NEW YORK, NY.- Christie's fall auction season was inaugurated with the Post-War to Present sale on October 1st, which totaled $28 million and saw spirited bidding on works by established twentieth-century names and leading Contemporary voices. The energetic participation in the saleroom started with lot one, Anni Albers's Study for B, a rare work on paper that reset the artist's world auction record, selling for $166,400. The enthusiasm produced standout results, including Judy Chicago's Pasadena Lifesavers Blue Series #5, which set a new benchmark for the artist's market at auction, selling for $486,400, a vibrant painting by Gerhard Richter, Fuji, which set a record for the series, selling for $1,152,000, and a luminous installation work by Anicka Yi, which now holds the artist's world record. Overall, the sale was 81% sold by value and 86% by its low estimate.
The top lot of the sale was Coastal Farms, a River Delta landscape painting by legendary Bay Area painter Wayne Thiebaud, which realized $1,856,000, vastly surpassing its low estimate of $800,000. Exceptional prices were also achieved for a red galvanized Donald Judd sculpture, an early bullnose progression from the collection of Barbara Jakobson which achieved $1,305,600, a large-scale beveled edge painting by Sam Gilliam, Region and Mind, which sold for $1,024,000, and a radiant Josef Albers Homage to the Square painting that sold for $960,000, more than doubling its low estimate of $400,000.
Kathryn Marber, Head of Sale, Post-War to Present, remarks, “We are delighted with the outcome of today's Post-War to Present sale, which demonstrated a continued strong appetite for quality works from the post-war period, as well as market excitement for fresh stories and contemporary voices. Exceptional prices were realized throughout the sale with multiple records set for female artists including Judy Chicago, Anni Albers, and Anicka Yi.”
Artist Records Set:
• Judy Chicago, Pasadena Lifesavers Blue Series #5; Price Realized: $486,400
• Anni Albers, Study for B; Price Realized: $166,400
• Anicka Yi, Counterfactual Imagination; Price Realized: $83,200
