21/11/2001
by James Gaskell

The week of Sotheby's and Christie's high-profile fall auctions of Post-War and Contemporary art got under way just as New York’s second major catastrophe threatened to deliver a killer blow to the city's resilience, already under immense strain. The words of the "Wall Street Journal" that "art and beauty are a counter-force to destruction" would be tested to the full. Alongside it's already heavyweight Contemporary 30 lot sale, Sotheby’s was also offering an exceptional group of 31 American works from the collection of the legendary television producer Douglas S. Cramer estimated to raise $ 15,000,000-22,000,000 (€ 16,992,090-24,922,657), but which on the day fetched $ 24,057,000 (€ 27,252,925) (72% sold) and $ 20,748,950 (€ 23,505,039) (100% sold), respectively. Christie's meanwhile spread its less heavyweight, though no less exceptional, Hans Grothe collection of German art between its Post-War and Contemporary sales, which raised $ 25,154,500 (€ 28,495,780) (70%) and $ 6,908,550 (€ 7,826,214) (78%), respectively.

The artist of the week was Roy Lichtenstein with five works selling in excess of $ 1,000,000 (€ 1,132,790), including the top lot of the week Ball of Twine, a 1963 painting from his black and white "single object" series, which was bought by dealer Larry Gagosian at Sotheby’s for $ 4,075,750 (€ 4,617,154), twice its estimate. In the same sale a preparatory drawing by Lichtenstein for his George Washington painting of the same period trebled its upper estimate to make $ 940,750 (€ 1,065,715), setting a new record for a drawing by the artist, no doubt spurred on by the work’s patriotic subject. Another record was set by Jasper Johns' Untitled (1986), the second largest sheet drawing Johns has ever made, which achieved an outstanding price at Sotheby's again selling to Gagosian for a double estimate $ 2,535,750 (€ 2,872,587). Johns' celebrated, though less iconic, 1989 painting Montez Singing was the top lot of the Cramer collection but suppressed bidding failed to push it beyond its low-end estimate of $ 3,745,750 (€ 4,243,261), eventually being picked up by Gagosian. Evidence of ebbing confidence was apparent in other strongly estimated lots such as Warhol's Liz, a classic 1963 image of Elizabeth Taylor which only fetched $ 3,580,750 (€ 4,056,210), well below its estimate of $ 4,000,000-5,000,000 (€ 4,531,130-5,663,912), and only a fraction of the $ 17,000,000 (€ 19,256,787) paid for Orange Marilyn (1964) in 1998. Other victims were two photo-paintings by Gerhard Richter which failed to sell, Diana (1967), at Christie's and Volker Bradke (1966), at Sotheby's, both estimated at $ 3,000,000-4,000,000 (€ 3,398,256-4,056,210).

Records were being made lower down the scale at Sotheby's with a monumental expressionist work by Anselm Kiefer, Athanor (1991), selling for $ 1,160,750 (€ 1,314,842). Ellsworth Kelly's Red, White, Blue (1968) sold for an above-estimate $ 1,435,750 (€ 1,626,461), a record for the artist; Richard Serra's arching steel wall Untitled (1984) sold well above estimate to Gagosian for $ 1,215,750 (€ 1,377,128), while Edward Ruscha's Untitled (Standard) (1989), a classic gasoline station image, went for twice its estimate of $ 687,750 (€ 779,041).

Christie's most successful sales included an early masterpiece by George Baselitz, Der Hirte (1966), from his acclaimed "Hero" series, which sold within estimate for $ 1,106,000 (€ 1,252,700) to a European collector. Tom Wesselman's Still Life No.28 (1963), the artist’s most important work to come to auction which, sold at a top estimate of $ 798,000 (€ 903,847), aided no doubt by the inclusion of an image of Abraham Lincoln; while the "quintessential American painter" Alex Katz's Blue Umbrella No.2 (1972) posted a new record when it sold to New York art consultant Lorinda Ash for $ 666,000 (€ 754,338). In the more contemporary category it has been young German artists rather than the "Young British Artists" who have been breaking records this year, and the Grothe collection confirmed this trend. Not only did Bernd and Hilla Becher's work set a new record but so did their protégés Thomas Demand and Andreas Gursky, who remains well out in front with a new record of $ 600,000 (€ 679,552) for his masterwork Paris, Montparnasse (1993) (in an edition of five!). Thomas Struth and Thomas Ruff also sold well but didn't manage to beat records they set earlier in the year. Rineke Dijkstra's photographs also achieved new heights with her 1994 triptych, from an edition of three, which sold for $ 105,000 (€ 118,921).

Under testing circumstances, the final results of the sale are commendable, even if bolstered significantly by some last minute reductions in reserves. Sotheby's escaped with the least damage as their all American Cramer collection offered the perfect consolation for the US market, whereas Christie's lost out badly on the Grothe collection which raised only half the guaranteed sum arranged with Hans Grothe before September 11. Despite some excellent results, the auction overall provided proof that the market is contracting, given that the final sales figure was only half that of the equivalent auctions this time last year.