Was it last week that the art world embarked on a chaotic relay race of back-to-back auctions, gallery openings and art fairs? (It was.) Alas, now that the dust has settled and the bonhomie has faded, the picture of the emergence of the art market is not exactly rosy.
The auction serves as something of a public litmus test for the broader art market, and as art advisor Todd Levin told Artnet News in the middle of the disappointing Gerald Fineberg at Christie’s, the market is “on the verge of a serious correction period, there are no two ways to get there”.
Withdrawals, works barely scratching the bottom of pre-sale estimates (after fees!) and a flurry of works not finding any buyers at all contributed to the feeling that we may be witnessing the correction in real time. Of course, there were exceptions, and it’s not like the big three auction houses haven’t generated nearly $1.5 billion in combined sales. But, things seemed fragile.
At art fairs, it is more difficult to assess the performance of galleries. While many claimed to have pre-sold entire stalls, others simply refused to share sales. Typically, in assembling a Price Check report after a large fair like Frieze New York, we rely on the galleries and the fair itself to provide some idea of how things went. This year, reports have been rare.
There are always a handful of top-notch galleries willing to share sale prices, and this year was no exception, but where we usually receive individual prices for works, this year many dealers don’t gave only vague price ranges.
The individual prices that were shared, or the price ranges for solo presentations, are in the main list below, but again, many dealers opted out of our breakdown of those numbers.
David Kordansky sold several works from his solo presentation by Lauren Halsey, and 303 Gallery sold works by artists such as Sam Falls, Jeppe Heine, Alicia Kwade and Sue Williams. David Lewis has sold works ranging from $12,000 to $65,000 by artists including Claude Lawrence, Greg Parma Smith, Claire Lehmann, Kan Seidel and Leah Ke Yi Zheng. Tina Kim has sold works ranging from $15,000 to $300,000 by Pacita Abad, Ghada Amer, Tania Perez Cordove, Maia Ruth Lee and Davide Balliano.
Below is a list of reported sales, converted to USD for ease of reading.
PAINTINGS
Installation view, Jack Whitten at Hauser & Wirth Frieze NY, May 2023. © Jack Whitten Estate. Image courtesy of the Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sarah Muehlbauer.
$2.5 million: an untitled painting by Jack Whitten at Hauser & Wirth
$950,000: Jack Whitten, The Mingo Altarpiece: for George Mingo 14 September 1950–6 December 1996 (1996) at Hauser & Wirth
$800,000: Jack Whitten, black hands (2014-15) at Hauser & Wirth
$600,000: Jack Whitten, Physics II (Dedicated to the memory of David Budd) (1991) at Hauser & Wirth
$600,000: A painting by Milton Avery at Xavier Hufkens
$404,000 each: Daniel Richter Where to know (2023) and Blumen aus Eisen (2023) at Thaddaeus Ropac
$135,000: A work by Julie Mehretu at White Cube
$95,000: Jack Whitten, The Big Loop #2 (2012) at Hauser & Wirth
$85,000: A painting by Minoru Nomata at the White Cube
$80,000: A painting by Cathy Wilkes at Xavier Hufkens
$55,000 each: Pam Glick, rain box (2022) and four other paintings by Pam Glick at the Stephen Friedman Gallery
$55,000: A painting by Constantin Nitsche at Xavier Hufkens
$55,000 each: a group of Sue Williamson embroidery at the Goodman Gallery
$45,000 to $130,000: The entire presentation of Naudline Pierre’s paintings at James Cohan
$45,000: A painting by Ilana Savdie at the White Cube
$40,000: A painting by Cassi Namoda at Xavier Hufkens
$10,000 to $12,000: All paintings by Julia Yerger at Château Shatto
$8,000 to $20,000 each: Paintings by Sam Lipp at Derosia
$7,200: A painting by Léon Wuidar at the White Cube
$6,000 to $32,000 each: Works from the double presentation of Sahar Khoury and Elisabeth McIntosh in Canada
SCULPTURES & INSTALLATIONS
Installation view of Xavier Hufkens’ booth at Frieze 2023 at The Shed. Courtesy of Xavier Hufkens.
$1.25 million: a work by Doris Salcedo at White Cube
$500,000: A large bronze sculpture by William Kentridge at the Goodman Gallery
$450,000: A work by Antony Gormley at White Cube
$300,000: Matthieu Ronay, The crack, the swell, a land, an ode (2022) at Casey Kaplan
$175,000: A sculpture by Thomas Houseago at Xavier Hufkens
$160,000: A ceramic work by Park Seo-Bo at White Cube
$100,000 each: Two Tracey Emin bronzes at Xavier Hufkens
$80,000 each: A complete edition of a Tracey Emin Neon at Xavier Hufkens
$75,000: Pamela Rosenkranz, Anamazon (I wish for things) (2023) at Sprüth Magers and Karma International joint presentation by the artist
$75,000: Pamela Rosenkranz, Anamazon (Amass) (2023) at Sprüth Magers and Karma International
$45,000: A sculpture by Dahn Vo at the White Cube
PRINTS, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS
Installation view of works by Robert Nava at Pace. Friesland New York 2023 at the Shed. Courtesy of Pace.
$900,000: Robert Longo Cotton Field Study (2022) at Thaddaeus Ropac
$458,000: Martha Jungwirth, Title (2020) at Thaddaeus Ropac
$301,000: Another work by Martha Jungwirth at Thaddaeus Ropac
$200,000: A work on paper by Paul McCarthy at Xavier Hufkens
$150,000: A work on paper by Louise Bourgeois at Xavier Hufkens
$85,000: A work on paper by Paul McCarthy at Xavier Hufkens
$62,000 each: Six works on paper by Tracey Emin at Xavier Hufkens
$40,000: A work on paper by Huma Bhabha at Xavier Hufkens
$30,000 to $90,000 Each: All of Robert Nava’s Works at Pace
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