NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s Prints sale on 1 & 2 May achieved $9,577,631, well within pre-sale estimate of ($7.6/11 million), led by Richard Diebenkorn’s large scale color etching from 1986, Green. This work, arguably the artist’s most important print, brought $533,000, above pre-sale estimates (left). A painting from the same Ocean Park series from the collection of Jane and Marc Nathanson will be a star highlight of next week’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction, estimated at $9/12 million.
Mary Bartow, Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Prints, Sotheby’s, notes, “We were very pleased with the results from Sotheby’s spring Prints auction, particularly for an early and rare impression of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s first print of Moulin Rouge, La Goulue (D. 339; ADR. 1; W. P1). All of the top lots – including works by Jasper Johns, Otto Dix, Roy Lichtenstein and Pablo Picasso – performed well, with nearly 87% of lots sold. We saw global bidding throughout the auction, particularly from Europe, with equal private and dealer participation.”
Two works by Andy Warhol brought strong prices for the artist. A complete portfolio of Warhol’s iconic series, Flowers (F. & S. II.64 - 73) (right), sold well within pre-sale expectations, achieving $521,000. Endangered Species (F. & S. II.293 - 302), comprising ten screenprints, fetched $485,000.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithograph Moulin Rouge, La Goulue (D. 339; ADR. 1; W. P1) sold for $197,000. One of three trial proofs that preceded his finished composition, this unusual print is the only known impression of the key stone printed individually.
ADDITIONAL SALE HIGHLIGHTS
Roy Lichtenstein
Thinking Nude (C. 298)
Estimate $80/120,000
Sold for $203,000
Jasper Johns
Target (ULAE 147)
Estimate $140/180,000
Sold for $185,000
