LONDON.- Spliced Structure (7), a work by the British artist Rachel Jones (B. 1991), sold for £910,000 at Bonhams Post-War & Contemporary Art sale on Thursday 24 March at
Bonhams New Bond Street soaring past its pre-sale estimate of £40,000-60,000 and setting a new world record price for the artist at auction.
Ralph Taylor, Bonhams Global Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art said: “A magnificent result for a magnificent work by one of the freshest artistic voices in the world of Contemporary Art. Rachel Jones has a unique, bold, colourful style which lends unforgettable character to the important and distinctive things she has to say about identity, self-esteem and community. The very high price paid for Spliced Structure (7) is an indication of her rapidly growing reputation. We are proud to have played a part in bringing her work to a wider audience and in setting a new world auction record for a painting by this remarkable artist.”
The sale made a total of £5,061,308, with 88% sold by lot and 100% sold by value.
Other highlights of the sale include:
• Fernando Botero (B.1932), La Casa de Rosealba Correa. Executed in Fernando Botero's distinctively voluptuous signature style, La Casa de Rosalba Correa from 2001 is a magnificently complex painting by one of the most important Colombian artists of the present day. Sold for £922,750 (estimate: £650,000-850,000).
• Frank Auerbach (B. 1931), Portrait of Debbie Ratcliff III. The portrait depicting one of Auerbach’s great muses, Debbie Ratcliff whom he met in 1983, was first exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1986. It had been in the same private collection since 1984. Sold for £766,750 (estimate: £450,000-650,000).
• Yayoi Kusama (B. 1929), Fruits, 1996. As seen in her creations in the 1970s, fruit baskets have served as a recurring subject in Kusama’s art. Fruits was fresh to the market, having never been offered at auction before. Sold for £598,750 (estimate: £300,000-500,000).
• Ugo Rondinone (B.1963). Silver Black White Green Mountain 2016. Throughout his career, the Swiss-born artist has navigated nature, spirituality, and materiality, and works from his career-defining Mountain series are instantly recognisable and highly sought-after. Sold for £206,500 (estimate: £120,000-180,000).
