LONDON.- Christie’s auctions held during London’s Frieze Week celebrated the very best Post-War and Contemporary Art and confirmed that the global market is strong, totalling £91,092,925 / $115,611,199 / €103,296,512. The week began with the truly exceptional results for The Leslie Waddington Collection, which sold 100% by lot and 100% by value, and continued with the same momentum throughout. The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction saw extraordinary results for artists including Adrian Ghenie whose Nickelodeon, a vast, cinematic vision, made a record-breaking figure of £7,109,000 / $9,028,430 / €8,054,497. The week saw 19 artist auction records achieved, including those for Michael Craig Martin, Lucy McKenzie, Henry Taylor, Carol Rama and Pino Pascali, demonstrating that London is undisputed as a global art capital.

‘Francis Outred, Chairman and Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s EMERI: ‘Christie’s results this Frieze Week have proved that the global contemporary art market is very strong, with 100% sold in the Leslie Waddington Collection and 96% sold in the Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction; both sales sold for double their low estimates, demonstrating the continued eagerness to acquire works from across the 20th and 21st centuries. The stand-out price for Adrian Ghenie, and the presence of nine telephone bidders for a piece which already had a record estimate, shows the power of contemporary painting to inspire lives and minds around the world today. The record prices for Thomas Schütte and Imi Knoebel confirmed a growing interest and excitement around mid-career artists and the new levels achieved for Carol Rama and Pino Pascali revealed that even posthumously artists careers can continue to be rewritten.’

THE LESLIE WADDINGTON COLLECTION
The evening auction was a fitting tribute to the much celebrated London dealer and collector Leslie Waddington, achieving £28,285,525 / $36,092,330 / €32,273,784. The auction achieved the exceptional sell through rate of 100% by lot and 100% by value, with 80% of works selling over estimate. Registered bidders from 37 countries across six continents demonstrated the demand in the international art market for works of outstanding quality and provenance.

With 91% of the work never having been offered on the market before, by artists including Josef Albers, Milton Avery, Alexander Calder, and Agnes Martin, there was an electric atmosphere in the saleroom. The auction was led by Jean Dubuffet’s Visiteur au chapeau bleu (Visitor with a Blue Hat), selling over its high estimate for £4,813,000 / $6,141,388 / €5,491,633. This was one of a group of seven works by the artist that totalled £6,708,000 / $8,559,408 / €7,653,828.

World records at auction were set for Michael Craig-Martin, whose painting Las Meninas I realised £149,000 / $190,124 / €170,009 and Amedée Ozenfant, which achieved £557,000 / $710,732 / €635,537. Records in the medium were set for Francis Picabia’s rare work on paper Lampe, which sold for £3,637,000 / $4,640,812 / €4,149,817, double its high estimate, and Patrick Caulfield’s work on paper Les Demoiselles d’Avignon Vues de Derrière reaching a figure of £233,000 / $297,308 / €265,853.

POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING AUCTION
The evening auction achieved a total of £34,266,000 / $43,517,820 / €38,823,378 with 90% sold by lot and 96% sold by value, confirming Christie’s ability to read the continued evolution of a global market. The volume of bidding on the phone, online and in the room created an energy in the saleroom that translated into top prices for young talent, celebrated mid-career artists and classic Post-War Masters alike. The sale saw registered bidders from 42 countries across six continents.

The incontestable star of the night was Adrian Ghenie, and the electric pace of the sale was set early in the evening by Lucy McKenzie, whose nineties painting, Olga Korbut soared to a figure almost 11 times over estimate (£317,000 / $402,590 / €359,161). This was quickly followed by records for Henry Taylor, Imi Knoebel, Albert Oehlen and Gerald Laing – with five records established in the first seven works of the night.

More highlights included Thomas Schütte’s Bronzefrau nr.13, from his iconic series of eighteen Frauen (Women) that recasts the towering figurative tradition of the female nude, achieving a triple estimate result of £3,749,000 / $4,761,230 / €4,247,617 and Anslem Kiefer’s Grab des unbekannten Malers (Tomb of the Unknown Painter), a major work from his landmark series of paintings devoted to the theme of the ‘Unknown Painter’, which made £2,405,000 / $3,054,350 / €2,724,865. Strong results were also witnessed for Post-War names of significance including Jean Dubuffet (£2,629,000 / $3,338,830 / €2,978,657).

THE ITALIAN SALE
Realising £18,680,250 / $23,723,918 / €21,164,723, the Italian Sale set seven artist auction records demonstrating continued global interest in Italian artists, from Spatialists through to Arte Povera. The sale saw registered bidders from 41 countries across five continents.

Pino Pascali’s Coda di delfino (Tail of a Dolphin) was an undoubted focal point of the evening and achieved £2,629,000 / $3,338,830 / €2,978,657, setting a world record for the artist in the process. Appearing to swim through the solid, white walls of the gallery space, it is a work that encapsulates the essence of Pino Pascali. Evocative of the sea, of playfulness and intelligence, his work is always infused by a profound sense of the sea.

More moments of significance in the saleroom included records for female artists Giosetta Fioroni (£56,250 / $71,438 / €67,731) and Carol Rama (£179,000 / $227,000 / €202,807). Further highlights of the evening were strong results for Franco Grignani (£106,250 / $134,938 / €120,381) and Gilberto Zorio (£281,000 / $356,870 / €318,737). New names to the international stage also made a powerful impact with further world records at auction for Gianfranco Baruchello (£68,750 / $87,313 / €77,894) and Ettore Spalletti (£125,000 / $158,750 / €141,625).

POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY DAY AUCTION
The Post-War and Contemporary Day Auction totalled £9,861,150 / $12,277,131 / €11,034,627 with sell through rates of 81% by lot and 88% by value. Above high estimate results were seen for artists including Sean Scully, Josef Albers and Donald Judd. Artist auction records were established for some of the contemporary art world’s most current names including Grayson Perry (£87,500 / $111,125 / €97,913) and Phyllida Barlow (£25,000/ $31,750,000 / €27,975) as well as Marthe Wery, achieving £32,500 / $41,275 / €36,368, against an estimate of £4,000-£6,000, and George Brecht whose Exhibit 47, From Book of the Tumbler on Fire realised a figure of £15,000 / $18,675 / €17,850.

Work by Wolfgang Tillmans, Glenn Ligon, Christopher Wool and Phyllida Barlow (which achieved an auction record for the artist of £25,000/ $31,750,000 / €27,975, amongst others, were donated to raise £277,750 / $345,799 / €310,802, towards Artists for Artists an initiative by Camden Art Centre that will support future artist-led projects and the residency programme at the much celebrated London institution. The auction continues online at Christies.com until the 13 October.

Abso-bloody-lutely!, a sharply curated section of the sale that celebrated artists who came of age in London’s art scene of the 1990s, included work by Mona Hatoum (£45,000 / $57,150 / €50,355), Gillian Wearing (£35,000 / $44,450 / €39,165) and Callum Innes (£45,000 / $57,150 / €50,355) in addition to works of the same collection that were part of the Post-War and Contemporary Evening and those that are included in the online sale ‘Absobloodylutely! celebrating 20 years of the London Art Scene 19912001’ which continues until the 13 November.