Sotheby’s midseason sale of contemporary art on September 10 achieved $10,556,939. The sale was 80.4 percent sold by value and 69.2 percent sold by lot.
Jennifer Roth, senior vice president at Sotheby’s and the specialist in charge of the sale, said, “We are happy with the strong results seen in this varied sale, which covered the spectrum of the contemporary art field. Particularly strong prices were seen for fresh property from estates and private collections, such the Arnstein collection, which included works by Noguchi and Rosenquist. California artists, such as Frank Lobdell and Elmer Nelson Bischoff, performed very well. Works of Op art and geometric abstraction garnered strong bidding, and we saw great interest in younger contemporary artists, such as Ouattara Watts and Chantal Joffe.”
Top lot in the sale was Roy Lichtenstein’s “Interior with Three Hanging Lamps,” 1991, which sold for $482,500 to the American trade. Robert Indiana’s “Nine,” 1965, sold to the European trade for $338,500, and Lichtenstein’s “Pistol,” 1964, brought $254,500.
Among the sale’s other top highlights were Adolph Gottlieb, “Asterisk on Brown,” 1967, $182,500; Josef Albers, “Homage to the Square, Yellow Climate,” 1962, $158,500; and Joseph Cornell, “Sandsifter Box,” 1952, $158,500.
Rounding out the sale’s top ten lots were Robert Motherwell, untitled (Black Ochre Pink), 1979, $146,500; Isamu Noguchi, “Little She,” 1966, $134,500; Frank Lobdell, “Dark Presence III (Yellow),” 1963, $134,500; and Elmer Nelson Bischoff, “Rooftops and Bay,” 1961, $134,500.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium, which is 25 percent of the hammer price on the first $50,000, 20 percent of the hammer price up to and including $1 million and 12 percent thereafter.
For information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com .
