Christie’s New York delivered favourable results with their 20th Century Evening Sale last week. Amongst 59 lots offered, 54 were sold – with a sale total of US$419.8 million dollars.
These results were after the international auction house delivered two white-glove sales with their Cox Collection: The Story of Impressionism and 21st Century Evening Sales. Together, all three sales fetched US$971 million dollars.
Andy Warhol's portrait painting of his close friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat, was the sale’s most expensive lot. It was sold at US$40 million dollars, with buyer’s premium.
Lot 32C | Andy Warhol | Jean-Michel Basquiat, Metallic pigment, acrylic, silkscreen ink and urine on canvas
Created in 1982
101.6 x 101.6 cm
Provenance:
- Estate of Andy Warhol, New York
- The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York
- Mugrabi Collection, New York, 1997
- Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2002
Estimate on request (Auction house expected to fetch more than US$20 million)
Hammer Price: US$34,700,000
Sold: US$40,091,500
The bidding started at US$13 million dollars, and the hammer was dropped at US$34.7 million dollars – US$14 million dollars more than its pre-sale estimate. It was sold at US$40 million dollars, with buyer’s premium. The winning bid was by Chairman of Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art Departments, Alex Rotter, for a client with paddle number 1906.
This portrait of Basquiat was created in 1982. It was a time when Basquiat, an emerging street graffiti artist from New York, met Andy Warhol. The two met through Swiss art dealer, Bruno Bischofberger.
Warhol's Self-Portrait with Basquiat (1982)
Basquiat's painting of him and Andy Warhol, entitled Dos Cabezas (1982)
The Swiss dealer took Basquiat to Warhol's studio, and the photo taken by Warhol with Basquiat eventually became a classic. After the three went to lunch together, Basquiat suddenly left midway and returned to the restaurant with a painting, Dos Cabezas (Two Heads). Warhol was surprised by the speed of Basquiat's creation, and he also admired it. This encounter laid the foundation for a close collaborative relationship between the two personalities.
Artist Ronnie Cutrone reminisced, “It was like some crazy-art world marriage and they were the odd couple.” This duo became core members of the New York art-world and social circles, often photographed by the media. Warhol welcomed Basquiat to join his social circle, while Basquiat also injected a sense of energy into Warhol's later paintings.
There are three portraits of Basquiat painted in the same way by Warhol. Apart from this present lot, the second portrait is housed in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; while the third portrait stayed with Jean-Michel Basquiat. It still remains in the artist's estate, now in the hands of his family.
Lot 34C | Pablo Picasso | Mousquetaire a la pipe II, Oil and ripolin on canvas
Created in 1968
146 x 96.5 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
- Private collection, Europe (2012)
- Acquired by the present owner, 2016
Estimate upon request (Auction house expected to fetch US$30 million)
Hammer Price: US$30,000,000
Sold: US$34,710,000
The sale's second most expensive lot was Picasso's painting, Mousquetaire a la pipe II (Musketeer with a pipe II).
The bidding started at US$22 million dollars. After four bids, the hammer was dropped at the pre-sale estimate of US$30 million dollars. It was sold at US$34.7 dollars with buyer’s premium to a client of Head of Client Advisory Americas, Maria Los, with paddle number 1860.
In his later years, Picasso often used a musketeer as his creative theme. Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers novel, the protagonists in Picasso’s works are often depicted as elegantly clad in traditional costumes to create a sense of majesty.
Mousquetaire a la pipe II is set against a soft blue background. The resplendent musketeer is pictured at ease. His leg casually crossed over his knee, while he smokes a clay pipe – its long mouthpiece depicts his playful exuberance.
This painting was one of two musketeers that Picasso painted on 5 November 1968. Both are pictured with a pipe and share the same tightly curled hair and beard.
Present lot, Mousquetaire a la pipe II (1968)
Le gentilhomme a la pipe (1968) | Museum Sammlung Rosengart, Switzerland
Lot 50C | Cy Twombly | Untitled, Oil, wax crayon, graphite and coloured pencil on canvas
Created in 1961
199.1 x 230.5 cm
Provenance:
- Pier Franco Grosso, London
- Claude Berri, Paris
- Grant Selwyn Fine Art, New York
- Private collection, Seattle
- Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2003
Estimate upon request (Auction house expected to fetch US$30 million)
Hammer Price: US$30,000,000
Sold: US$32,000,000
The sale’s third most expensive lot was Untitled by American abstract expressionist painter, Twombly.
The bidding started at US$22 million dollars. It was hammered at the pre-sale estimate of US$30 million dollars, and sold at US$32 million dollars with buyer’s premium. The winning bid was by Chairman of Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art Departments, Alex Rotter, for a client with paddle number 1881.
Created in 1961, this painting has an array of Twombly’s gestures fills vast parts of this active canvas. Concentrated in the centre, and upper right registers of the picture plane, dense concentrations of intuitive marks are shown alongside more considered gestures, circular loops and swirls contrast with gently arching curves.
Other highlight lots:
The four paintings below fetched US$20 million dollars or more:
Lot 27C | Gerhard Richter | Abstraktes Bild 680-1, Oil on canvas
Created in 1988
200 x 180.7 cm
Provenance:
- The artist
- Private collection, Cologne
- Private collection
- Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2015
Estimate: US$25,000,000 – 35,000,000
Hammer Price: US$25,000,000
Sold: US$27,185,000
Lot 44C | Pablo Picasso | Femme accroupie en costume turc II (Jacqueline), Oil on canvas
Created in 1955
91.5 x 73 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Louise Leiris (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler), Paris
- Acquired by the family of the present owners, by 1957
Estimate: US$20,000,000 – 30,000,000
Hammer Price: US$22,000,000
Sold: US$25,550,000
Lot 41C | Claude Monet | Au jardin, la famille de l’artiste, Oil on canvas
Created in 1875
60.5 x 80 cm
Provenance:
- Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris (acquired from the artist, September 1875)
- Galerie Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris (acquired from the above, 13 March 1907)
- Baron Mór Lipót Herzog, Budapest (acquired from the above, 7 August 1911, until at least 1919)
- Kurt M. and Henriette H. Hirschland, Essen, Amsterdam and later New York (1928, until circa 1960)
- Jacques Lindon, New York
- Mr. and Mrs. David Bakalar, Boston (acquired from the above, 10 June 1965); sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 14 November 1984, Lot 3
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: US$12,000,000 – 18,000,000
Hammer Price: US$21,000,000
Sold: US$24,405,000
Lot 37C | Ed Ruscha | Ripe, Oil on canvas
Created in 1967
150.5 x 139.1 cm
Provenance:
- Edwin Janss, Los Angeles
- Dagny Janss, Los Angeles
- Stephen Mazoh & Co., New York
- Private collection, Dublin
- Anon. sale; Christie's, New York, 19 November 1997, Lot 267
- Private collection, Malibu
- Anthony D'Offay Gallery, London
- Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2000
Estimate: US$18,000,000 – 22,000,000
Hammer Price: US$18,000,000
Sold: US$20,000,000
Auction Summary:
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: 20th Century Art Evening Sale
Date: 11 November 2021
Number of lots: 59
Sold: 54
Unsold: 5
Sale Rate: 92%
Sale Total: US$419,866,500