Collections and collateral bring $690 million at Christie's
Result of the two evening auctions higher than the last two semesters: 218 million from the Weiss collection and 471.7 million from the general catalogue: 80 lots offered, one withdrawal and three unsold
Key points
The busy New York auction week began with overall results up on previous rounds with a sale of 80 lots in two catalogues offered by Christie's on the evening of 17 November.
After a withdrawal, the total result for the 76 lots sold out of the 79 offered was $689.8m, close to the pre-auction high estimate, a significantly higher total than in the last two semesters, including $218m for the Weiss collection and $471.7m for the general catalogue. As many as 50 lots were guaranteed by third parties, including 15 out of 18 from the Weiss collection and six from the auction house; the four results over $20m from the general catalogue of 62 lots were all guaranteed. A total of 21 lots exceeded the $10m threshold, although bids were concentrated on a very small number, less than a dozen lots, with many adjudications below the low estimate.
The Weis Collection
The first part of the evening featured the collection of the supermarket kings Patricia and Robert Weis, with 18 works of great value, of which 15 were guaranteed by third parties and three by the auction house. Two of the three lots that did not sell at the start did not find buyers, thus ending up at the auction house that guaranteed them directly: a work by Mirò from 1938 estimated at $8-12 million, and Franz Kline's large 1961 canvas 'Placidia' (estimated at $10-15 million).
Half of the total realisation of $218m came from the first two, which were sold without any particular enthusiasm from guaranteed asking estimates: Mark Rothko's 1958 large sunburst canvas "No. 31 (yellow stripe)" changed hands at $62.2m with commissions, briefly contested online, while earlier the portrait of young lover Marie-Therese intent on reading painted by Picasso in the celebrated year 1932 fetched $45.5m. Possibly ending up at the guarantor was Piet Mondrian's 'Composition with Red and Blue' from 1939-41 which fetched under its estimate of $20-30m, making a total of $23m with commissions, while among the works contended to exceed high estimates was an ochre portrait by Matisse from 1937 'Figure et Bouquet' which fetched up to $32.3m from an estimate of $15-25m. Also exceeding $20m was a bronze sculpture by Max Ernst conceived in 1944: a devilish chess player 'Le roi jouant avec la reine' with a 1961 cast also contended for up to $20.2m with commissions. Excellent results were also achieved for a 'Still Life' by Morandi from 1952 which sold for $3m, well above the estimate of $1.2-1.8m.
The General Catalogue
The success of the general catalogue was largely due to three collections, starting with the dispersal of a private Japanese museum owned by the DIC company, the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, with eight lots all secured by third parties, including the catalogue's main realiser, a classic 1907 'Water Lily' by Monet which sold below its estimate of $40-60m at $45.5m with commissions. In contrast, a large biblical canvas over two metres by Chagall, 'Le songe du Roi David' of 1966, sold for $26.5m with commissions, the second highest price ever for the artist and more than double its high estimate of $12m, while a second smaller painting by Chagall from 1949, 'Le soleil rouge or Le soleil des amoureux' depicting a pair of lovers fetched $10.5m above its high estimate, narrowly edging out Renoir's 1891 nude from the same estimate.
