And the hits just keep on coming. Last night Christie’s offered a large selection of Postwar and Contemporary works of art and the results were super hot. Of the 82 lots, 72 sold (88%) and the total take was $658.5M. When you add that to their earlier evening sale, they are already at $1.36 billion and we still have their evening sale of Impressionist and Modern works of art and the day sales.
Among the biggest sellers last night were a Rothko for $81.9M, Warhol and Freud works at $56.2M each, a Francis Bacon hit $47.8M, Twombly made $42.7M and a Basquiat brought $37M. In fact, each of the top ten works sold for more than $15M … an amazing statistic. It should be noted that more than half of the 82 lots offered had guarantees — 49 in all. So how much the auction room actually earned is a mystery since some of those works did not sell.
With the reported 170,000 + ultra-high-net-worth people in the world, art is now a serious alternative investment. The question on everyone’s mind now is: how high can it go? Guess only time will tell.
To read Scott Reyburn’s full report, click HERE.
Andy Warhol “Colored Mona Lisa”