Strong Prices For 70 Years Of Contemporary Art At Sotheby's

7/30/2019 Strong Prices For 70 Years Of Contemporary Art At Sotheby's

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For Immediate ReleasePress Release New York

New York | +1 212 606 7176 | Lauren Gioia | [email protected] |

Dan Abernethy | [email protected] |

STRONG PRICES FOR 70 YEARS OFCONTEMPORARY ART AT SOTHEBY’S

$294 Million Sale Sees Works from the 1940s to TodayExceed Their High Estimates

Records Set for Barnett Newman, Gerhard Richter, (Also the Record for AnyLiving Artist), Nate Lowman, Dan Colen, and a Sculpture by Yves Klein

Works Sold to Benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s BuildingProject Bring Nearly $12 Million, Double Their High Estimate and with

Further Works to be Offered Tomorrow Afternoon



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NEW YORK, 14 May 2013: Tonight at Sotheby’s the Contemporary Art Evening sale totaled $293,587,000,

and was 82.8% sold-by-lot. There were exceptional prices for works from every decade from the 1940s

through today with records set for Barnett Newman and Gerhard Richter, among others. The price achieved

for Richter’s masterwork also established a new benchmark for any living artist at auction. The global nature of

today’s art market was yet again underlined with collectors from 35 countries registering to bid in the sale, 20%of whom were new to either Sotheby’s or the category.

Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, said: “This evening we are very pleased

to have achieved three landmark prices for masterpieces by key post-war artists. Barnett Newman’s Onement

VI established a world record for the artist at auction and doubled the world record price achieved just one

year ago. Gerhard Richter’s Domplatz, Mailand set a record for a living artist at a price which was a triumph

for a photo-painting by the artist, and Yves Klein’s exquisite sculpture set a medium record for the artist.”

Alexander Rotter, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department in New York, noted: “Tonight we

offered important works spanning 70 years, and witnessed strong demand across that impressive range – from

early works by Pollock and Calder from the 1940s to works by Currin and Colen made just last year. We are

delighted with the results achieved for the works sold to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s new

building project, which nearly doubled the high estimate to realize a total of $11.8 million, with 17 more works

to be offered tomorrow.”

The sale was led by Barnett Newman’s Onement VI, which sold for $43,845,000 after competition among

five bidders – that price eclipses Newman’s previous auction record by a margin of more than $20 million.

The monumental 1953 painting is the most important work by the artist ever to appear at auction and stands

as a masterwork not only of Newman’s artistic enterprise, but of the entire Abstract Expressionist movement.

Domplatz, Mailand by Gerhard Richter sold for $37,125,000 - a record both for Richter at auction and for

any living artist at auction. The work stands as the epitome of the artist’s celebrated 1960s photo-painting

canon and is a masterpiece of 20th century art. The price for the monumental canvas achieved this evening is

more than 10 times the then-record price it commanded at Sotheby’s London 15 years ago.

The auction also featured a series of works to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building

project. All eight works offered this evening sold, bringing a total of $11,806,000, nearly double the high



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estimate of $6.6 million. The group was led by John Currin’s Lydian, which sold for $2,965,000

($500/700,000) and Jasper John’s Untitled which sold for $2,853,000 (est. $1.5/2m). Seventeen additional

works will be offered in tomorrow’s Day sale.

Other highlights of the sale included The Blue Unconscious by Jackson Pollock, painted in the critical yearof 1946, which fetched $20,885,000; the monumental Sculpture éponge bleue sans titre, SE 168 by Yves

Klein, which set a new record for a sculpture by the artist when it sold for $22,005,000; Richard Diebenkorn’s

Ocean Park No. 46 from 1971, which fetched $11,085,000 (est. $6/8 million); and Cy Twombly’s Untitled

(Bolsena) from 1969, which made $15,397,000 – the second highest price for the artist at auction (est. $10/15

million).

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FOR MORE NEWS FROM SOTHEBY’SVisit: www.sothebys.com/en/inside/services/press/news/news.html Follow: www.twitter.com/sothebys & www.weibo.com/sothebyshongkong Join: www.facebook.com/sothebys Watch: www.youtube.com/sothebys

Sotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from Londonto New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today,Sotheby’s presents auctions in eight different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby’s BidNow program allows visitors to viewall auctions live online and place bids in real-time from anywhere in the world. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’sonly full-service art financing company, as well as private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby’s Contemporary Artdepartment, as well as Sotheby’s Diamonds and Sotheby’s Wine. Sotheby’s has a global network of 90 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on theNew York Stock Exchange (BID).

*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium.

Images are available upon requestAll catalogues are available online at www.sothebys.com or through Sotheby’s Catalogue iPad App.



(212) 606 7000 F (212) 606 7107 WWW.SOTHEBYS.COM

Sale Results New York

Sale N08991 Contemporary Art Evening Auction 14 MAY 13Grand Total: $293,587,000 (£191,686,472) (€225,997,829) Exch Rate: 0.65Sold by Lot: 82.8% Lots Offered: 64Sold by Value: 82.4% Lots Sold/Unsold: 53 / 11

Lot Price Estimate Buyer 17 $43,845,000 (£28,626,926) (€33,751,068) $30,000,000 - 40,000,000 Private European CollectorBarnett Newman, Onement VI, oil on canvas, 1953***RECORD FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION***

20 $37,125,000 (£24,239,358) (€28,578,137) $30,000,000 - 40,000,000 Private American CollectorGerhard Richter, Domplatz, Mailand [Cathedral Square, Milan], oil on canvas, 1968***RECORD FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION***

12 $22,005,000 (£14,367,328) (€16,939,041) Estimate Upon Request AnonymousYves Klein, Sculpture éponge bleue sans titre, SE 168, pigment in synthetic resin onsponge, metal stem and stone base, 1959***RECORD FOR A SCULPTURE BY THE ARTIST AT AUCTION***

25 $20,885,000 (£13,636,067) (€16,076,886) $16,000,000 - 20,000,000 Private European CollectorClyfford Still, PH-21, oil on canvas, 1962

27 $20,885,000 (£13,636,067) (€16,076,886) $20,000,000 - 30,000,000 American TradeJackson Pollock, The Blue Unconscious, oil on canvas, 1946

13 $15,397,000 (£10,052,886) (€11,852,325) $10,000,000 - 15,000,000 AnonymousCy Twombly, Untitled (Bolsena), oil based house paint, lead pencil, wax crayon on canvas,1969

16 $11,085,000 (£7,237,529) (€8,533,027) $6,000,000 - 8,000,000 Private American CollectorRichard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park, #46, oil on canvas, 1971

9 $9,405,000 (£6,140,637) (€7,239,795) $2,500,000 - 3,500,000 AnonymousJeff Koons, The New Jeff Koons, Duratran, flourescent light box, 1980

34 $6,997,000 (£4,568,425) (€5,386,161) $7,000,000 - 9,000,000 American TradeAndy Warhol, Self-Portrait (Camouflage), acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 1986

11 $6,885,000 (£4,495,299) (€5,299,945) $3,500,000 - 4,500,000 Private American CollectorRobert Ryman, Convention , oil on linen, 2002

33 $6,885,000 (£4,495,299) (€5,299,945) $7,000,000 - 9,000,000 Private European CollectorJean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Julius Caesar on Gold), gold paint, acrylic and oilstickon canvas, 1981

Specialist in Charge: Alex Rotter Press Office Contact: Dan Abernethy (212) 606 7176



Please note all prices include buyer's premium. Sale session totals are net aggregate figures plus premiums. **Estimates do not include buyer's premium**

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Strong Prices For 70 Years Of Contemporary Art At Sotheby's