New York, NY – Christie’s New York leads its fall season with the eighth edition of First Open on September 9, which includes over 230 lots of Post-War & Contemporary Art and is expected to realize in excess of $6-8 million. First Open displays another stunning array of works for this highly anticipated and successful sale. Highlights of the sale include an exciting assortment of paintings, sculpture, drawings and photographs from both well-known and emerging artists. With estimates ranging from $1,500 to $500,000, First Open is an exceptional opportunity to acquire works at a variety of price points, whether you are building an existing collection or starting anew.

In the last few weeks, London city has proved to be the European capital of the art market. With sales dedicated to the modern and impressionist sector, Sotheby’s and Christie’s have confirmed the good state of the market. Indeed, the “Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale” held on 24th June fetched 144 million pounds (284 million dollars), achieving the highest total for a European auction and giving “Le bassin aux nymphèas” by Claude Monet the new world record for the artist, selling the piece for 41 million pounds.

LONDON - The July 2008 Evening Sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s London achieved the phenomenal sum of £94,701,550 ($188,853,831) against a pre-sale estimate of £67.4 – 96.6 million, making it the most successful Summer sale of Contemporary Art in Europe. The sale had numerous high points throughout the evening, with records achieved for 11 different artists.

A Richard Prince “Nurse” and an Antony Gormley “Angel of the North” were among 10 works to set records for their makers at Sotheby’s contemporary-art auction in London, where a Francis Bacon portrait was the star attraction and Irish rock band U2 among the sellers.
Bacon’s status as the world’s most expensive postwar artist was bolstered last night by the sale of a painting of his lover George Dyer, which fetched a top price of 13.8 million pounds ($27.5 million) with fees.
Sotheby’s is testing demand after wealthy buyers from Russia and elsewhere shrugged off economic slowdown to pay record prices in New York in May. Yesterday’s auction made a total 94.7 million pounds with fees, the second highest for a contemporary-art sale in Europe, said Sotheby’s. Former tennis champion John McEnroe sold an Andy Warhol portrait and U2 sold a Jean-Michel Basquiat.
“People are more interested in quality than price”, London dealer Serge Tiroche said. “In the old days they used to look at a work’s size and period. Now they’re looking at aesthetics”.
Sotheby’s said 71 of the 75 lots found buyers. The sale had been estimated to make 67.4 million pounds to 96.6 million pounds. Its total missed the 95 million pounds made by Sotheby’s, London, in February. (Bloomberg)

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

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.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

As we all know, the Russian art market doesn’t play a secondary role in the international economic scene. In recent years, it has been proven that new Russian millionaires have become one of the most interesting targets within the new market. New buyers invest huge capital into contemporary artworks, but also for masterpieces bound to national history of art.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir