On 5 March, Christie’s unique 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale and The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale realised a combined total of £130,251,700, selling 94% by lot and 97% by value. 43% of lots were sold above their pre-sale high estimates. The sales saw strong international buyer participation: together, the two auctions attracted 230 registered bidders from 27 countries with 53% from EMEA, 34% from the Americas and 13% from APAC.
The 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale achieved a total of £82,180,500, selling 94% by lot and 96% by value. The results reflected strong demand for a well-estimated sale with 72% of the works offered at auction for the first time. 37% of works sold above the high estimate. The auction witnessed an incredibly strong performance by Michael Andrews’ School IV: Barracuda under Skipjack Tuna, which sold for £6,060,000, setting a new world auction record for the artist. Other top performing lots included Tamara de Lempicka’s Portrait du Docteur Boucard, realising £6,635,000, the restituted work on paper by Egon Schiele, Knabe in Matrosenanzug (Boy in a Sailor Suit) which sold after several minutes for £3,307,000 and Francis Bacon’s Portrait of Man with Glasses III at £6,635,000.
The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale achieved £48,071,200 over £9 million above the high estimate, selling 96% by lot and 98% by value. The sale was led by the much-admired La reconnaissance infinie by René Magritte which achieved £10,315,000, the highest price of the auction season. A group of three rare works by Paul Delvaux from the same private collection all sold well above the high estimate, with La ville endormie selling after eight minutes of competitive bidding for £6,175,000 (80% of the pre-sale low estimate) — the third highest auction price for the artist. Les belles de nuit sold for £4,396,000 against the pre-sale estimate of £500,000–1,000,000 and Nuit de Noël made £2,339,000. Two works by Jean Arp were also among the sale highlights, with Amphore infinie realising £3,428,000, a new world auction record for a painted relief by the artist, while white marble sculpture Étoile sold for £3,065,000. Max Ernst’s Coloradeau de Méduse sold for £3,065,000 against an estimate of £700,000–1,000,000, followed by sodaliten schneeberger drückethäler (l’énigme de l’Europe Centrale or always the best man wins) which sold for double the high estimate for £781,200.
The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale totalled £14,847,966 (116% of the low estimate), selling 92% by lot. Christie’s is proud to have raised £1,255,342 in the Day and Online Sales to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity). The funds will help build a world-leading Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH. 31 works by 30 artists were successfully sold as part of the BUILD IT, BEAT IT charitable arts initiative.
The Impressionist and Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale achieved a total of £10,192,140. The top lot of the sale was Alfred Sisley’s Le quai à sable, environs de Port-Marly, realising £756,000. Other notable highlights included Henri Matisse’s Homme assis, which sold for over double its pre-sale high estimate for £730,800, Marc Chagall’s Femme à l’âne vert ou Tête de vache verte, achieving £567,000, and Paul Gauguin’s Cheval et vache dans un pré, selling for £441,000.
The Post-War and Contemporary Art Online auction concluded on 12 March, totalling £1,398,600. Strong performance achieved for Tadao Ando’s Blue Rose in the Cub Study 1, selling for £88,200; several David Hockney works on paper for Igor Stravinsky’s opera The Nightingale, including Courtiers on the stage, Drawing for Le Rossignol (£56,700), Study for Real and Mechanical Nightingale, Drawing for Le Rossignol (£52,920) and Study for the stage, Drawing for Le Rossignol (£44,100); and Banksy’s Any Person Found, realising £56,700.
On 19 March, Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale achieved a total of £11,312,620, with sell-through rates of 96% by lot and 98% by value. 96% of lots sold within or above the high estimate. Frank Auerbach’s Nude on Bed III led the sale, selling for £1,492,000, followed by Lynn Chadwick’s Sitting Couple on Bench, which realised £1,371,000. Sir William Nicholson’s The Lustre Bowl ignited enthusiastic competition among bidders, achieving £1,189,500 against a low estimate of £120,000, the second highest price achieved at auction for the artist. In addition to Lynn Chadwick, the demand for British sculpture was evidenced in the results achieved by Six Foot Leaping Hare on Steel Pyramid by Barry Flanagan, which sold for £693,000, and Dame Barbara Hepworth’s Maquette (Variation on a Theme), fetching £277,200 against an estimate of £120,000–180,000. Works by Irish artists performed well: Roderic O’Conor’s Paysage, Pont Aven sold for £378,000, while Sir John Lavery’s The Hall, Argyll House - A Summer Day realised £157,500.
The Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale concluded our sale series on 20 March with a total of £3,282,678. The top lot of the auction was Edward Burra’s View at Florence, which sold for £352,800 against a pre-sale estimate of £50,000–80,000. Other notable highlights included Samuel John Peploe’s Roses and Fruit, realising £176,400, Euan Uglow’s An Arc from the Eye, achieving £163,800, and Ben Nicholson’s 1955-56 (umber + light red), selling for £157,500.
