CHRISTIE’S ESTABLISHES HIGHEST POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART SALE TOTAL IN HISTORY AT $384,654,400 Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale most valuable auction ever in the category, and the second highest art auction in history at $384,654,400. Green Car Crash tops $71,720,000
CHRISTIE’S ESTABLISHES HIGHEST POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART SALE TOTAL IN HISTORY AT $384,654,400 AND CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE HIGH END OF THE MARKET
Sale realizes second highest total for an art auction ever
Andy Warhol’s Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) achieves $71,720,000, quadrupling the previous record for the artist
26 new world auction records set
65 works sell above $1 million
New York – This evening, Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale became the most valuable auction ever in the category, and the second highest art auction in history at $384,654,400. The sale’s highlight was Andy Warhol’s epic Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) which sold for $71.7 million. Seventeen works sold above $5 million and 74% of the works sold above their pre-sale estimate. Buyers were 47% American, 19% European, 18% Asian and 16% other. Christie’s achieved the world record for any art auction when its November 2006 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale realized $491 million.
“This evening’s sale was not only historic because it set the record total for any Post-War and Contemporary Art sale,” said Brett Gorvy, Deputy Chairman and International Co-Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art. “We curated our sale around a rich variety of the highest quality works and most coveted artists in order to serve our diverse, global clients. We helped them to achieve their main goal: finding the next iconic work that fits their collecting pattern, whether it is Pop Art, Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism or cutting-edge contemporary.”
“The unprecedented buyer activity propelled this evening’s sale into the history books,” continued Amy Cappellazzo, International Co-Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art. “Over the past three years, Christie’s has led this market first over the $100 million, then over the $200 million and now over the $300 million barrier. As our clients show an ever increasing appetite for top Post-War and Contemporary art, Christie’s international team will continue to offer nothing short of the best.”
Andy Warhol shone throughout the sale and the results confirm that he remains the fastest rising and most coveted star of the contemporary market. The epicenter of the sale was his Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) which achieved $71.7 million and set a new record for the artist at auction. The work was part of his seminal Death and Disaster series and had remained in the same private collection for decades. It easily surpassed the previous record at auction for the artist which was set at $17.4 million for Mao, sold at Christie’s New York in November 2006. The fantastic Lemon Marilyn, expected to sell in excess of $18 million, realized $28,040,000, the second highest price for a Warhol at auction. The sale offered ten Warhol paintings that resulted in a combined total of $136,704,000.
The evening featured two works by the enigmatic Mark Rothko: Untitled, 1954 from a Distinguished Private Collection and Untitled, 1961 Property from the Eastman Family Collection. Both works were
