Christie's Reels in a Staggering $495 Million for Contemporary Art
- May 15, 2013 22:51
Records price were smashed for 12 contemporary artists at Christie's on Wednesday night. Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat were among the record-setters in a postwar and contemporary art sale in New York that totaled $495 million, the highest sales figure at any art auction.
Pollock's drip-painting “No. 19, 1948” fetched the top price of the sale, a record $58.3 million with fees.
“Woman With Flowered Hat,” a 1963 painting by Pop artist Lichtenstein brought $56.1 million with fees, well above its $32 million high estimate. It reportedly went to jeweler Laurence Graff.
Basquiat’s seven-foot-tall canvas from 1982, "Dustheads," fell to a telephone bidder for $48.8 million with fees.
The salesroom was filled with a who's who of top collectors, from Los Angeles financier Eli Broad to J. Crew chairman Millard Drexler, many dropping more than $20 million on a single artwork.
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
100x100_c.jpg "Two Nayarit (Mexico) seated musician figures with instruments, reddish ceramic with pigments and manganese, 200 BCE to 200 CE. Sizes: Larger figure 15¼in x 8in, smaller figure 15in x 10in. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000")
