NEW YORK, NY.- Last night’s Evening Sale of Latin American Art at
Sotheby’s in New York brought a total of $21,754,375 – the highest-ever for a Latin American Art Evening Sale at Sotheby’s, and above the pre-sale low estimate of $20.3 million. The sale was 82% sold-by-lot, with auction records set for Wifredo Lam, Jesús Rafael Soto, Armando Reverón and six others.
Axel Stein, Head of Latin American Art at Sotheby’s commented: “We are very pleased to have achieved a total of $21.8 million tonight, marking our highest-ever result for an evening of Latin American Art. We were thrilled with the new record price achieved for Wifredo Lam, which was one of nine new artist records set during the auction. Ídolo is a work we have known for over 35 years, and we always felt that it had the potential to reach new heights. The demand for Abstract, Geometric, and Constructivist art from Latin America was particularly strong throughout the sale, with works by Camargo, Soto, Gego and Cruz-Diez inspiring competition between collectors from around the world.”
Wifredo Lam’s Ídolo (Oya/Divinité de l´Air et de la mort) shows the artist at the height of his genius. It was sought by five bidders before selling to a South American collector for $4,562,500, double the previous record for the artist. The painting is entirely fresh to the market having been in the same private collection since 1947 (est. $2/3 million). Other top lots included Ad Laudes by Claudio Bravo, which sold for $1,172,500 (est. $700/900,000), and Armando Reverón’s Desnudo detrás de la mantilla that fetched $872,500 (est. $700/900,000).
The sale also saw a number of exceptional prices for Kinetic Art, led by the early Jesús Rafael Soto masterpiece Sin Titulo (Vibración Amarilla Y Blanca) which sold for $1,022,500, well over the previous record of $758,000. Other strong Soto prices included Rhytmes Interferés from 1964, which beat its high estimate to sell for $602,500 (est. $400/500,000), and Blanco that sold for $542,500, more than double its high estimate of $250,000. Works by Carlos Cruz-Diez also performed well, with Chromo-Interference Mecanique selling for $662,500 (est. $350/450,000) and Physichromie No 1.021 fetching $554,500 (est. $250/350,000).
Brazilian art was sought by an international group of collectors, including the five bidders who drove Sergio Camargo’s Hommage à Fontana to $1,538,500, well over the $600/800,000 estimate and just $50,000 below the record for the artist. Pieces by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and Jose Pancetticubist also sold for prices above their high estimates.
New Artist Records
• Wilfredo Lam Ídolo (Oya/Divinité de l’air et de la mort) $4,562,500
• Armando Reverón Desnudo detrás de la mantilla $872,500
• Gego (Gertrudis Goldschmidt) Dibujo sin papel $602,500
• Arturo Herrera Untitled (Double Castle/Purple) $218,500
• Héctor Poleo Maternidad $170,500
• Carmen Herrera Irlanda $146,500
• Mercedes Pardo Sin título (azules y blancos) $68,500
• Fermín Revueltas Mujeres en el balcón $56,250
• Edgar Negret Aparato Mágico $40,625
New Artist Records by Medium
• David Alfaro Siqueiros Tempestad (The Storm) $434,500 Record for a Work on Paper
