Results: Contemporary Art at Sotheby's

Jennifer Roth, Director of Fine Arts, commented, “We were very pleased with the result of today’s sale, which was comfortably within the presale estimate of $4.8/6.9 million.  It was exciting to see a mix of buyers that was almost evenly split between private collectors and trade.  Dealers were hungry for fresh property and willing to compete, signaling the positive momentum in the commercial art world.

The cover lot, Andy Warhol’s Self Defense, performed particularly well, doubling the low estimate of $250,000 to bring the sale’s top price of $506,500 (lot 42).  Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Still #63 also more than doubled the low estimate to bring the third highest price of the sale, $218,500 (lot 89, $80/120,000).  Several bidders locked in a heated battled for Robert Motherwell’s Open #94, which was the most admired work in the presale exhibition, and totaled $224,500 (lot 32, est. $100/150,000).   Many of the top lots doubled their estimates, including Tom Wesselmann’s Smoker Sculpture, and in fact almost 50% (49.6%) of the lots sold were sold above their high estimates. 

Geometric Abstractionist works continued a positive trend that we have seen in recent seasons, with a strong price of $86,500 achieved for Richard Anuszkiewicz’s Incardine (lot 230, est. $30/40,000). A modestly sized but intensely colored Gene Davis also soared past its estimate to bring $68,500 (lot 228, est. $25/35,000). 

A beautiful, classic image by minimalist Robert Mangold titled Orange/Black Zone Drawing also more than doubled its estimate, reaching $74,500 (lot 246, est. $25/35,000). 

The largest incremental multiple of the low estimate was surely achieved by Kohei Nawa, a young Japanese artist whose PixCell Bambi, executed in 2005, was chased by collectors all over the world and totaled $50,000 (lot 273, est. $5/7,000). We had been fielding calls about it all week.”

Sale Results New York

Sale N08617 Contemporary Art 09 MAR 10 Grand Total (Including Buyer's Premium): $5,847,380 (£3,899,553) Exch Rate: 0.67 Sold by Lot: 67.9% Lots Offered: 333 Sold by Value: 81.5% Lots Sold/Unsold: 226 / 107

Lot  Price (USD) Estimate (USD) Buyer 42 $506,500 (£337,779) $250,000 - 350,000 US Private Andy Warhol, Self Defense, 1985-86 32 $224,500 (£149,717) $100,000 - 150,000 US Trade Robert Motherwell, Open # 94, 1969 89 $218,500 (£145,715) $80,000 - 120,000 European Private Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #63, 1980 33 $110,500 (£73,691) $80,000 - 120,000 US Trade Ed Ruscha, Rusty Silencers, 1979 250 $104,500 (£69,690) $40,000 - 60,000 European Trade Peter Halley, White Cell with Conduit, 1987 51 $98,500 (£65,689) $30,000 - 40,000 European Trade Tom Wesselmann, Smoker Sculpture Edition, 1981 230 $86,500 (£57,686) $30,000 - 40,000 US Private Richard Anuszkiewicz, Incarnadine, 1970 35 $86,500 (£57,686) $80,000 - 120,000 US Private Allan D'Arcangelo, Overpass, 1964-5 34 $74,500 (£49,683) $70,000 - 90,000 European Private John Chamberlain, Untitled, 1985 286 $74,500 (£49,683) $50,000 - 70,000 US Private Donald Baechler, Plants, 2006 246 $74,500 (£49,683) $25,000 - 35,000 European Buyer Robert Mangold, Orange/Black Zone Drawing, 1997 259 $74,500 (£49,683) $60,000 - 80,000 US Trade Salvatore Scarpitta, American Rosetta, 1991

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