NEW YORK, NY.- Christies New York marquee week of 20/21 auctions continued its successful run Friday, November 12 with the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale, which totaled $94,180,125 selling 93% by lot and 96% by value, 155% sold by low estimate. Headlining the sale was a magnificent canvas from the grouping An Extraordinary Eye: The Distinguished Collection of June Roth, Mark Rothkos Untitled, which sold for $8,489,500 against a low estimate of $2,500,000. Fantastic results were also seen by Gerhard Richters Abstracktes Bild, which surpassed its high estimate to achieve $3,750,000 and Andy Warhols Flowers, totaling $3,330,000 against a low estimate of $1,000,000.
The two-session sale featured a group of works from IMAGE WORLD: Property from a Private American Collection, which also accounted for 13 highlights from the 21st Century Evening Sale. Named for the 1989 Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition on the Picture Generation, the 41-lot grouping in total achieved $45,688,250 across both sales. Additional property from the collection will be offered in an online sale 3 16 December.
Christies presented three charitable groups within the auction dedicated to supporting philanthropic initiatives: Property Sold to Benefit LAXART (six lots), Property Sold to Benefit the Public Art Fund (four lots), and Unquestioning Love: An Auction to Benefit the New York City Aids Memorial (eighteen lots across the Day Sale and the 21st Century Evening Sale). Many of the extraordinary contemporary artworks included in all three of the groups were generously donated directly by the artists.
Fifteen new artist records were established by Danielle Orchard, Deborah Roberts, Noah Davis, Trevor Paglen, Ernie Barnes, Amy Sillman, Oluwole Omofemi, Marley Freeman, Jennifer Guidi, Tseng Kwong Chi, Rashid Johnson for Work on Paper, Salman Toor for Work on Paper, Lee Krasner for Work on Paper, Christina Quarles for Work on Paper and Eddie Martinez for Work on Paper.