It may be the dog days of summer, but the art market never fully goes on vacation. (Just ask the gallery assistant who isn’t allowed to put up an autoreply.) Despite a dearth of big-ticket lots, Old Master sales in London and a smattering of Chinese art auctions made for a more varied list than usual; there’s nary a Picasso or Basquiat in sight, and that’s a welcome change.
While Sotheby’s Old Master evening sale in London failed to find buyers for almost half of the works, netting only $23.9 million, Christie’s generated more than $52 million with a 78 percent sell-through rate.
The prices for top works were considerably lower in July than in the prior few months. While in June, the top lots (by Xu Yang and Jean-Michel Basquiat) fetched $64 million and $37.2 million respectively, last month’s priciest work fetched about $14.5 million, well under its low estimate of $16.5 million.
But lower price points also left room for a few surprises. Frans van Mieris the Elder’s The Music Lesson easily trounced its high estimate of $1.4 million to achieve $4.8 million; perennial favorite Yayoi Kusama’s works each rose well above their high estimates; and Artemisia Gentileschi’s Venus and Cupid also brought in significantly more than expected.
We combed the data from Artnet’s Price Database to highlight the top 15 lots that sold at auction around the globe in June 2021. See the full list below.
1. Bernardo Bellotto, View of Verona with the Ponte delle Navi (1745–47)
Final Price: £10.6 million ($14.6 million)
Estimate: £12 million to £18 million ($16.5 million to $24.8 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
2. Leonardo da Vinci, Head of a Bear
Final Price: £8.7 million ($12.2 million)
Estimate: £8 million to £12 million ($11 million to $16 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
3. Joseph Mallord William Turner, Purfleet and the Essex Shore as Seen From Long Reach (1808)
Final Price: £4.8 million ($6.6 million)
Estimate: £4 million to £6 million ($5.5 million to $8.3 million)
Where & When: Sotheby’s London, July 7, 2021
4. Emperor Qianlong, Songyang Hanbotu
Emperor Qianlong, Songyang Hanbotu, Courtesy of XiLingYinShe Auction Co. Ltd.
Final Price: CNY41.4 million ($6.4 million)
Estimate: CNY28 million to CNY38 million ($4.3 million to $5.9 million)
Where & When: XiLingYinShe Auction Co. Ltd., Hangzhou, July 24, 2021
5. Georges de la Tour, Saint Andrew
Final Price: £4.29 million ($5.9 million)
Estimate: £4 million to £6 million ($5.5 million to $8.3 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
6. Amrita Sher-Gil, In the Ladies’ Enclosure (1938)
Final Price: $5.1 million
Estimate: $4.2 million to $5.6 million
Where & When: Saffron Art, Mumbai, July 13, 2021
7. Frans van Mieris the Elder, The Music Lesson
Final Price: £3.5 million ($4.8 million)
Estimate: £700,000 to £1 million ($963,656 to $1.4 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
8. Xu Wei, Ink Flower Eight Sections (1591)
Xu Wei, Ink Flower Eight Sections (1591). Courtesy of XiLingYinShe Auction Co. Ltd.
Final Price: CNY29.3 million ($4.5 million)
Estimate: CNY18 million to CNY25 million ($2.8 million to $3.9 million)
Where & When: XiLingYinShe Auction Co. Ltd., Hangzhou, July 24, 2021
9. Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin (R) (2017/1992)
Final Price: JP¥425 million ($4.4 million)
Estimate: JP¥200 million to JP¥300 million ($1.8 million to $2.7 million)
Where & When: Mainichi Auction, Tokyo, July 31, 2021
10. Fu Baoshi, Jingbo Feiquan Picture (1963)
Final Price: CNY28.5 million ($4.4 million)
Estimate: CNY16 million to CNY26 million ($2.5 million to $4 million)
Where & When: XiLingYinShe Auction Co., Hangzhou, July 25, 2021
11. Jan Davidsz de Heem, A Banquet Still Life
Final Price: £3.1 million ($4.3 million)
Estimate: £3 million to £5 million ($4.1 million to $6.9 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
12. Anthony van Dyck, Family portrait of the painter Cornelis de Vos and his wife Suzanna Cock and their two eldest children, Magdalena and Jan-Baptist
Final Price: £2.4 million ($3.4 million)
Estimate: £1 million to £1.5 million ($1.4 million to $2.1 million)
Where & When: Sotheby’s London, July 7, 2021
13. Edward Burne-Jones, The Prince Entering the Briar Wood (1869)
Edward Burne-Jones, The Prince Entering the Briar Wood (1869). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Final Price: £2.4 million ($3.3 million)
Estimate: £2 million to £3 million ($2.8 million to $4.1 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
14. Artemisia Gentileschi, Venus and Cupid
Final Price: £2.4 million ($3.3 million)
Estimate: £600,000 to £1.2 million ($825,991 to $1.7 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 8, 2021
15. Yayoi Kusama, Infinity-Nets (WFTO) (2016)
Final Price: ₩3.1 million ($3.14 million)
Estimate: ₩1.5 million to ₩2.5 million ($1.3 million to $2.2 million)
Where & When: Seoul Auction, South Korea, July 29, 2021