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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Highest Auction Total In Sotheby’s History

Tonight’s auction of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s totaled $375,149,000, the best auction result in any category in the Company’s history (est. $277/374 million). The sale was 84% sold-by-lot and was led by Mark Rothko’s No.1 (Royal Red and Blue), which sold for $75,122,500 (est. $35/50 million). Artist records were set for Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Hans Hofmann, Arshile Gorky, Robert Motherwell, and Wade Guyton, as well as for a work-on-paper by Andy Warhol and a painting by Takashi Murakami.



“This has been an extraordinary year for Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s,” commented Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s. “Tonight’s record results bring our 2012 total to well over $1 billion, and we still have tomorrow’s Day auction, as well as our upcoming sale in Paris. The Rothko was the undisputed highlight of the evening, surpassing the Rockefeller Rothko to become the second highest price ever achieved for the artist at auction. The wonderful consignment from the Collection of Sidney and Dorothy Kohl brought more than $100 million, led by the Jackson Pollock, which sold for $40.4 million, well above expectations. If you are looking for evidence that today’s market is alive and well, look no further.” 



Alexander Rotter, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department in New York, noted: “We were thrilled to achieve great results on behalf of our consignors tonight, in an auction that showed just how vibrant the market is. We were especially encouraged by the strong depth of bidding from around the world on works like the Rothko, Bacon and many more. In addition to the great prices achieved for paintings by the Abstract Expressionists, Warhol was the other star of the night. His works together achieved $54 million, well over their $35 million low estimate, and included the incredibly important Suicide that brought a price nearly three times the previous auction record for a work on paper by the artist.”







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