Auction season is upon us again. And that’s… normal. We’re back on planet Earth after record sales of $3.2 billion six months ago, where Paul Allen’s treasures skewed the market upmarket like never before. Do you remember all those lots that brought in $100 million (or more) each?
There could be – and surely will be – the kind of heated bidding wars that push hardware above their lofty estimates. But looking at this month’s presale estimates, I only spotted one work, that of René Magritte Empire of Light at Sotheby’s, which is expected to cross the $50 million mark. (It is valued between $35 million and $55 million.)
The stakes are high, with over $2 billion worth of artwork on offer at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips. There’s even more at the art fairs clustered around Frieze New York and at all the gallery shows around the Big Apple. Will the market be able to absorb it all?
“When you’re worried about the banks, the interest rates, the debt limit, you think, ‘Hmm, maybe I won’t bid on that $20 million painting’ or ‘Maybe maybe I’ll stop at the low estimate,'” an auction official said. “The market is good. It’s just not as frothy. Not like a year ago when things were selling like hotcakes.
Certainly, there are many high-end stocks from collections and estates of distinguished provenance, including SI Newhouse and Gerald Fineberg at Christie’s and Mo Ostin at Sotheby’s. Fashion legend Valentino and newsprint mogul Peter Brant are parting ways with their Basquiats. A non-profit branch of Brazil’s biggest bank is selling the first cast of Louise Bourgeoise’s 1996 giant bronze spiderand members of the Whitney family recorded a rare, late Henry Rousseau (1844-1910), who was about to reset the French Post-Impressionist painter’s market.
These are the sellers that many people know. But the Art Detective has also identified other notable shippers whose names do not appear in the catalogs. And while the auction houses declined to comment, citing confidentiality, some of the sellers broke their silence.
Anthony (Tony) Pritzker
Cecily Brown, Untitled (Beauty and the Damned) (2013). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
With a coveted solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cecily Brown is the talk of the art world. It is therefore not surprising that collectors try to make money. There are six paintings by Brown at auction this month in New York, and the most expensive of them…Untitled (Beauty and the Damned)– is being sold by Tony Pritzker, the billionaire descendant of the family behind Hyatt hotels. Offered by Christie’s on May 15 for between $5 million and $7 million, it is set to test the artist’s current auction record of $6.8 million. Pritzker’s aide declined to comment.
Alberto Chehebar
Robin F. Williams, ice queen (2019). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
A six-foot-tall painting of a perky nude by Brooklyn-based Robin F. Williams will open Christie’s Evening Sale of 21st Century Art. Title ice queen (2019), it is sold by Alberto Chehebar, an ultra-contemporary art collector based in Los Angeles. He acquired the work in 2019 from the Various Small Fires gallery and was under a lot of pressure to donate the work to a museum, he said. But which one? “If I give it to X, then Y will get mad and Z will get mad,” Chehebar said, reached by phone. “We decided to put it in the public domain and let the best win.” Estimated between $100,000 and $150,000, it is likely to sell for much more, as the first batches tend to sell out in the evening. “I think it’s going to be great for her and for the female artists coming this season,” Chehebar said. “It is his absolute masterpiece. I hope he goes to an institution.
Robert Kogod
Morris Louis’s installation view Beta Beta at Christie’s. Photo: Katia Kazakina.
One of my personal favorite moments in Christie’s auction preview this season is a room anchored by three monumental abstract paintings by Morris Louis (1912-1962) for sale. The biggest, Beta Beta, measures 13 feet wide, with the artist’s signature diagonal stripes flowing down each side from top to bottom – a deconstructed rainbow. It is estimated between 2 and 3 million dollars. The works come from the private collection of Washington, DC-based real estate developer and philanthropist Robert Kogod, known for his AbEx art treasure, including works by Clyfford Still and Franz Kline.
Larry Gagosian
Diane Arbus, A box of ten photographs (1970). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Larry Gagosian cleans up. The low-cost gear he’s selling at Christie’s and Phillips this season offers a glimpse into the mega-dealer’s somewhat unexpected tastes. The last lot of Christie’s 20th century evening sale comes from its private reserve: a box of 10 photographs by Diane Arbus (1923-1971), estimated between $900,000 and $1.2 million. Then, deep in the sale day of May 12, Casamentoa charming painting of a married couple with a baby by Asuka Anastacia Ogawa (born in 1988), estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 dollars.
Ariel Bentata
Emmanuel Taku, Beige beret (2021). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
A group of at least 13 works of art in the Christie’s Day Contemporary Art Sale come from the collection of Ariel Bentata, co-founder of commercial real estate investment firm Accesso Partners LLC. and patron of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami. It’s a mine of popular artists, including Katharina Grosse, Jennifer Guidi, Rashid Johnson, David Salle, Günther Förg and Aboudia. The works had been acquired from galleries, auction houses, but also from artists’ studios, as was the case with the 2021 painting by Emmanuel Taku, Beige beretestimated between $30,000 and $50,000.
Jeff Magid
Jade Fadojutimi, A toast to…? (2020). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Bicoastal music producer Jeff Magid became an active new collector of young art, acquiring works by artists such as Henry Taylor, Magdalena Suarez and Rick Lowe. He was also an occasional salesman. This season he has consigned Fadojutimi’s A toast to…? at Sotheby’s, where it is estimated between $500,000 and $700,000. He purchased the work in 2020, at the start of the pandemic, through Gisela Capitain Gallery and offered to resell it through the gallery after the artist joined Gagosian last year. Now, with four auction results for Fadojutimi’s work topping $1 million, Magid said he hopes the Sotheby’s sale will allow him to continue supporting emerging artists at the start of their careers and complete residency. of artist that he builds in Mexico City.
Guy Laliberte
Christopher Laine, Untitled (1988). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
The Canadian billionaire poker player founder of Cirque de Soleil sells paintings by Christopher Wool, Rudolph Stingel and Damien Hirst in Sotheby’s evening and daytime sales. Most treasured of the bunch is Wool’s untitled word canvas spelling “PLEASE” in the signature black font on a white background. The painting is estimated between 10 and 15 million dollars. Laliberté bought it exactly six years ago for $17.2 million at Emily and Jerry Spiegel’s auction at Christie’s, setting what remains the fourth-highest price for wool at auction so far. day.
david shuman
Matthew Wang, The jungle (2017). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
David Shuman, a New York-based private investor and former trustee of the Guggenheim Foundation, is the sender of Matthew Wong’s The jungle in Sotheby’s “The Now” evening sale on May 18. Estimated between $1.2 and $1.8 million, the 2017 painting depicts a figure in a white canoe evoking Peter Doig’s iconic compositions. Shuman had pledged the painting as collateral for a loan from Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2022, according to a regulatory filing. It is one of only two works by Wong in New York sales this month, the second being a small oil on canvas in Phillips’ May 16 Daily Sale. Shuman purchased the painting directly from Karma Gallery in 2017, when their price ranged from $3,000 to $15,000, depending on the scale.
Marty Margulies
Roy Lichtenstein, Mirror #7 (1971). Courtesy of Philips.
One of Miami’s top collectors, Margulies is known for his extensive collections of Roy Lichtenstein. Now he’s selling one, Mirror #7 (1971) at Phillips on May 17, where it is estimated at $3-4 million. He bought the work for $504 500 in 2002 at Sotheby’s, and it was subsequently published in “The Martin Z. Margulies Collection”, a two-volume tome on his vast treasure.
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