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Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening auction was led by Barnett Newman's Onement VI from 1953, which acheived $43.8 million.
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Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening auction totalled $294 million.
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Domplatz, Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan), Gerhard Richter's 1968 masterpiece, set a new artist record at $37.1 million, establishing the record for any living artist at auction.
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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.
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Jackson Pollock's The Blue Unconscious, painted in the critical year of 1946, sold for $20.9 million.
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Barnett Newman
Onement VI, 1953
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 43,845,000 USD -
Gerhard Richter
Domplatz, Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan), 1968
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 37,125,000 USD -
Yves Klein
Sculpture Éponge Bleue Sans Titre, SE 168, 1959
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 22,005,000 USD -
Clyfford Still
PH-21, 1962
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 20,885,000 USD -
Jackson Pollock
The Blue Unconscious, 1946
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 20,885,000 USD -
Cy Twombly
Untitled (Bolsena), 1969
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 15,397,000 USD -
Richard Diebenkorn
Ocean Park, #46, 1971
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 11,085,000 USD -
Jeff Koons
The New Jeff Koons, 1980
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 9,405,000 USD -
Andy Warhol
Camouflage Self-Portrait, 1986
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 6,997,000 USD -
Robert Ryman
Convention, 2002
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 6,885,000 USD -
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Julius Caesar on Gold), 1981
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 6,885,000 USD
Overview
OVERVIEW
Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction this May will present some of the most exciting examples of Post War and Contemporary Art to be seen at auction in recent years. It will be led by a selection of paintings of historic importance: Barnett Newman’s Onement VI, quite simply one of the most important archetypes of the Abstract Expressionist School; Gerhard Richter’s Domplatz, Mailand, a stunning landmark of the artist’s celebrated 1960s photopaintings; and Francis Bacon’s Study for Portrait of P.L., a portrayal of remarkable intensity and personal significance for the revered painter.
Further highlights include the most extraordinary sculpture by Yves Klein ever to be offered at auction, major works by Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still and Cy Twombly, and sublime examples by Richard Diebenkorn and Mark Rothko. More recent periods of Contemporary Art are surveyed by a group of highly important sculptures by Jeff Koons, alongside exemplary works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Donald Judd.
RESULTS
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.
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