News-Antique.com - Oct 23,2007 - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2007 – Last night, Sotheby’s successful autumn series of Contemporary Art
sales concluded with its annual sale of 20th Century Italian Art. The Company achieved its best-ever
results for a series of sales in this season, with the total for the three sales reaching £66,250,000,
against a combined pre-sale estimate of £48,604,000-67,974,000*. The previous record for this season,
achieved at Sotheby’s in October 2006, was £31,446,600 – just over half of this year’s total.
Robin Woodhead, CEO, Sotheby’s International, said: “The series of sales begun in London last Friday night
demonstrate that the October sales, timed to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, have well and truly established
October as the third selling season for Contemporary Art in London - alongside February and June - and the
fifth selling season in the international auction calendar. The new auction records established for Yue Minjun’s
iconic work Execution and for Raqib Shaw’s masterpiece The Garden of Earthly Delights III prove that
diversity is clearly a key factor in the current art market. The growth in interest for works from emerging
markets as well as the growing participation of buyers from these markets in our traditional sales categories
has been central to our success, and the base of our business is broader than ever before.”
The series began on Friday night with the Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which achieved a record total
of £34,865,300 – more than triple the previous highest total for an October sale of Contemporary Art at
Sotheby’s London. The sale saw records achieved for eight artists, including one for Yue Minjun’s iconic
work Execution, which realised £2,932,500 – also a record for any work of Chinese Contemporary Art at
auction. Indian-born Raqib Shaw’s masterpiece, The Garden of Earthly Delights III, sold for a
phenomenal £2,708,500, establishing a new record both for the artist, and for any Indian work of art at
auction.
The results of yesterday’s Contemporary Art Day Sale, which exceeded its pre-sale high estimate by
more than £2 million, further demonstrated the buoyancy of the international Contemporary Art market,
with strong prices across the board – from classic Post-War works, to more cutting edge Contemporary
pieces.
The series concluded with last night’s auction of 20th Century Italian Art, an annual sale held at
Sotheby’s London since 1999, which included works by some of the key Italian artists of the 20th
century, such as Marino Marini, Giorgio Morandi, Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni. The sale realised
£15,197,475 – well in excess of its high estimate, and a record for a sale of 20th Century Italian Art in
London. Four new artist’s records were established, including one for Piero Manzoni, whose beautiful
Achrome from 1959, sold for £2,260,500.
Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Total: £34,865,300 ($70,692,882)
Pre-sale estimate: £28,685,000-40,235,000
Sold by lot: 83.8%
Sold by value: 88.2%
Eight artist’s records were established as well as two records by medium
Geographical buyer breakdown by lot:
Europe 38%
UK 22%
USA 17%
Middle East 6%
Asia 6%
Other 11%
