Top 10 Biggest Art Sales of 2012 Wikicollecting.org takes a look at the art market in 2012, with our list of the Top 10 biggest Art auction sales of the year.
News-Antique.com - Jan 02,2013 - 10) Andy Warhol's "Double Elvis" (1963) - $37m
Pop Art Svengali, Andy Warhol, exhibited his "Double Elvis" at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles the same year it was created. The exhibition catalogue describes the work as "the deification of a contemporary warrior-saint, the towering, pre-eminent idol bearing a deadly weapon as if protecting the mythical world of celebrity itself." Hmmm. The work sold at Sotheby's in May for $37,042,500.
9) Franz Kline's "Untitled" (1957) - $40.4 million
Franz Kline's abstract expressionist canvases are said to encompass passion, drama and dynamism. This particular work comes from Kline's black and white period. It sold for $40,402,500 at Christie's in November.
8) Andy Warhol's "Statue of Liberty" (1962) - $43.7m
Warhol's reiterative screen print explores the way in which images can be imbued with, and stripped of meaning, via rootless repetition. It sold at Christie's in November for $43,762,500.
7) Claude Monet's "Water Lillies" (1905) - $43.8m
One of the most internationally recognised works of art in existence; Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" has become a by-word for the French impressionist movement as a whole. It sold at Christie's in November for $43,762,500.
6) Francis Bacon's "Figure Reflected in a Mirror" (1976) - $44.9m
Francis Bacon is known for his disturbing distillation of experience into potent, and often grotesque, paintings. This canvas sold at Sotheby's for $44,882,500 in May.
5) Roy Lichtenstein "Sleeping Girl" (1964) - $44.9m
Roy Lichtenstein was a contemporary of Warhol and his work exhibits the same wry amusement at contemporary advertising techniques as well as notions of "high" and "low" culture. This comic book- style canvas sold for $44,882,500 at Sotheby's in May.
4) Raphael's "Head of a Young Apostle" (created circa 1519-1520) - $47.8m
One of just two important Raphael pieces to have appeared at auction in the last 50 years, the drawing depicts one of the primary figures from Raphael's "Transfigurations". It is now the most valuable old master drawing ever sold at auction and also the most valuable example of Raphael's work. It sold at Sotheby's in December for $47,690,717.
3) Mark Rothko's "No. 1: Royal Red and Blue" (1954) - $75.1m
Although widely celebrated for his bold and evocative use of block colour, one of Mark Rothko's invaluable canvases was recently "defaced" by "Yellowist" Vladimir Umanets, who stated: "I would like to show such a wonderful piece in the context of Yellowism."1 "No 1" sold at Sotheby's in November for $75,122,500.
2) Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" (1961) - $87m
Rothko's "Orange, Red and Yellow" sold at Christie's in May for $86,882,500.
1) Edvard Munch's "The Scream" (1895)- $119.9m
Edvard Munch's pastel on canvas work 'The Scream' famously depicts a figure with a haunted expression standing before an amber sky. One of four versions of the composition which Munch created between 1893 and 1910, it sold for a jaw-dropping $119,922,500 at Sotheby's in May - making it the most valuable piece of art ever to be sold at auction.
