This Week’s Top Lots: November 8 – 13

Editorial Staff Art, Furniture & Decorative Arts

* Skinner Boston/November 8, American Furniture and Decorative Arts
The top lot was William Bradford’s Arctic Sunset with the Ice Bound Panther that sold for $259,000 (estimate $80,000-100,000). Other top lots were a pair of gilt and mirrored pier New York tables that sold for $54,510 (estimate $12,00-18,000), and a federal bookcase by Joseph Murphy of South Berwick, Maine that sold for $53,325 (estimate $5,000-7,000).

* Christie’s New York/November 10, Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale
The sale total was $74.1 million, with 39 of 46 lots sold. The top lot was Peter Doig’s Reflection (What does your soul look like) that sold for $10.1 million (estimate $4-6 million). Other top sales were Jasper Johns’s Dancers on a Plane that sold for $4.3 million (estimate $1.5-2 million), and an Untitled Calder mobile that sold for $3.5 million (estimate $1-1.5 million).

* Bonhams New York/November 10, Contemporary and Modern Art
The top lot was Pierre Soulages’s Peinture, Juin 14 that sold for $266,000 (estimate $80,000-120,000). Other top lots were Calder’s Red Pennant stabile that sold for $206,000 (estimate $150,000-200,000), and Michael Goldberg’s Oregon Territory that sold for $85,400 (estimate $20,000-30,000).

* Bonhams San Francisco and Los Angeles/November 10, Photographs
The top lot was Edward Weston’s Nude that sold for $109,800 (estimate $70,000-90,000). Other top lots were Richard Avedon’s Dovima with Elephants, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris that sold for $30,500 (estimate 25,000-35,000), and Martin Munkacsi’s portrait Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera that sold for $23,180 (estimate $7,000-10,000).

* Christie’s New York/November 11, Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale – Morning Session
The sale total was $29.3 million, with 163 of 179 lots sold. The top lot was Calder’s Ten Black mobile that sold for $1.8 million (estimate $500,000-700,000). Other top lots were Pierre Soulages’s Peinture 146 x 97 cm, 3 Juin 1957 that sold for $1.1 million (estimate $600,000-800,000), and Roy Lichtenstein’s Face that sold for $974,500 (estimate $350,000-550,000).

* Christie’s New York/November 11, Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale – Afternoon Session

The sale total was $14.4 million, with 123 of 147 lots sold. The top lot was Sean Scully’s Wall of Light, Temozon that sold for $962,500 (estimate $600,000-800,000). Other top sales were Yoshitomo Nara’s Runaway Baby that sold for $434,500 (estimate $200,000-300,000), and Julian Schnabel’s Vallensasca, Italian Hero that sold for $386,500 (estimate $100,000-150,000).

* Sotheby’s London/November 11, 20th Century British Art
The sale total was £5.4 million, with 94 of 115 lots sold. The top lot was Frank Auerbach’s, Head of Leon Kossoff that sold for £1.7 million (estimate £200,000-300,000). Other top lots were Laurence Stephen Lowry’s Street Scene that sold for £668,450 (estimate £300,000-500,000), and Sir Stanley Spencer’s Magnolias that sold for £445,250 (estimate £100,000-150,000).

* Sotheby’s New York/November 11, Contemporary Art Evening Sale
The sale total was $134 million, with 52 of 54 lots sold. The top lot was Warhol’s 200 One Dollar Bills that sold for $43.7 million (estimate $8-12 million). Other top lots were Jasper Johns’s Gray Numbers that sold for $8.7 million (estimate $5-7 million), and a Warhol Self-portrait that sold for $6.1 million (estimate $1-1.5 million).

* Sotheby’s London/November 11, The Collection of Lord and Lady Attenborough

The sale total was £4.5 million, with all 50 lots sold. The top lot was Laurence Stephen Lowry’s Old Houses that sold for £881,250 (estimate £300,000-500,000). Other top lots were Graham Sutherland’s Thorn Head that sold for £481,250 (estimate £150,000-250,000), and Keith Vaughan’s Theseus and the Minotaure (Interior at Minos) that sold for £313,250 (estimate £100,000-150,000)—both auction records.

* Christie’s London/November 12, 20th Century British and Irish Art

The sale total was £4.8 million. The top lot was Laurence Stephen Lowry’s The Thames from Whitehall Court that sold for £623,650 (estimate £400,000-600,000). Works by Lowry dominated the sale including The Gateway that sold for £361,250 (estimate £150,000-250,000). Another top lot was Dame Elisabeth Frink’s First Man that sold for £349,250 (estimate £150,000-250,000).

* Sotheby’s New York/November 12, Contemporary Art Day Sale
The sale total was $44 million, with 295 of 346 lots sold. The top lot was Wayne Thiebaud’s Supine Woman that sold for $1.8 million (estimate $700,000-900,000). Other top lots were two untitled mobiles by Alexander Calder that sold for $938,500 (estimate $450,000-650,000) and $902,500 (estimate $400,000-600,000), Raushenberg’s Foot Note [Anagram (A Pun)] that sold for $746,500 (estimate $250,000-450,000).

Images from above: Reflection (What does your soul look like) by Peter Doig, 1996. Ten Black by Alexander Calder, 1960. Both courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd 2009; Old Houses by Sir Stephen Lowry, 1948. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Share: