Famed Portrait Fails to Sell at Auction

Francis Bacon-Self Portrait

ARTmostfierce reports more bad news as I wait to see who's next being laid off from work today!

Times are tough folks... get off from the Diva Wagon!

If Francis Bacon work is not moving ...it is a sign of the times. For those whose inflated ego gets

in the way when valuating your own work...start taking cues !

NEW YORK (Nov. 13) - The fall New York art sales limped to a close on Wednesday, leaving a market bruised and bloodied but still standing.
Christie's post-war and contemporary auction took in $113.6 million, half of a low pre-sale estimate of $227 million, with 68 percent of the lots on offer finding buyers.

Francis Bacon 's "Study for Self-Portrait" had been considered the highlight of the auction with an estimated sales price of $40 million or more. But bidding stopped at $24.7 million, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Bacons have seen huge price spikes in recent seasons, including a record $86 million.
"The market is continuing, but clearly at a different price level," Christie's president Marc Porter said.
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"There's no panic in the market, but there is an adjustment," he told Reuters, contrasting that to the volatility gripping other markets such as oil or real estate.
"While it had declined, you've seen it find a stable level, with a lot of support."
The spotty sale was consistent with Impressionist, modern and contemporary art auctions at Christie's and rival Sotheby's over the past two weeks.
The result was "about as expected going in," said Amy Cappellazzo, international co-head of contemporary and post-war art at Christie's, given the turmoil gripping world financial markets for the past two months.
Althouth the Bacon portrait failed to sell, there were high point in the auction, including a nearly $15 million Richter, a $13.5 million Basquiat and new records for Joseph Cornell and Yayoi Kusama.
"The market is continuing, but clearly at a different price level," Christie's president Marc Porter said.
"There's no panic in the market, but there is an adjustment," he told Reuters, contrasting that to the volatility gripping other markets such as oil or real estate.
"While it had declined, you've seen it find a stable level, with a lot of support."
Baird Ryan, managing director of the art-related financial services firm Art Capital Group, agreed with auction officials' contention that the two weeks of sales, while falling about one-third shy of estimates set before the financial crisis, showed there continues to be demand for fine art.
'A Correction'
But Ryan noted that other markets had seen a fall-off of about 20 to 40 percent, "and that's what you're seeing here. There is a correction going on." He said auction houses will have to edit sales to offer "a selected group of works with cautious estimates."
Still it was impressive that "in such a period of remarkable financial stress you can sell over $100 million worth of art in an evening," Ryan added. "People are focused, and active."
On Wednesday, there was protracted bidding for Kusama's "No. 2," which soared to $5.7 million or more than twice its low estimate, smashing the artist's record. Richter's "Abstraktes Bild (710)," the sale's top lot, also beat its estimate as did Basquiat's "Untitled (Boxer)." Records for Paul McCarthy and Robert Irwin were also broken.
But five straight lots including three Warhols and a Richter with values as high as $15 million went unsold.
Art expert and author Sarah Thornton, who chronicled several years spent infiltrating the art world for the book "Seven Days in the Art World," said the sales "could have gone much worse."
"Given the state of the financial world, it's remarkable to see a group of people spending money the way they are," she said. "There are obviously some people who still have a lot of money to spend."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bacon Triptych Auctioned for Record $86 Million

Sotheby's/Associated Press
This undated photo released by Sotheby's shows the three panels of Francis Bacon's "Triptych, 1976."



ARTmostfierce keeps asking...What Recession ?
The auction results from last night at Sotheby's keep proving the art market continues to thrive no matter the current economic situation.
Please read article written by Carol Vogel of the New York Times.
Enjoy!

Triptych by Francis Bacon brought $86.3 million on Wednesday night at Sotheby’s, becoming the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction and a retort to doomsayers who had predicted that the art market would falter seriously this season because of broad economic anxieties.


“Recession? What recession?” Barbara Gladstone, a Chelsea dealer, said jokingly as she was leaving the salesroom.

Although the sale had top-quality art and dealers predicted it would be a success, it went well beyond even the auction house’s expectations, bringing in $362 million, above the sale’s high $356 million estimate. Only 10 of the 83 works failed to sell, and 18 artist records were set for names ranging from Yves Klein and Piero Manzoni to Tom Wesselmann and Takashi Murakami.

By far the most exciting moment of the evening was when “Triptych,” Mr. Bacon’s comment on his own angst — a vast (each of the three panels measures about 6 ½ feet by 5 feet) and densely painted allegorical painting came up for sale. Three telephone bidders went for the painting, which was being sold by the Moueix family, producers of Château Pétrus wines. Hailing the painting as “a landmark of the 20th-century canon,” Sotheby’s had estimated it would sell for $70 million.

(Final prices include the commission paid to Sotheby’s: 25 percent of the first $20,000, 20 percent of the next $20,000 to $500,000 and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.)

Two monochrome works by the artist Yves Klein fetched giant prices. Offered from the collection of Walther Lauffs, a German industrialist who died in 1981, and his wife, Helga, “MG9” (1962), a gold leaf on panel, proved wildly popular. It carried an estimate of $6 million to $8 million, but Philippe Ségalot, a Manhattan dealer, bought the painting for $23.5 million. Mr. Ségalot, who spoke French on a cellphone as he bid, also bought “IKB1,” a 1960 deep blue canvas that had been expected to bring $5 million to $7 million but fetched $17.4 million. (As soon as the hammer fell on both paintings, speculation started spreading through the salesroom that Mr. Ségalot was bidding for François Pinault, the luxury goods magnate and owner of Christie’s, but Mr. Ségalot declined to comment on the buyer for whom he was bidding.)

Abstract images have been strong sellers in general this week. Gerhard Richter’s “Abstract Picture” from 1990, a dreamy canvas of yellows, violets, blues and orange, went for $15.1 million, far above its $5 million to $7 million estimate. The buyer was yet another mystery telephone bidder.

Marianne Boesky, who for years had represented Mr. Murakami before he jumped to the powerhouse Gagosian Gallery two years ago, was selling one of the artist’s outrageous sculptures, “My Lonesome Cowboy,” another cast of which is on view as part of the artist’s retrospective that opened last month at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The sculpture of the naked cowboy brought another record price, selling to a telephone bidder for $15.1 million, nearly four times its $4 million high estimate.

Mr. Murakami, wearing his signature baggy blue jeans and his hair in a ponytail, was standing in the back of the salesroom on Wednesday night. People in the audience believed he spent $1.1 million for a 2001 sculpture by the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, “Light My Fire,” a sculpture of a child on a tree stump holding a flame.

Three works by the art world titan Robert Rauschenberg were on offer Wednesday night, and his death this week at 82 prompted avid speculation on how they would fare. Historically, auction prices tend to dip immediately after an artist dies in anticipation that long-withheld works will flood the market.

But “Overdrive,” a 1963 silkscreen collage incorporating images of a bird, a stop sign, a one-way street sign and other objects, made yet another record price, bringing $14.6 million. Sotheby’s had thought it would make $10 million to $15 million.

The evening had one particularly pricey bump: “Orange, Red, Yellow,” an abstract Rothko in dense tones from 1956, was expected to fetch $35 million. It was being sold by Heinz Eppler, a philanthropist and collector from New York and Palm Beach, Calif. There were no bids for the painting, which failed to sell. A small triangle by the lot number indicated that Sotheby’s had a financial interest in the painting. Before the sale, some contemporary-art dealers said they had heard that Sotheby’s had purchased it in partnership with Robert Mnuchin, a Manhattan dealer. Perhaps there were too many red Rothkos for sale this week. On Tuesday night at Christie’s, a Rothko in reds and yellows went for $50.4 million, a highlight of that sale.

But Pop Art was still had its day. A Tom Wesselmann, “Great American Nude No. 48,” a 1963 roomlike assemblage that includes a radiator and window illumination, brought another record price, selling for $10.6 million, above its $8 million high estimate. (Another Wesselmann, “Smoker #9, 1973,” a painting in the shape of a woman’s red lips inhaling smoke, set a record for the artist’s work at auction on Tuesday night at Christie’s, going for $6.7 million.

Jose Mugrabi, the Manhattan dealer, bought Warhol’s “Detail of the Last Supper (Christ 112 Times)” from 1986 for $9.5 million. Measuring 6 feet by 35 feet, it presents a black grid with the face of Christ outlined in yellow. It seemed like a good price considering the low estimate was $10 million.

Peter Brant, the newsprint magnate was a big seller last night. One of Richard Prince’s early supporters he was parting with “Millionaire Nurse,” from 2002. one of the artist’s paintings inspired by the covers of erotic pulp fiction from the 1940s. In this painting, his nurse is wearing a white surgical mask. While it had been estimated to sell for $3.5 million to $4.5 million, five bidders went for the work which ended up selling for $4.2 million or $4.7 million including Sotheby’s fees. (On Tuesday night, Christie’s auctioned a Prince nurse painting from the same year for a record $7.3 million.) Even more subtle canvases had their appeal. “Achrome,” a sensual, layered white canvas by Piero Manzoni, also brought a record price. Franck Giraud, Mr. Ségalot’s partner, beat out five bidders to buy the painting for $10.1 million, well above its $6.5 million estimate.

After the sale, as the crowds were milling around talking about the evening, everyone seemed stunned by the large sums of money that were spent. “I don’t understand why it did so well if the economy was mediocre,” said Mr. Mugrabi. “Maybe people feel safer with art.”

Francis Bacon at Sotheby's London Sells For $39.7 million

Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art tonight achieved £95,030,000 ($189,424,299), the highest total ever for any sale of Contemporary Art held in Europe, against a pre-sale estimate of £72,025,000-£102,855,000. Records were set for six artists.

Francis Outred, Head of Evening Auctions, Contemporary Art, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with tonight’s total – the highest ever for a sale of Contemporary Art in Europe and indeed the second highest total for any auction held by Sotheby’s in Europe, a record established just three weeks ago. The continued strength of the market allowed us to source a group of works which included a number of masterpieces, and our clients responded with appropriate enthusiasm. Pre-sale interest was extremely high and our exhibition was attended by collectors from around the world. We saw frenetic bidding for both figural and abstract works by Gerhard Richter and achieved a triumph for the work of Lucio Fontana – a European abstract artist finally entering the big league.”

Coming so soon after the success of The (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s New York on 14th February 2008, which totalled $42 million, tonight’s record results further demonstrate the appetite for great works of art in today’s market.

The top lot in tonight’s sale was Francis Bacon’s Study of Nude with Figure in a Mirror, 1969, a rare full-length portrait of the artist’s close friend Henrietta Moraes, which achieved £19,956,500 ($39,779,291) selling to a European private collector bidding on the telephone. This remarkable price follows last year’s record $52,680,000 (£26,581,895) for the artist at auction, achieved for Study From Innocent X at Sotheby’s New York in May 2007.

The saleroom broke into applause when Gerhard Richter’s sublime Photo Painting Kerze (Candle), from 1983, sold for the spectacular price of £7,972,500 ($15,891,584) – more than three times its presale high estimate of £2,500,000. This remarkable price came after eleven bidders competed for the work. The result immediately followed another success for the artist, when Struktur (1979) achieved £4,612,500 ($9,194,096), after pursuit by eight bidders and gasps from the audience.

A work widely regarded as one of Lucio Fontana’s masterpieces, Concetto Spaziale, La Fine di Dio dating from 1963, achieved a record £10,324,500 ($20,579,826) for a work by the artist at auction. The result was significantly in excess of its pre-sale low-estimate of £4,000,000. The egg-shaped canvas was one of only two gold works in this series. Pursued by five bidders, its price saw the saleroom once again erupt into applause. The phenomenal result saw Fontana become the second European Post War artist, after Francis Bacon, to break the £10 million barrier at auction.

Three Self Portraits (1986) by Andy Warhol achieved £11,444,500 ($22,812,322). This rare trinity of canvases in the colours of the American flag, came from the artist’s only ever exhibition devoted to self-portraits, held at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London in 1986.