20 мая 2013 10:00

NY auction houses toast staggering billion dollar week

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Two of New York's leading auction houses combined for the art world's richest sales week ever, with works going under the hammer for a breathtaking total of more than one billion dollars, AFP reports. Christie's reaped in more than $638 million dollars at its blockbuster contemporary art auction on Wednesday. Its staggering haul included a record $58.4 million for a Jackson Pollock drip painting, which shattered all previous records for the highest price for any work at an art auction. "We are thrilled to announce an unprecedented overall total of $638.6 million for this week's Post-War and Contemporary Art sale series," said Brett Gorvy, an official at Christie's. Sotheby's, meanwhile, had stellar overall sales of $377.4 million, including the sale of the work "Domplatz, Mailand" (Cathedral Square, Milan) by German painter Gerhard Richter for $37.1 million -- a record for a living artist. The other sensation for Sotheby's was a work by US painter Barnet Newman, one of the leading figures of abstract expressionism, whose "Onement VI" fetched $43.84 million -- the most ever for one of his paintings. Gorvy said the record prices "reflect a new era in the art market, wherein seasoned collectors and new bidders compete at the highest level within a global market." Pollock's "Number 19, 1948," executed in his iconic drip-paint style with a shimmering mixture of silver, black, white, red and green, had been expected to sell for between $25 million and $35 million. But it shot up to set a new auction high for the artist. The previous top auction price for a Pollock had been $40.4 million last year, although his paintings are said to have sold for far more in unconfirmed private deals. Meanwhile one-time graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat also set a record, sailing past Christie's $25 million to $35 million pre-sale estimate to $48.8 million. It was the highest auction price ever for the young artist, who died in 1988 of a heroin overdose in New York, aged just 27.


Two of New York's leading auction houses combined for the art world's richest sales week ever, with works going under the hammer for a breathtaking total of more than one billion dollars, AFP reports. Christie's reaped in more than $638 million dollars at its blockbuster contemporary art auction on Wednesday. Its staggering haul included a record $58.4 million for a Jackson Pollock drip painting, which shattered all previous records for the highest price for any work at an art auction. "We are thrilled to announce an unprecedented overall total of $638.6 million for this week's Post-War and Contemporary Art sale series," said Brett Gorvy, an official at Christie's. Sotheby's, meanwhile, had stellar overall sales of $377.4 million, including the sale of the work "Domplatz, Mailand" (Cathedral Square, Milan) by German painter Gerhard Richter for $37.1 million -- a record for a living artist. The other sensation for Sotheby's was a work by US painter Barnet Newman, one of the leading figures of abstract expressionism, whose "Onement VI" fetched $43.84 million -- the most ever for one of his paintings. Gorvy said the record prices "reflect a new era in the art market, wherein seasoned collectors and new bidders compete at the highest level within a global market." Pollock's "Number 19, 1948," executed in his iconic drip-paint style with a shimmering mixture of silver, black, white, red and green, had been expected to sell for between $25 million and $35 million. But it shot up to set a new auction high for the artist. The previous top auction price for a Pollock had been $40.4 million last year, although his paintings are said to have sold for far more in unconfirmed private deals. Meanwhile one-time graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat also set a record, sailing past Christie's $25 million to $35 million pre-sale estimate to $48.8 million. It was the highest auction price ever for the young artist, who died in 1988 of a heroin overdose in New York, aged just 27.
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