DavidHockney

Christie's Delivers ($94 million) at Art Auction, Trounces Sotheby's

Christie's fought the trend and walked away with close to $94 million. Naysayers stand shocked (I'll admit it; I'm among them). This is still far from the record-setting years leading up to the current financial crisis, but only the truly stubborn would not recognize the accomplishment of coming close to the upper end of the auction house's estimate, particularly a day after competitor Sotheby's turned in such a dismal performance.

The initial estimate for Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale was $71.5 million to $104.5 million. Forty-nine of the 54 available lots were sold – a sales rate of 91 percent by lot and 94 percent by value. This easily tops the 81 percent by lot that Sotheby's hit (en route to a paltry $47 million). Thirty of the lots sold for more than $1 million each, and nine raked in more than $3 million a piece.

If you want to be negative, though, you still have plenty of ammo. Back in November, Christie's achieved a $113.6 million take with a sale rate of only 68 percent (by lot). A year ago, the auction house pulled in $331.4 million at a sale rate of 95 percent.

But, last May doesn't count. That was a last hurrah, of sorts, and most in the art community realized it, even if they wouldn't concede the obvious.

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David Hockney Painting Could Set A New Record

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

One of David Hockney's flat and colorful California paintings could set a record for a work by Hockney when it comes up for sale at Christie's Rockefeller Center on May 13. The painting shown above, "Beverly Hills Housewife," depicts the late owner, arts patron Betty Freeman. It measures 12 feet long and 6 feet high and is estimated at $7-$10 million. The work is part of 19 of the contemporary paintings in her collection that includes pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Dan Flavin and Andy Warhol. The paintings could bring in a total of $26 million to $40 million.

According to an AP article on the collection, Freeman sounds like a fascinating lady. She met Hockney in the early 1960s and was intensely involved in the arts, serving as a patron for composers. Trained as a concert pianist in her youth, she later became a photographer who took pictures of the composers and musicians she supported. Whoever picks up the Hockney will acquire not just a great painting but a reminder of a life well lived.

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Tags: art, auction, betty freeman, BettyFreeman, christies, david hockney, DavidHockney