AMSTERDAM.- Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales concluded in Amsterdam with a total of €8,415,813 / $10,333,219 / £7,375,603 and outstanding sell-through rates of 90% by lot and 92% by value. Registered bidders from 36 countries demonstrate the continued global appeal in Amsterdam with notable participation from Asian clients. The season was led by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work on paper Untitled, which sold for €727,500 / $893,276 / £637,599, more than double its low estimate of €300,000. The work was sold from the collection of the celebrated furniture designer and curator Martin Visser. Further works offered from Visser’s collection included Georg Baselitz’s Vier Streifen, Die Kuh (Four Stripes, The Cow) (€118,750 / $145,813 / £104,500) and Heerenlux by Daan van Golden (€100,000 / $122,790 / £88,000). The group realised €1,232,750 / $1,513,694 / £1,084,820.

In celebration of the 70th anniversary of Cobra, work by Karel Appel, Asger Jorn, Carl-Henning Pedersen and Enrico Baj was presented in a curated group titled ‘Creation Before Theory’, which was 100% sold and achieved €1,848,500 / $2,269,773 / £1,626,680. This section was highlighted by Pierre Alechinsky’s Soutien de famille (Provider), which set a new world auction record for the artist (€535,500 / $657,525 / £469,325) and was created in 1960, the year the artist represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale. An additional record was achieved for Miroslaw Balka’s 180 x 40 x 142 (€60,000 / $73,674 / £52,800) with a record in the medium for A. R. Penck’s sculpture Crosta Relief (€187,500 / $230,226 / £164,330). Further highlights demonstrate the strength of German contemporary artists including a painting, also by Penck, titled General, a, b, c (€235,500 / $289,163 / £206,398) and Günther Förg’s 32 Bilder (€247,500 / $303,898 / £216,915).

Arno Verkade, Managing Director, Christie’s, The Netherlands and Germany: “Fantastic results were achieved at Chirstie’s in Amsterdam for the Post-War and Contemporary Art season, the second time that we have staged the series of auctions at De Westergasfabriek. The historical venue provides an amazing backdrop against which we can showcase international contemporary art. We witnessed an overwhelming global appetite for Northern European and American art, with a strong focus on German art. The group of artists offered in celebration of 70 years of the Cobra Group was 100% sold with a world auction record for Pierre Alechinsky’s Soutien de famille (Provider). International bidding in the auction, especially from Asian clients, was matched by diverse attendance in the saleroom during the exhibition. The highlight of the auction was a work on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat, formerly in the collection of Martin Visser, which sold for €727,500 / $893,276 / £637,599, more than doubling its pre-sale low-estimate of €300,000. The sale totalled €8,415,813 / $10,333,219 / £7,375,603 against a pre-sale estimate of €5,000,000 - 7,200,000.”