S otheby’s Contemporary Art auctions on 14 November got off to a smashing start with the 11 works from the Collection of David Teiger being 100% sold, bringing sales of the Teiger collection to more than $100 million to date, with more auctions to come. Thrilling moments and records continued throughout the evening, with bidding battles resulting in records for many esteemed African-American artists. Below, discover the auction's top ten lots and relive the night’s most memorable moments.
Watch nine bidders compete for Dana Schutz's Her Arms from the collection of David Teiger:
David Teiger’s Collection is 100% Sold
Totaling $48.5 million, the 11 lots comprising the collection of art-world luminary David Teiger resulted in a white-glove sale. Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park #39 was among the auction’s most sought-after works, and nine bidders drove Dana Schutz’s larger-than-life portrait of Sonic Youth’s front woman to $795,000, a new auction record for the artist. Last month Propped, a work by Jenny Saville from David Teiger's collection, established a new record for the artist, and more works from Teiger's extraordinary collection are still to come in the Contemporary Art Day auction on 15 November.
Gerhard Richter's Monumental Panels Soar
Featuring two vibrant panels affixed to one another, Gerhard Richter’s 1987 Abstraktes Bild is a stunning archetype of the artist’s best known series. One of only five works by the artist, measuring over 102 by 157 inches, in private hands, this painting fetched $32 million, becoming the evening’s most valuable lot. Sotheby's now holds the top five auction prices for Richter.
Relive the nine-minute, record-setting bidding battle for Jacob Lawrence's The Businessman:
Jacob Lawrence's Painting Triples High Estimate
Last spring Sotheby’s saw tremendous records set for Kerry James Marshall, as well as artists of African descent in our philanthropic collaboration with The Studio Museum of Harlem. The momentum continued with several new auction records and exhilarating bidding battles. In a bidding war lasting over nine minutes between Sotheby’s Valentino Carlotti, Kayla Carlsen and Amy Cappellazzo, Carlotti secured the winning bid for Jacob Lawrence’s The Businessmen, which was commissioned by Fortune magazine in 1947. At $6.2 million, Lawrence’s painting more than doubled his previous auction record.
Also setting a new artist record was Henry Taylor’s expressive canvas I’ll Put a Spell on You, which sold for $975,000, and Jack Whitten’s Ancient Mentor I, a meditation on the cultural shift from the industrial age to the information age. In his first appearance in an Evening sale, Whitten achieved $2.2 million.
Witness a collaborative painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol go under the hammer:
Continued Success for Jean-Michel Basquiat
Six works by Jean-Michel Basquiat resulted in $50.2 million, with the highlight being a four-way bidding battle for the artist’s collaborative work with Andy Warhol, Taxi, 45th/ Broadway. Formerly in the collection of Gianni Versace, the painting flew past its high estimate, selling for $9.4 million. The top Basquiat of the evening was Untitled (Pollo Frito). From the artist's breakthrough year of 1982, the work sold for $25.7 million.
Minimalist Works from the Collection of Judith Neisser Bring $14 Million
Judith Neisser's distinguished collection is widely acclaimed for its special emphasis on Minimalist and Conceptual art. The four works sold in the Contemporary Art Evening auction – a Cy Twombly, Lucio Fontana, Robert Ryman and Donald Judd – totaled $14.2 million. Sotheby's Contemporary Art Day auction features more works from Neisser's collection, including pieces by Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, Brice Marden and more.
Sales continue tomorrow with Contemporary Art Day in New York beginning at 10am.
