Couch Collectors! 27 Photos from Christie’s and Sotheby’s Fall Auction Previews
Sotheby's Tobias Meyer with Warhol Coke bottle, (est. $20M-$25M). © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor
The fall auction previews opened last week at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Warhol was ubiquitous. Early browsers included dealer Nicholas Acquavella, art banker Andy Augenblick, collector Ellen Stern and Yale University Art Gallery director Jock Reynolds.
The Impressionist and modern sales pivoted on a few choice works. At Sotheby’s, the biggest catch was Amedeo Modigliani’s 1917 painting, Nude Sitting on a Divan (The Beautiful Roman Woman). The sensuous nude perches, legs crossed, on a plush red settee. She is flush in all the right places. The work set an auction record for Modigliani the last time it was up for auction in 1999, selling for $16.7 million. This time around it made $69 million.
Over at Christie’s…The four clear cut standouts came from Henry Kravis–including Juan Gris’s 1913 Cubist, Violon et guitare.
This week contemporary art sells.
Collector Steve Wynn is dispensing with his 1964 Lichtenstein comic classic Ohhh…Alright... at Christie’s contemporary sale. Christie’s nabbed a string of estates, including Dennis Hopper, Robert Shapazian and Max Palevsky.
The contemporary sections burst with Pop. Examples of Abstract Expressionism are thin, surprising so, given MoMA’s current Ab Ex fest.
Sotheby’s auctioneer Tobias Meyer said he followed the playbook from last season’s sale, anchoring the line-up with major a major Warhol and Rothko. “We learned from June not to overestimate, and we were able to convince our consignors to agree to conservative estimates,” Meyer said during a press preview.
Christie’s is estimating Warhol’s Big Campbell’s Soup Can with Opener (Vegetable) for $30 – $50 million, while Sotheby’s sale is led by Coca-Cola 4, set at $20-$25 million. Lichtenstein’s Ice Cream Soda will be on the block at Sotheby’s, projected at $12 – $18 million.
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Sotheby's gallery with Impressionist and modern Part II (aka the cheaper stuff). © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
This 1960 Foujita sold for $290,500 at Sotheby's, and seemed oddly Currin-esque. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Sotheby's offered a large unappealing Picabia. Tanked. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Sotheby's sold this Picasso pastel for $5.3 million, although they billed it as "Homme et Femme," and let's face it folks: it's two femmes. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
More Sotheby's Impressionist and Mods offerings, including Modigliani portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne (center) which fetched $19.1M. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Humdrum Monet waterlily sold for $24.7 million at Sotheby's. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Sotheby's David Norman on left and Simon Shaw on right, flanking the Monet. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Sotheby's contemporary highlights include works by Warhol, Bacon and Richter. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Andy Warhol's "Last Supper" (est. $4M-$6M) at Sotheby's. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Donald Judd 1970 "Brass" (est. $1M-$1.5M), on left, Ellsworth Kelly 1958 "Cowboy" ($1.8M-$2.5M) on right. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Basquiat's drug addled "Riddle Me This, Batman," 1987, (est. $4.5M-$6.5M)
All sorts of fluids (wine, blood?) on the Basquiat. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Graham Gund's 1955 Mark Rothko, est. $20M-$30M at Sotheby's. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Over at Christie's, with a Koons "Balloon Flower (Blue)" (est. $12M-$16M) parked on sidewalk. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
More Koons, noticing out the flower's stamen echoes the form of the Warhol can opener in background. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Christie's Henri Matisse's Back IV, which sold for $48.8M. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Kravis' paintings at Christie's, © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Christie's Conor Jordan discusses Picasso's "Maternite" which did not sell. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
One of Kravis' pieces: a neoclassical 1921 head of a man which sold for $6.1M. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Kravis' Klee sold for $5M. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Christie's Robert Manely discusses Jasper Johns' "0 through 9" (est. $9M-$12M). © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Gerhard Richter's sublime 1982 "Zwei Kerzen (499-2)" est. $12M-$16M. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Christie's Amy Cappellazzo with Wynn's Lichtenstein. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Andy Warhol's portrait of Dennis Hopper (est. $800k-$1.2M) from actor's estate. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Will be interesting to see how the Lindner's sell from Palevsky estate. This 1964 one, "West 48th Street," (est. $400K-$600K). © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Basquiat from Hopper estate (est. $5M-$7M). © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
