Overview
Total: Today's auction of Prints & Multiples achieved £3,170,250 / $3,662,273, firmly within the pre-sale estimate (£2,873,700 – 4,093,800).
Statistics on Bidders & Buyers: Participants hailed from 39 countries, with buyers situated across the UK, Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania.
Online Buyers: 40% of buyers placed their winning bids online, an increase of 30% from the equivalent sale in 2019.
Edvard Munch Resonates
The top lot of today’s auction was a rare and moving motif by preeminent Norwegian printmaker, Edvard Munch. The 1897 impression of Towards the Forest I achieved an above-estimate £375,000 (Lot 96, est. £200,000-300,000).
Later in the sale, Melancholy III sold for £250,000 (Lot 98, est. £200,000-300,000); The Girls on the Bridge sold for £237,500 (Lot 97, est. £180,000-230,000); The Brooch. Eva Mudocci sold for £50,000 (Lot 101, est. £40,000-60,000); and Omega’s Flight sold for £8,750 (Lot 102, est. 7,000-9,000)
A Penchant for Pop
This season’s sale was underscored by a special segment of artworks devoted to the King of Pop, Andy Warhol, and his innovative Pop Art peers Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Richard Hamilton and Tom Wesselmann.
25 lots by Andy Warhol hit the block, and a rare complete set of four prints of Ludwig van Beethoven stole the show at £275,000, in the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth (Lot 188, est. £200,000-300,000).
Six works by Pop pioneer Roy Lichtenstein found a new home, including I Love Liberty which achieved £52,500 (Lot 157, (est. £30,000-50,000).
A bright and bold screenprint in colours led a trio of works by Keith Haring, selling for £187,500 (Lot 189, est. £150,000-200,000).
Old Master Prints
This morning’s Old Master Prints segment was led by an engraving of the utmost rarity by 15th century German printmaker, Master E.S. - a goldsmith who was the first graphic artist to sign his engravings with a monogram. The Visitation (lot 13, est. £15,000-25,000) sold for £43,750.
CONTACT INFO
London | Abigail Tavener | Abigail.Tavener@Sothebys.com | Alicia Stockley | Alicia.Stockley@Sothebys.com | +44 (0)20 7293 6000
About Sotheby’s
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 London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby’s has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as Advisory services for collectors, museums, corporations, artists, estates and foundations. Sotheby’s presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including three retail businesses: Sotheby’s Wine, Sotheby’s Diamonds, and Sotheby’s Home, the online marketplace for interior design.
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* Estimates do not include buyer's premium or overhead premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium and overhead premium and are net of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.
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