translated by Giorgina Arcuri

In the history of the art market, the 15th May 2007 will certainly be remembered as an memorable evening in New York, thanks to the hammer prices that roused surprise, disbelief and astonishment among auctioneers, sellers and buyers.

New York auctions have given us some exciting news. In particular, two very important new records: Francis Bacon has realized the highest price ever paid for a work of contemporary art and Lucian Freud has become the most paid living artist in the world. However, after the adrenalin stirred up by the important results, the time for questioning arrives. Who might be the mysterious buyer of the fantastic paintings sold in New York? What will become of them? Public exhibition or private viewing?
Some of these questions may have found an answer. Indeed, within the circle there are rumours about a few names, and it seems that the buyer of the two masterpieces of contemporary art sold in the last days has been identified.

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

AT CHRISTIE’S THE ENGLISH ARTIST ESTABLISHES THE NEW WORLD RECORD FOR ANY LIVING ARTIST

The “Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale” held on 13th May at Christie’s New York passed the market test with contemporary art. During the evening the auction brought a total of 348.2 million dollars, with a 95% sale percentage, and marked new world records for Richard Prince, Sam Francis, Mark Rothko, Francis Bacon, Leon Gottlieb.

As a modern Caravaggio, the Irish artist Francis Bacon has become a true icon of the damned artist. Credit for this goes to a myth fuelled by himself and his life: contrasts with his father, journeys in the thirties, homosexuality, tragic loves, his passion for gambling and pubs. His fame increased after his death in Madrid in 1992, stoked up by the extraordinary reappearance of some of his works in Toni Shafrazi’s New York gallery  in 1999 and by a sharp rise in quotations. Everybody will remember when in May 2007, at Sotheby’s New York, the painting “Study From Innocent X” executed in 1962 sold for 52,680,000 dollars, setting the artist’s personal record. At last this record has been thrashed.

The Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which took place on 14th May at Sotheby’s New York, was a record auction from every point of view. Firstly, for its turnover: 362,037,000 dollars, well above the best estimates which expected the auction to realize between 288.1 million and 354.7 million dollars. This is the second best result ever achieved in the world for a contemporary art auction and the most important sale in the history of Sotheby’s. 73 lots of the 83 presented were sold and represented 86.8% of the works by value.

During this week, New York contemporary art auctions have surprised has with a number of new records. In this section, Arcadja presents the most important results of the last few days.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir