Basquiat and Warhol Fail Christie's

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Nov 11th 2009 at 10:01PM

Christie's tried in New York with a 1983 piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat and didn't succeed. The auction house may have been too aggressive in estimating the 16-foot piece at $9 million. That's what's tough about the art market right now. There are signs of recovery, and it can be tempting to push for higher prices. Unfortunately, it's easy to get a bit excited. The painting had the highest estimate at the auction. The piece with the second highest presale estimate, a piece by Andy Warhol, met a similar fate.

The Basquiat piece, "Brother Sausage," was offered anonymously by a buyer later revealed by Bloomberg News to be Peter Brant, an art collector based in Connecticut. The piece may be a casualty of his divorce from model Stephanie Seymour. Well, it won't be financing post-marital discord and could remain a contested asset for a while.

Warhol's "Tunafish Disaster" was projected to move for up to $8 million and, like the Basquiat painting, didn't receive any bids. Art dealer Robert Mnuchin of L&M Arts was stuck taking it home.

Yet, some works beat the odds in an auction that raked in $74.2 million, within the presale range of $61.5 million to $88 million. Nonetheless, this was the lowest result we've seen from a Christie's New York contemporary art effort since May 2003 and down 81 percent from the top of the market two and a half years ago.

While artists and collectors are eager for a recovery, buyers still aren't ready to overpay, with Lucy Mitchell-Innes, art dealer and president of the Art Dealers Association of America, observing to Bloomberg News, "There is more interest in buying, but it is more disciplined."

Forty-six lots were offered, and 39 found buyers. Peter Doig surprised the art community by hitting $10.2 million, after four bidders easily drove it past the high estimate of $6 million. The piece went to the seller for a mere $11,000 the year it was painted. A gray painting by Jasper Johns, "Dancers on a Plane," beat its presale high estimate of $2 million before settling at more than twice that amount ($4.3 million), the prize going to an anonymous bidder who played by phone.

A wooden sculpture by Jeff Koons reached the high end of its $4 million to $6 million range with a gavel price of $5.7 million, sold by art publisher Benedikt Taschen. He bought it at a Christie's auction in London in 2000 for only $999,322.

Though one Warhol piece failed, a portrait of Michael Jackson that had a top-end estimate sold for $812,500 -- nearly tripling the price of a comparable piece last May (which means the spring buyer got a hell of a deal).

Tags: andy warhol, AndyWarhol, art, art auction, art auctions, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art dealer, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, ArtDealer, artist, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, basquiat, christies, connecticut, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, jasper johns, JasperJohns, jean michel basquiat, JeanMichelBasquiat, jeff koons, JeffKoons, manhattan, michael jackson, MichaelJackson, new york, new york new york, NewYork, NewYorkNewYork, peter brant, PeterBrant, taschen, warhol

Filed under: Auctions, Art

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AaronF2 Nov 12th 2009 3:31AM

Yes, the $812,500 (over the estimate) for Warhol's ghastly "Michael Jackson" while the historic 1963 "Tuna Fish Disaster" failed to sell confirms the influence of current events on sale prices.

The important Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg works from the estate of Merce Cunningham and John Cage did well.

While the Basquiat "Brother's Sausage" (estimated at 9 to 12 million) did not sell, two great Basquait drawings at the same went for significantly over their estimate. His large untitled drawing (estimate $1,800,000 - $2,800,000) brought in $3,106,500. This was more than the exquisite de Kooning drawing "Two Women II" displayed next to it--sold within estimate for $1,930,500. The suite of 14 untitled Basquiat drawings, an important early work that hearkens back to his graffiti days and was shown in his first one-person show at Annina Nosie Gallery, sold for $1,986,500 (over twice the estimate of $500,000 - $700,000).

giorgo Nov 14th 2009 5:00AM

I feel great sympathy for the men, woman, and children whom have lost their lives. There have been a series of plane/train/car accidents related to Andy Warhol's Death and Destruction phase. Some people are obsessed by old movies and art. They try to make events come true in real life, hence increasing the value of the art work. The small plane crash on 3/22/09 in Montana was highly suspect. The Air France crash on 5/31/09 was suspicious. Within a very short period of time two other commericial airlines crashed. On 8/8/09 a small plane and helicopter collided over the Hudson. There was scant media coverage of the marine helicopter/small plane collision in San Diego on 10/31/09. There is a lot of pressure not to investigate for foul play. I hope just investigations are conducted in the future. Good policy uncovers cover-ups!