Christie's much-anticipated 21st Century Evening Sale, held on November 7 in New York, brought a mix of surprises and uncertainties to the art market, leaving industry observers with only modest relief amid ongoing market instability in 2023.
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The auction, which was estimated to be worth from $93 million to $134.2 million, brought in $88.4 million ($107.5 million with fees). As reported by The Art Newspaper, the results challenged conventional wisdom about buyers' priorities in 2023, as young and relatively unproven artists stole the spotlight while blue-chip lots by established artists faced challenges.
Ultra-contemporary artists, including Stefanie Heinze, Jenna Gribbon, Sanya Kantarovsky, Reggie Burrows, and Henry Taylor, exceeded expectations, all surpassing their estimates.
Artists' records were set for two young artists. Jia Aili's 2016 triptych, Combustion, sold for $3.9 million, more than doubling its high estimate and establishing a new auction record for Aili. Jadé Fadojutimi's A Thistle Throb, from 2021, sold for $1.4 million, also more than doubling its high estimate and marking a new auction record for Fadojutimi.
Despite high anticipation, bidding for the most awaited lots slowed down. An untitled Basquiat, initially estimated at up to $15 million and backed by a house guarantee and third-party irrevocable bid, was hammered at $10 million, meeting only its low estimate.
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Several well-known artists experienced underwhelming results, with a Keith Haring painting selling for $2.2 million, falling short of its its $3.5 million estimate. Similarly, works by George Condo and Yayoi Kusama also underperformed, each selling for below their estimates.
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The auction's top lot, Cy Twombly's Untitled (Bacchus 1st Version II), sold for $17 million after only a few bids. The 2004 painting, which featured the artist's well-known scribbles in red and a text inspired by Greek mythology, proved to be an impressive sale. Yet, the hammer price of $17 million (approximately $20 million, including buyer's fees) fell below the initial estimate of $18 million to $25 million.
