On September 8, Christie’s launched its first sale dedicated exclusively to works by international contemporary designers. Offering collectors’ works fresh to the market by some of the most important designers living and working today, the sale included pieces by Marc Newson, Forrest Myers, Zaha Hadid, Ron Arad, Maarten Baas, Shiro Kuramata, Ettore Sottsass and Harush Shlomo. The auction of 30 lots totaled $1,161,500, and was 83 percent sold by value and 70 percent sold by lot.
Top lot in the sale was Ron Arad’s “D’,” a mirror-polished stainless steel sofa, designed in 1995, which sold for $206,500. Among other Arad highlights was a black Aqua table, number 9 from the edition of 12, which went out at $122,500. Its top, covered in a shallow layer of hard translucent silicone gel, gives the table the appearance of a stunning and serene pool of black water.
The sale featured several pieces by Kuramata, whose works reflect the prosperity, intense creativity and groundbreaking technical ingenuity that characterized postwar Japan. An acrylic and aluminum stool with feathers, designed in 1990 realized $86,500, while Kuramata’s “Cabinet de Curiosité,” offered for the first time at auction, also made $86,500.
That price was also attained by a set of four gloss laminated polyurethane resin stools by Zaha Hadid from 2006.
Carina Villinger, head of sale, commented, “We are pleased with the promising results achieved for this new sale category at Christie’s New York. Christie’s debut contemporary design sale was greeted by enthusiastic global interest indicating a solid and evolving contemporary design market.”
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, 212-636-2000 or www.Christies.com .
