Since I am in Chicago, I was only able to watch the sale online and while it did take a long time for some lots to sell, there appeared to be serious competition for a few of them. What this particular sale says about the health of the art market is up to the individual reviewing the sale (as you will see by the articles I have linked to below). My take … it is business as usual. The great works create competition, nice works need to be estimate correctly or they are going to have trouble, and the other stuff is not going to sell. The writer for The Art Newspaper asks: Is there room for material valued at under $5m in such a market? Really? There is plenty of room if the works are priced correctly. Remember, estimates are just that …. estimates … and many times they are not correct (in this sale about 19 of the 55 works hammered down within the estimate … or about 34.5%).
In addition, it was reported that the: three lots made up 54% of the evening’s total. The top lots were: Brancusi ($57.4M – est $25-$35M – an auction record), Picasso ($45M – est $35-50M) and Picasso ($30.5M – est $20-30M). The total for those works is $132.9M and the sale’s total was $289.2M (pre-sale estimate range was $207-307M). According to my math (which is never the best) that works out to 46% … not 54%. Also, according to my calculations, the top ten lots account for $205.6M or 71.1% of the sale’s total and the sell-through rate was 78% (55 works offered and 43 sold).
More action today, tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night, etc.
Source: Christie’s New York evening sale finds success with Brancusi and Picasso
Source: After Heavy Bidding, a Brancusi Head Sells for $57.4 Million at Christie’s – The New York Times
Source: Christie’s Sale Gets New York’s Spring Auctions Off to a Strong Start
Brancusi
“La muse endormie”