Greetings from New York! This season promises much, with superb sales across the board from the main four houses. The media scrum that will surround this sale series will prove effective in buffeting prices. I see the main lots doing OK but the real opportunities will be in the middle market ‘Day’ sales. When over 3,000 works of art go up for auction it stands to reason that the odd opportunity presents itself: note the Bonham’s Evening sale in particular.
In light of their change of venue to the Breuer building, Sotheby’s has pulled out all the stops with some of the finest works of art up for grabs I can ever recall, including three major single owner sales. From the Lauder Collection there will be three outstanding Gustav Klimt paintings offered, including two landscapes and a portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, rumoured to boast a total low estimate of 300m USD. Then, the Pritzker collection, in which the highlight is a Paris era still-life by the incomparable Vincent Van Gogh amongst works by Gauguin, Kirchner, Beckmann and a very fine Felix Vallotton. Finally, an anonymous collection being sold under the moniker ‘Exquisite Corpus’ (but purportedly the Ertegun collection) of Surrealist works is being offered and this boasts a whole host of works by Magritte, Ernst and a very good Dalí painting too. Over at Christie’s the sales are a little thinner, but the finest works are still exquisite, and they include works from the Ross Weis collection. Their main highlights are an elegant portrait of Picasso’s wonderful muse, Marie-Therese Walter, and a very beautiful Mark Rothko from 1958. Do also take a glance at the Bonhams catalogue and an Yves Tanguy work from 1938 in particular, which was on view in London until recently.
All the sales are listed below and please do get in touch if you need any guidance on any of the works of art listed. I can give a balanced, neutral viewpoint on a work’s condition, the artist’s market conditions, and bidding advice too:
17th November
Christie’s, New York, Ross Weis Collection @ 1830 EST
Christie’s, New York, 20th Century Evening Sale @ 1900 EST
18th November
Christie’s, New York, Impressionist & Modern Works on Paper Sale @ 1000 EST
Christie’s, New York, Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale @ 1130 & 1400 EST
Sotheby’s, New York, Leonard A. Lauder Collection @ 1800 EST
Sotheby’s, New York, The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction @ 1900 EST
19th November
Sotheby’s, New York, Leonard A. Lauder Day Auction @ 900 EST
Sotheby’s, New York, Contemporary Art Day Auction @ 1000 EST
Bonham’s, New York, 20th & 21st Century Art Evening Sale @ 1600 EST
Phillips, New York, Modern and Contemporary Art @ 1700 EST
Christie’s, New York, 21st Century Evening Sale @ 1900 EST
20th November
Christie’s, New York, Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale @ 1000 & 1400 EST
Sotheby’s New York, The Pritzker Collection @ 1800 EST
Sotheby’s New York, Exquisite Corpus @ 1830 EST
Sotheby’s New York, Modern Evening Auction @ 1930 EST
21st November