A desirable 1960s David Hockney painting accounted for more than a third of the total of Sotheby’s bijou 23-lot contemporary art evening sale last night, which realised £37.5m (with fees), against a presale estimate of between £34m and £47.5m (calculated without fees).
The figures may not be staggering but, during a period of market correction, the combination of reliable sales and an absence of any last-minute withdrawals buoyed confidence in the room.
The star of the evening was Hockney’s L’Arbois, Sainte-Maxime (1968) which hammered in at £11.5m (£13.2m with fees) above its £7m to £10m estimate, thanks to several persistent bidders. An Untitled work by William de Kooning attracted the sale’s second highest price, although at a sizeably lower £2.7m (£3.1m with fees) and only just above its £3m to £4m estimate.
A Union Jack flag bullet-proof vest by Banksy brought a little buzz onto the sale floor, selling at £650,000 (£780,000 with fees) more than double its presale estimate of £200,000 and £300,000 but there was a distinct lack of emerging, young talent, in the absence of the auction house’s The Now sales, which has run in previous years. Artists that would have fallen into that category were integrated into the listings and fared well, including Cecily Brown’s Satan’s Waitin’ (2008) which hammered at £640,000 (£768,000 with fees).
“There is still Frieze art fair for those seeking out younger artists,” said Alex Branczik, the chairman, Modern and contemporary art, following the sale. “The reality is that when things get constricted, there is always a feeling of safety in quality blue chip.”
Around half the bidders came from EMEA (previous years have seen about a third of bidders hailing from the region), with a decent turnout of buyers from the US and Asia. Works heading further afield included Anselm Kiefer’s Der Morgenthau Plan (2014) which went to an Indian buyer for £850,000 hammer (£1m with costs, est. £600,000 to £800,000).
It was not a strong night for Hurvin Anderson, whose After a Road to Rome II (2006) (est. £600,000 to £800,000) failed to sell and whose Ball Watching IV was withdrawn from Christie’s. Yoshitomo Nara’s Broken Heart Bench, also failed to find a buyer despite its confident £2.5m to £3.5m estimate.
With the Sotheby’s offerings obtaining an average of £2m per lot (the best for ten years, the auction house says), the less is more approach did, however, appear to have largely hit the mark.
