This sale shows that it all comes down to the right works of art and realistic estimates. While Sotheby's sale of Impressionist works had a mixed offering and the results were very patchy, last night's sale offered pretty interesting works and the results were very strong. Of the 44 works offered, 95% sold and the total take was $242.2M (low end of the estimate range was $201.4M).
Among the star lots were a Twombly blackboard painting at $36.7M (they were expecting about $40M ... but can you really cry over $36.7M?); Francis Bacon's Two Studies for a Self Portrait made $35M (low end of the estimate was $22M) and Adrian Ghenie's 2012 painting Self-Portrait as Vincent van Gogh made $2.6M (low end of the estimate range was $200K -- that was one happy seller).
Tonight we have another Impressionist evening sale ... so more news is on the way. To read a few of the articles about last night's sale, use these links:
Scott Reyburn & Robin Pogrebin
Cy Twombly