$127 Million Christie's Contemporary Art Sale Led by Basquiat; Bacon Tops Sotheby's Auction
- February 13, 2013 22:00
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)” led Christie's $127 million contemporary art sale in London last night, selling for 9.3 million pounds ($14.5 million).
Wealth is continually gravitating toward the top-level of the art market, sending prices surging for bankable names and iconic works. Such was the case with Basquiat's 1983 painting, heavy with text and large-scale, which sold to the Paris-based collector John Sayegh-Belchatowski in the room.
Another star of the sale was Gerhard Richter’s red, pink and green “Abstraktes Bild,” numbered “889-14,” the 2004 painting had a third-party guarantee and went for 8.4 million pounds.
The sale total of $127 million was the highest ever for the firm's February auction of contemporary art.
The night before Sotheby's sold $116.4 million in its contemporary art sale. The leading lot was Francis Bacon's 1980 "Three Studies for a Self-Portrait" which hammered down for $21.5 million to German collector Juergen Hall, a tobacco tycoon.
Also of note, Richter's abstract of 1992 went for $12.7 million and his 1976 "Cloud" sold for $11.8 million.
In all, 44 of 55 lots found buyers with spirited bidding for newer names as well as the mainstays.
10100x100_c.jpg "Published Egyptian New Kingdom (latter 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose IV to Amenhotep III) polychrome stone panel wall painting from tomb of Neb-Amun (TT90) in Thebes, circa 1401-1353 BCE. Panel size: 12in wide x 11.125in high. Custom stand included. First time at auction. Estimate $15,000-$22,500")
