Contemporary Art Evening Sale, November 11, 2008 Tonight at Sotheby’s, the Evening sale of Contemporary Art brought
$125,131,500 million (est. $202,400,000/ 280,400,000*).
News-Antique.com - Nov 18,2008 - Sotheby’s New York Evening Sale of
Contemporary Art Brings $125,131,500
·Artist Records Set for Philip Guston, John Currin and Richard Serra·
New York, New York – Tonight at Sotheby’s, the Evening sale of Contemporary Art brought
$125,131,500 million (est. $202,400,000/ 280,400,000*). The top lot of the sale was Yves Klein’s
Archisponge (RE 11), which brought $21,362,500. Artist records were set tonight for Philip Guston,
Beggar’s Joys, which achieved $10,162,500; John Currin, Nice ‘N Easy, which realized $5,458,500; and
Richard Serra, 12-4-8, which fetched $1,650,000. The sale was 68.2% sold by lot, with 43 of 63 works
offered finding buyers.
Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s and the evening’s auctioneer, said,
“Tonight we saw a seasoned, smart collecting community responding to great material at levels that were
achievable. The American collecting community bought works of quality with intelligence, for the right price.”
Alex Rotter, Head of the Contemporary Art Department in New York, said, “Tonight, American buyers were
the most active, but there was also competitive bidding from Europe. This market has gone up more than
250% in the past two years, and the global financial turmoil obviously has brought a correction. Tonight’s
sale, which was put together during the summer in a very different economic environment, brings us back to
the levels of the autumn of 2006, when the evening sale also brought $125 million.”
Anthony Grant, International Senior Specialist of Contemporary Art, said, “Tonight we offered great
examples from the spectrum of post-war art. After our great success with the spectacular Yves Klein from the
Lauffs Collection last May, a Private Collector decided to consign the Klein, and it did not disappoint, selling
for over $21 million, not quite reaching the artist record of $23.6 million. We did however set a record for
Philip Guston, when Beggar’s Joys brought over $10 million. Guston’s previous record was set in 2005,
when The Street sold for $7,296,000. Another important artist record was set for John Currin’s, Nice ‘N
Easy, one of the most sought-after lots of the night, which realized $5.5 million. This work was included in the
famous Carnegie International 1999/2000 which proved to be a watershed exhibition for the artist.”
Highlighting this evening’s sale was Yves Klein’s Archisponge RE 11 from 1960, the most significant work in
the artist’s Relief Eponge series, which sold for $21,362,500. This outstanding price follows closely behind
the record set for the artist just last May at Sotheby’s when his gold Monochrome, MG 9, circa 1962, from
the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs, brought $23,561,000.
A new auction record was achieved this evening for Philip Guston when his rare and important abstract
expressionistic painting Beggar’s Joys, from 1954-55, sold for $10,162,500. Beggar’s Joys is a masterpiece
from Guston’s first major innovative period in which he moved away from the figurative art of the 1930s
toward his unique brand of abstraction in the early 1950s. Most of the artist’s works from this period are in
the collections of major museums such
