Opportunities for rich and somewhat thrifty collectors

new York The motif should be known to almost everyone, it adorns countless posters in student shacks. René Magritte’s “L’Empire des Lumières” from 1951, painted in seventeen variants, is one of the artist’s world-famous motifs alongside the bowler hat. It went under the hammer on Tuesday night as the highlight of Mo Ostin, legendary California executive of Warner Bros. Records.

But auctioneer Oliver Barker struggled for ten minutes to get the $24 million bid below the $35 million minimum expectation. Only after what felt like a very long ten minutes did the hammer finally fall at $36.5 million, including premium, that’s $42.3 million. After all, it is the second highest auction price for Magritte. But bidders are clearly reluctant to part with their money in this round of New York evening auctions.

In the evening, Sotheby’s offered the first 15 works from Ostin’s market-fresh collection. It should bring in at least $ 120 million with 30 works. Ostin, who died in July 2022 at the age of 95, had nurtured countless music legends including Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Paul Simon, Prince and The Beach Boys. In the 1970s, he began collecting art of consistent quality.

Ostin had bought the two jewels in his collection, “L’Empire des Lumières” and Magritte’s “Le Domaine de Arnheim”, from the Californian producer and major collector David Geffen. At least 18.9 million dollars were realized here at the lower end of the expectation. The evening grossed a total of $123.7 million.

Bidders only grabbed important, market-fresh works and very special items. As Alex Rotter, Christie’s Head of Division 20/21, stated on May 11: “We are confronted with a more difficult market situation, both economically, politically, in every respect”. The low interest rates that have long fueled the market are now at their highest levels in 16 years.

Gustav Klimt “Island in the Attersee”

Klimt’s unusual atmospheric water study was sold to a Japanese collection for $53.2 million including buyer’s premium.

(Photo: Sotheby’s; dpa)

In Sotheby’s subsequent Modern Evening auction, 23 out of 40 lots sold did not even reach the lower estimate. But this is always a chance for collectors to buy something cheaper.

The other is in after sales. The eight unsold works, including works by Georgia O’Keeffe and René Magritte, were perhaps a little less distinctive. They are now being offered at a slightly lower price, which the auction house mediates between the consignor and the price-conscious prospective buyer.

But Sotheby’s workhorse, Gustav Klimt’s unusual atmospheric water study “Island in the Attersee” was a success.

Kept in a New York collection since 1978, the painting was sold to a Japanese collection for $53.2 million gross, just over the unreleased $45 million net. In general, collectors from Asia were very active and were responsible for over a third of the income.

>> Read here: Art collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo: It all started with pill boxes

Her acquisitions include Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Henri Matisse and Edvard Munch. There was also a new top price for Vilhelm Hammershøi’s interior, a study of the music room in his apartment at Strandgade 30 from 1907, which already had a record estimate of at least 3 million dollars. Before an American museum snapped it up at $9.1 million gross, a Japanese bidder briefly expressed interest.

Isamu Noguchi’s sculpture trio “The Family” was a surprise hit at $12.3 million. Here, the numerous new private sculpture parks are fueling interest in large sculptures. The prominent architect Gordon Bunshaft commissioned Noguchi in 1956 for the garden of an office complex in Connecticut. Now Sotheby’s Chairwoman in Mexico City, Lulu Creel, grabbed it for her client. Overall, it grossed $427 million, the third-highest total for a single night in Sotheby’s history.

Henri Rousseau “Les Flamants”

Equipped with a complete provenance, the painting, created in 1910, encouraged four bidders to argue for a long time about the work. It reached $43.5 million plus premium.

(Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2023)

Christie’s 20th Century Evening also had a market rarity on May 11th. The naïve painter Henri Rousseau, known as the “customs officer”, was represented here with “Les Flamants” from 1910 and was able to score points with complete provenance in a market shaken by forgeries. Four bidders argued for a long time up to 43.5 million dollars gross for the work. The underbidder was the New York private dealer Philippe Ségalot.

After last November’s sensational success for the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, his name has apparently lost none of its magic. Seven other pictures from his collection were promoted with undiminished intensity and added another 88.9 million dollars for charitable purposes.

Yield with Jean Michel Basquiat

Christie’s “21st Century” auction on Monday evening brought together only 28 lots given the prevailing uncertainty in the market. But the house was able to score with Jean Michel Basquiat’s three-part large format “El Gran Espectáculo (The Nile)” from 1983. At $67.1 million gross, it provided two-thirds of the $98.8 million evening revenue for the young artist.

Gallery owner Larry Gagosian was among the three interested parties in the hall. He bid very discreetly through an employee. In it, Basquiat shows the connections between Africa and the African diaspora. Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani bought the landscape format at Sotheby’s in November 2005 for what was then a very high 5.2 million dollars and hung it up in his New York apartment. What a return.

More: Auction of the Si Newhouse Collection: collectors react more sensitively to prices that are too high

source site-13