USA: Records shattered with 240 million U.S. dollar art sales at Christie's auction

Records for Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol and a post-war and contemporary art sale total tumbled at Christie's on Wednesday (November 15) with a 240 million U.S. dollar auction that exceeded even the highest expectations. It was the culmination of two weeks of sales at Christie's and rival Sotheby's that took in well over 1 billion USD, reflecting a seemingly insatiable market. Christie's sold 239,704,000 U.S. dollars worth of art including commission, well over the high pre-sale estimate and some 45 million more than any auction of post-war art. Records were set for 19 artists. Warhol's iconic image of Mao Tse-Tung, considered one of his most sensational pieces of the 1970s, sold for 15,500,000 USD. 'Mao,' a large work from 1972 being sold for the Zurich-based Daros collection to fund future acquisitions, went for 17,376,000 USD, just beating the old mark for a Warhol held by 'Orange Marilyn' since 1998. It was bought by Hong Kong collector Joseph Lau. The three Warhols together took in some 50 million USD. 'Orange Marilyn' from 1962 and 'Sixteen Jackies,' a series of the former first lady on the day of President Kennedy's assassination rendered in black and blue, each fetched more than 15 million USD. Bidding seemed almost limitless at times, with even the highest-priced works reaching three times their estimates. Lesser-known artists whose works rarely come to auction commanded similarly high prices, most notably Clyfford Still whose '1947-R-No. 1' fetched 21,296,000 USD, more than three times the high pre-sale estimate and obliterating the artist's old mark of 3.1 million. Records also fell for a host of well known artists including Richard Diebenkorn, Gerhard Richter, sculptress Louise Bourgeois and Arshile Gorky. De Kooning's 'Woman (Seated Woman I)' sold for 9,648,000 USD, more than twice the high estimate and far exceeding the artist's old record for a work on paper of 75 million.

ITN Source | November 17, 2006

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