Sotheby's Results - Contemporary Art Evening - May 14, 2008 Tonight’s auction at Sotheby’s of Contemporary Art, which totaled $362,037,000, was the best auction in the Company’s history (est. $288.1/356.7 million*)
News-Antique.com - May 22,2008 - CONTEMPORARY ART SALE TOTALS $362,037,000, ABOVE ITS HIGH ESTIMATE, AND THE HIGHEST TOTAL OF THE TWO WEEK SERIES
FRANCIS BACON’S TRIPTYCH, 1976, COMMANDS $86,281,000, A RECORD FOR A CONTEMPORARY WORK OF ART AT AUCTION AND FOR THE ARTIST
AT AUCTION
ADDITIONAL AUCTION RECORDS SET FOR
SEVENTEEN ARTISTS AT AUCTION, INCLUDING YVES KLEIN, TAKASHI MURAKAMI, ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, TOM WESSELMANN AND PIERO MANZONI
FIRST OFFERING OF PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF HELGA AND WALTHER LAUFFS, ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY SINGLE-OWNER OFFERINGS OF CONTEMPORARY ART TO EVER APPEAR ON THE MARKET, BRINGS $96,105,000
New York, New York, May 14, 2008 – Tonight’s auction at Sotheby’s of Contemporary Art, which totaled $362,037,000, was the best auction in the Company’s history (est. $288.1/356.7 million*), surpassing the high estimate and bringing the highest total of the two week series of auctions in New York as well as the top lot of the series. “We saw hunger for great works of art from a truly global community,” said Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s and the evening’s auctioneer. The cornerstone of the sale was Francis Bacon’s Triptych, 1976, a masterpiece of the 20th century and the most important work by the artist in private hands, which commanded $86,281,000, selling to a Private European Collector (lot 33, est. in the region of $70 million). “This painting, which is one of the great
paintings of the 20th Century, is worth every penny,” said Mr. Meyer. “The Bacon set a record for a Contemporary work of art at auction, and for the artist at auction.”
The sale also featured Property from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs, one of the most extraordinary single-owner offerings of Contemporary Art to ever appear on the market, which brought $96,105,000, far above its high estimate (est. $47.1/65.2 million). Eighteen artist records were set this evening, for works by Francis Bacon, Yves Klein, Takashi Murakami, Robert Rauschenberg, Tom Wesselmann, Piero Manzoni, Robert Smithson, Georg Baselitz, Hans Hofmann, Lee Krasner, Dan Flavin, Claes Oldenburg, Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, Robert Mangold, Brice Marden and Jeff Wall.
Alex Rotter, Head of Contemporary Art in New York, continued: “This evening’s extraordinary sale saw a remarkable eight lots sell for more than $10 million, 14 lots selling for more than $5 million and 55 lots selling for more than $1 million. The sale achieved an average lot value of $4,959,410.”
Anthony Grant, International Senior Specialist of Contemporary Art, commented: “Tonight was a night for iconic works. Across the board, whatever the generation, we set records for Flavin, Murakami, Bacon, Rauschenberg, Hofmann and Gupta, among many others. There was an extraordinary response to the Lauffs Collection – the market for these European works in America is unparalleled. We saw the affirmation of Minimalism, with LeWitt, Tuttle, Flavin, Andre, Beuys and Mangold rising to the top.”
Francis Bacon’s Triptych, 1976, a masterwork of the first order, which commanded $86,281,000, provokes a wide range of possible interpretations in a painting which matches the tragic grandeur of Aeschylus, the
