Christie’s London 20/21 March season realized a combined total of £229.3 million ($291.2 million) across 5 sales, marking a 14% increase in sales year-on-year and Christie's second-highest season total in the last five years.
The back-to-back sales of Impressionist, Modern, Surrealist and Contemporary art on Thursday, March 7 drew global attention, attracting bidders from 52 countries, especially collectors based in EMEA. Notably, 39% of new buyers were millennials.
20th/21st Century Sale
The 20th/ 21st Century London Evening Sale was led by Francis Bacon's Landscape near Malabata, Tangier, which sold for £19.6 million ($24.8 million) against an estimate of £15 - £20 million ($19-25 million).
David Hockney’s California, an early 1960s swimming pool painting, realized the second-highest price of the sale at £18.7 million ($23.7 million). The painting, held in the same private collection since 1968, was expected to fetch around £16 million ($20 million).
Related: Early David Hockney Pool Painting Could Fetch Millions
Interest in British artists remained robust, with Michael Andrews’ School III: Butterfly Fish and Damsel Fish fetching £3.1 million ($3.9 million) and Lucian Freud’s portrait Kai selling for £4.6 million ($5.8 million).
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Impressionist highlights included two works by Claude Monet. Matinée sur la Seine, temps net, which came to market for the first time in 45 years, fetched £14.3 million ($18 million). A smaller Monet canvas, Prairie fleurie à Giverny, sold for £6.2 million ($7.8 million) slightly below its estimate.
The sale also saw high prices for several works by German expressionists across the Evening and Day Sales. Two works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Sitzender schwarzhaariger Mädchenakt and Frau mit Fächer, realized £3.7 million ($4.7 million) and £781,200 ($992,139) respectively.
The Art of the Surreal Sale
On the centenary of the Surrealist movement, The Art of the Surreal Sale offered 25 lots, totaling £59 million ($73.9 million). Five of the top 10 lots were works by René Magritte, led by L’ami intime, which sold for £33.6 million ($42.6 million). The result marked the second-highest auction price achieved for Magritte.
Related: An Iconic Magritte Masterpiece Heads to Auction
Other notable sales included works by Joan Mirò, Francis Picabia, and Salvador Dalì. A record was set for Meret Oppenheim, with Tisch mit Vogelflussen realizing £529,200 ($672,094), double its estimate.
Across all sales, new records were set for female artists Jadé Fadojutimi, Louise Giovanelli, and Allison Katz, indicating a particularly strong outcome for women in the art world.
