Christie’s 21st century evening sale in New York City totals $107.5 million.
© Christie’s Images Limited 2023. Courtesy of Christie’s.
Christie’s 21st century evening sale ushered in New York City’s fall auction season on an anxious note, with a hammer total of $88.4 million ($107.5 million with fees). The total falls short of its estimated range of $93 million to $134.2 million before fees, with the sell-through rate reported at 95% by lot.
Several blue-chip artists underperformed at the sale. The top lot of the evening, Cy Twombly’s Untitled (Bacchus 1st Version II) (2004), sold for $19.96 million, close to its low estimate of $18 million. Other works by blue-chip names such as Keith Haring, Mark Bradford, George Condo, and Barkley L. Hendricks all underperformed against their low estimates, too.
Cy Twombly, Untitled (Bacchus 1st Version II), 2004. © Christie’s Images Limited 2023. Courtesy of Christie’s
The top five lots from the sale overall were as follows:
- Cy Twombly’s Untitled (Bacchus 1st Version II) (2004) sold for $19.96 million.
- Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1981) sold for $11.9 million.
- Brice Marden’s Belle’s Turquoise (1938-2023) sold for $9.8 million.
- Jia Aili’s Combustion (2016) sold for $4.8 million, setting a new auction record for the artist.
- Nicolas Party’s Still Life (2015) sold for $4.4 million.
At the beginning of the sale, however, bidding was spirited, especially for works by ultra-contemporary artists. The first lot of the sale, Stefanie Heinze’s Third Date (2020), tripled its low estimate of $60,000 to hammer for $190,000 ($239,400 with fees). Other notable results for ultra-contemporary artists included:
- Jia Aili’s Combustion (2016) sold for $4.8 million, doubling its high estimate.
- Jadé Fadojutimi’s A Thistle Throb (2021) sold for $1.68 million, twice its $700,000 high estimate.
- Jenna Gribbon’s Regarding Me Regarding You and Me (2020) sold for $478,800, almost quadrupling its low estimate of $100,000 and setting a new auction record for the artist.
- Sanya Kantarovsky’s Charnel Field (2022) hammered $201,600, doubling its low estimate.
- Ilana Savdie’s A High-pitched Complicity (2020) sold for $201,600.
