Sotheby's London - Contemporary Art Day, including Wrap-up of the Week - February 27-29, 2008 SOTHEBY’S FEBRUARY 2008 SERIES OF
CONTEMPORARY ART ACHIEVES £119,888,225 ($238,630,155)
• EVENING SALE BREAKS RECORD FOR ANY SALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART EVER HELD IN
EUROPE: £95,030,000 ($189,423,299)
• DAY SALE RESULTS OF £24,858,225 MAKE OVER THE PRE-SALE HIGH ESTIMATE OF
£17,347,000 - £24,231,000
• TOP LOT: FRANCIS BACON’S STUDY OF NUDE WITH FIGURE IN A MIRROR SOLD FOR
£19,956,500 ($39,779,291)
• 19 LOTS SELL FOR OVER £1 MILLION, $44 LOTS SELL FOR OVER $1 MILLION
• EVENING SALE AVERAGE LOT VALUE INCREASES BY 54.5 % SINCE JUNE ’07
TO £1.6 MILLION
SERIES MAKES SIX ARTIST RECORDS INCLUDING:
• RECORD FOR A WORK AT AUCTION BY GERHARD RICHTER, KERZE (CANDLE) SOLD FOR
£7,972,500
• RECORD FOR A WORK AT AUCTION BY LUCIO FONTANA WITH PRICE OF
£10,324,500 FOR CONCETTO SPAZIALE, LA FINE DI DIO.
SECOND EUROPEAN POST WAR ARTIST, AFTER BACON, TO EXCEED £10 MILLION AT AUCTION
• STRONG RESULT FOR INDIAN AND CHINESE ART IN THE DAY SALE
LONDON, FEBRUARY 27th-28th, 2008 – Sotheby’s series of Contemporary Art Sales, including its recordsetting
Evening auction followed by the Morning and Afternoon sales achieved a total £119,888,225
($238,630,155). The series set auction records for six artists.
Cheyenne Westphal, Chairman of Contemporary Art, Europe said: “Last night’s fantastic result has
continued into a day of strong sales in the Morning and Afternoon auctions. A truly global community of
clients has attended our viewings and competed for the many quality works on offer which included four
masterpieces. Notably the average lot value for our Evening sale rose by 54.5% to £1.6 million over our
results in June 2007.”
The series began on Wednesday night when the Contemporary Art Evening auction realised the highest
total for any sale of Contemporary Art ever held in Europe with a record £95,030,000 ($189,423,299). The
top lot of the Evening was Francis Bacon’s Study of Nude with Figure in a Mirror which reached the grand
sum of £19,956,500. Six records were set for artists at auction including; Juan Muñoz, Gilbert & George,
Gerhard Richter, Paula Rego, Lucio Fontana and Malcolm Morley. This sale achieved the second highest
total for any auction held at Sotheby’s in Europe. The highest total was achieved only three weeks ago with
Sotheby’s £116.7 million auction of Impressionist & Modern Art on 5th February.
Throughout the Day sale the pattern continued with collectors setting their own price levels for desired
works of art often ignoring pre-sale estimates. Notably Lot 327, by Banksy, Simple Intelligence Testing an
oil on canvas (in 5 parts), reached four times its high estimate with a price of £636,500. German art showed
continued strength with Lot 227 by Georg Baselitz, Tulpen (Tulips), reaching three times its high estimate
with a price of £479,700. Lot 126 by Jean Dubuffet, Le Béret Rose doubled its high estimate when it
achieved £636,500. Every section of the Day sale was strong and notably the Indian and Chinese
categories which attracted new bidders from across the globe. Lot 302, Fire, an aluminium and bronze
work by Subodh Gupta reached £102,500 and an
