Fall Auctions
“Dancer in Repose’’ (1879) by Edgar Degas
Henry and Marie-Josée Kravis bought this painting at Sotheby’s in London in 1999 for $27.9 million. This year they were given a guaranteed price that experts say is over $40 million by Sotheby’s.
“Beggar’s Joys” (1954-55) by Philip Guston
Minimizing risk is the message of the moment. While Sotheby’s has said that it has provided only half the number of guarantees it did a year ago, the company still has outstanding guarantees of $285.5 million. And guarantees are still given for desirable art, such as the Philip Guston pictured at left.
Prices have soared since 1996 when Donald L. Bryant paid $1.7 million for the painting at Christie’s in New York, then a record price for the artist. Now Sotheby’s has lined the inside of its sale catalog with the image and experts there say that the seminal painting could well bring around $15 million, which is about what Mr. Bryant has received as a guarantee.
ARTIST: Jean-Michel Basquiat
TITLE: “Untitled (Boxer)” (1982)
AUCTION HOUSE: Christie’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $12 million to $16 million
Lars Ulrich, a songwriter and the drummer for the heavy-metal band Metallica, is selling “Untitled (Boxer)” on Nov. 12. The depiction of the victorious black boxer is said to be autobiographical. Basquiat, who died of a drug overdose in 1988 when he was just 27, frequented the Brooklyn Museum growing up. He once said of the art he saw, “I realized that I didn’t see many paintings with black people in them,” adding, “The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings.”
The painting was one of the centerpieces of the 2005 Basquiat retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum. Christie’s expects it to sell for $12 million to $16 million.
ARTIST: Kasimir Malevich
TITLE: “Suprematist Composition” (1916)
AUCTION HOUSE: Sotheby’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $60 million
Sotheby’s officials predict that this painting will fetch $60 million. Determined to offset some of the risk, Sotheby’s has lined up a buyer who has contractually agreed to purchase the painting for an undisclosed sum. If someone else is willing to pay more, the original bidder will get a share of what is called the upside: the difference between what he was willing to pay and the higher price.
ARTIST: Peter Doig
TITLE: “Pine House (Rooms for Rent)” (1994)
AUCTION HOUSE: Christie’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $4.5 million to $6.5 million
Inclusion in a museum retrospective can often boost the value of an artist’s work. That may explain why Jennifer Stockman is parting with this painting, which was featured at Tate Britain earlier this year. ”Talk about timing,” Ms. Stockman said of the consignment.
ARTIST: Andy Warhol
TITLE: “Mao” (1973)
AUCTION HOUSE: Christie’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $4.5 million to $6.5 million
Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s are selling Warhols of all dates and subjects. At Christie’s, a Washington lawyer is parting with one of the artist’s Mao portraits, painted on a small canvas of about 26 by 22 inches. In November 2006, a far larger Mao, measuring 82 by 61 inches, sold for $17.3 million to a Hong Kong collector. The question of who will step up and bid this season is another matter.
Left:
ARTIST: John Chamberlain
TITLE: “Ca-D’Oro” (1964)
AUCTION HOUSE: Sotheby’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $1.8 million to $2.2 million
Right:
ARTIST: John Chamberlain
TITLE: “Spike” (1964)
AUCTION HOUSE: Christie’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $900,000 to $1.2 million
Why are these two 1964 sculptures by John Chamberlain, roughly the same size and made the same year, priced so differently? ”Spike,” from the philanthropist Alice Lawrence, is estate property, which is generally more reasonably priced, and Christie’s has given the Lawrence heirs a guarantee. That means the auction house rather than the estate can set the prices.
ARTIST: Francis Bacon
TITLE: “Study for Self-Portrait” (1964)
AUCTION HOUSE: Christie’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $40 million
This full-length portrait is one of the highlights of Christie’s Nov. 12 sale. Christie’s is hoping to capitalize on the record prices paid for Bacon’s works recently. A 1976 Bacon triptych went for $86.3 million in May. Still, there is no getting around the fact that ”the market has changed,” said Brett Gorvy, co-head of Christie’s postwar and contemporary art department.
ARTIST: Arshile Gorky
TITLE: “Study for Agony I” (1946-1947)
AUCTION HOUSE: Christie’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $2.2 million to $2.8 million
Kathy Fuld, a Museum of Modern Art trustee, is parting with 16 postwar works on paper at Christie’s on Nov. 12. She bought this Gorky, among the best in the group, in 1996 for $370,000. Christie’s officials are so confident about the drawings that it gave Mrs. Fuld a guarantee that is said to be about $20 million. N.Y. Times
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