In a packed salesroom on May 13, bidders drove Christie’s postwar and contemporary art evening sale total to $93,734,500, led by strong results for the Betty Freeman collection and five new world auction records for artists David Hockney, Claes Oldenburg, Douglas Wheeler, Tony Smith and Kerry James Marshall. The sale was 91 percent sold by lot and 94 percent by value.
The morning and afternoon sessions conducted on the following day realized a combined total of $31,704,125. Together with the results from the evening sale, the week’s total was $125,438,625. A world auction record was set for Richard Pousette-Dart, whose “Composition Number 1,” oil on canvas of 1943, sold for $698,500.
Leading the evening sale was a group of 20 works from the collection of the renowned American philanthropist Betty Freeman, which was 90 percent sold by lot and achieved a combined total of $31,606,500. One of the most important David Hockney works to come to the auction market, “Beverly Hills Housewife,” 1966‱967, achieved the evening’s top price of $7,922,500, and set a new world auction record for the artist.
“Typewriter Eraser,” a work that epitomizes Claes Oldenburg’s revolutionary approach to sculpture, sold for $2,210,500 and set the second auction record of the night. The catalog cover lot, Roy Lichtenstein’s “Frolic,” 1977, fetched $6,018,500, followed by a rare, early painting by Sam Francis from 1954 titled “Grey,” which achieved $3,666,500.
Douglas Wheeler’s untitled, 1968, set a new world auction record for the artist, selling for $290,500. Rounding out the Freeman collection was Alexander Calder’s “Gypsophila on Black Skirt,” 1950, a coveted work that witnessed strong bidding and sold for $1,986,500.
Richard Diebenkorn’s “Ocean Park No. 117,” 1979, a consummate work for the artist, which luminously illustrates the best qualities of his most celebrated series of paintings, achieved $6,578,500, just shy of the artist’s auction record of $6.76 million.
Masterfully executed, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s totemic “Mater,” 1982, an electrifying, rare rendition of a female figure, was acquired for $5,850,500.
The auction yielded particularly strong results for the other works by Calder, including a rare wall relief, untitled, 1943, which realized $2,826,500, and the poetic and hypnotic “Seven Black on Black,” 1956, from the private collection of prominent New York philanthropist and arts patron, the late Caral Gimbel Lebworth, which totaled $1,142,500. A second postwar highlight from that collection, Jean Dubuffet’s “Corps de dame, rose incarnate,” executed in 1950, achieved $1,762,500.
Highlights by Abstract Expressionist masters performed well, including an early, classic drip drawing by Jackson Pollock, untitled, 1951, which fetched $506,500, a dynamic and powerful “Woman” by Willem de Kooning from 1953, which achieved $3,666,500, and a vibrant and refreshing work by Hans Hofmann, “Wild Vine,” 1961, that totaled $1,202,500.
Contemporary artists featured in the sale also achieved strong results and records. Peter Doig’s “Night Fishing,” 1993, realized $4,674,500. Jeff Koon’s gleaming Duchampian “Jim Beam †J.B. Turner Engine,” 1986, achieved $2,322,500 after a spirited round of bidding. Debuting in the evening sale, Kerry James Marshall’s definitive work “Our Town,” 1995, achieved $782,500, setting a new world auction record for the artist.
In the fifth auction record of the evening, Tony Smith’s sleek, geometrical form “Duck,” conceived in 1962-63/executed in 1995, achieved $842,500, surpassing its presale high estimate of $800,000.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, 212-636-2000 or www.Christies.com .
