £302,400 ($395,237), 68 percent above its high estimate. The results suggested that the artist, despite criticism of some of his recent works and a decline in the market for his art, may be a savvy art investor.