THE $105 MILLION WARHOL Silver Car Crash Smashes Artist Auction Record In Highest-Grossing Sale In Sotheby’s History
“The night truly belonged to Andy Warhol,” commented Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head
of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s and the evening’s auctioneer. “Silver Car Crash is
the most important work of Contemporary art we have ever had the privilege to offer,
and its exceptional result is a testament to that fact. With access to more information
than ever, the sophistication of our clients from every corner of the globe impresses
me with every sale.”
CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING SALE
SALE TOTAL: $380,642,000
89% Sold by lot
- The top lot of tonight’s sale was Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) by Andy Warhol, which sold for
$105,445,000 (est. in excess of $60 million).
o New world auction record for Warhol.
o 2nd highest price ever paid at auction for Contemporary Art.
o At over 8 ft. by 13 ft., the monumental painting is one of only four Car Crash works of this scale in
the pivotal Death and Disaster series and the only one remaining in private hands.
o One of several Warhol’s in the sale, other strong prices included Liz #1 (Early Colored Liz) that
fetched $20,325,000, and Flowers (Five Foot Flowers) that sold for $11,365,000.
- Tonight’s auction saw an outstanding sell through rate of 89% marking the 11thconsecutive Evening Sale
of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s New York with a sell-through rate over 80%.
o 87% of sold works brought prices at or above their estimates.
- Global participation throughout the sale process:
o Works consigned from 10 countries on four continents sought-after by participants from 39 countries.
o 64% of participants came from outside the US, with significant activity from Asia and Latin America.
o Record number of participants in a Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening sale.
- Seven artist records set for: Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Agnes Martin, Martin Kippenberger,
Brice Marden, Bruce High Quality Foundation, and Mark Bradford.
- Property from Dia Art Foundation sold to establish a fund for acquisitions totals $38.4 million (est.
$19.1/25.6 million).
o Led by Poems to the Sea, which sold for $21,669,000 (est. $6/8 million) setting a new record for a
work by Cy Twombly at auction.
o Candy Andy sought-after by five bidders, led the group of works by John Chamberlain, selling for
$4,645,000 (est. $2/3 million).
- A good night for living artists:
o Gerhard Richter’s A.B. Courbet from 1986 sold for $26,485,000 (est. $15/20 million) - the third
highest price for a work by Richter at auction
o Mark Bradford’s Mithra sells for $2,629,000 (est. $600/800,000), setting a record for the artist at auction.
o Bruce High Quality Foundation makes debut in an evening sale at Sotheby’s withHooverville selling
for $425,000 to set new artist record (est. $200/300,000).
- Tonight’s results follow the sale of 'The Pink Star' just five hours earlier in Geneva today. The greatest
diamond ever to come to the market, it sold for a staggering $83.2 million taking its place as the most
valuable diamond or jewel ever sold at auction. The diamond was the star lot in Sotheby's $200m
Geneva auction - the highest grossing jewellery sale ever held.
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