Sotheby's Contemporary Art Day
Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Day sale concluded a short time ago, the sale totaled $48,855,325 and was 80% sold by lot.
Scott Nussbaum, Sotheby’s Specialist in charge of the sale, said “Following last night’s success, we were delighted to see the second part of the Contemporary Art sales achieve a total of $48.8 million, well within the pre-sale estimate of $40/57 million. The market showed once again that quality works across all categories from Abstract Expressionism to Pop and sculpture are in great demand. The highlight of the sale was Composition III by Willem de Kooning from 1958 which soared over the pre-sale high estimate to sell for $986,500 (est. $600/800,000). Works from the Collection of the Late Kenneth Noland performed well with an Untitled David Smith sculpture from 1949 doubling the low estimate to fetch $746,500 (est. $300/400,000). In addition, there were strong prices for works by Stella, Hockney, Rauschenberg and Warhol, as well as for more recent contemporary art such asLisa Yuskavage whose painting Grooming from 2003 sold for $722,500 – well above the high estimate (est. $400/600,000). Online bidders competed throughout the auction and the sale was 80% sold by lot.”
