Not to be outdone by its rival, Sotheby’s, as reported here, last week Christie’s in New York surpassed its prior record of $745 million set back in May at Christie’s contemporary art auction and brought in the “highest-ever for an auction” at its recent contemporary art auction “grossing $852.9 million across 75 lots.” Nearly all of the total 80 lots offered for sale had buyers for a sell-through rate by lot of 94 percent.
The two top lots of the evening were Andy Warhol’s Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] (1960) and Four Marlons (1966) fetching $81.9 million and $69.6 million, respectively. The third highest lot of the evening, Cy Twombly’s Untitled (1970), sold to a phone bidder for $69.6 million.
Also notable at last week’s contemporary art auction, new artist records were set for 11 artists, including Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, Peter Doig, Martin Keppenberger, Sturtevant, and Seth Price.
Christie’s Chairman and International Head of Postwar and Contemporary Art, Brett Gorvy, noted at the press conference following the auction that there were some 500 bidders from 43 different countries and that this was a “collecting-buying pool tonight, rather than dealers.”
For a further recap of last Wednesday evening’s contemporary art auction at Christie’s, click here.