Chandelier bid. A quiet telephone bank. Executives wipe their brows out.
One of the most anticipated auctions of the season proved to be the anti-climax at Christie's in New York on Monday evening. There, many objects were pre-published to guarantee bids, and there was little evidence of the enthusiastic buyers who defined the market peak in 2022.
Louise Riggio has commissioned nearly 40 pieces from a collection she built with her husband, Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio, who passed away last year. The second Monday night auction, known as the 20th Century Night Sale, has been better, with more artwork being sold above estimates, and more livelihood bids in the phone and room.
Christie's has recently worked diligently to offload auction house risk, objects by object, assuring the shippers a private minimum of the collection.
At first glance, the Riggio collection seemed alright for a total of $272 million, including buyer fees. However, the sale, stripped of fees, did not meet pre-sale expectations of the auction house, including a low estimate of $252 million.
“It's ideal to come in,” said auctioneer Adrian Meyer, who at one point struggled to find a bidder on one of the lower priced items for sale.
The top lot of the Riggio sale was a 1922 grid painting by Mondrian. It was sold for $47.6 million, including fees. The canvas, “a big red plane, bluish-gray, yellow and blue composition,” did not reach the previous record of Mondrian, set just three years ago at Sotheby's.
The canvas, which is not larger than the throw pillows in the almost 21-inch square, was still a desolate sales shortpper.
Art dealer Brett Golby said that Mondrian's failure to cause a bid war was a result of an aggressive estimate of around $50 million. “This wouldn't have been such a problem a year ago when the true depth of the bid was a major factor in price driving,” he said. “The first high price was a deterrent by many collectors despite the quality and rarity of the work.”
As the first major sale of the auction season, Riggeo Collection was considered a pioneer of major sales at Christie, Sotheby's and Phillips this week.
The subsequent 20th century evening sale ended with a total of $217 million, including fees. A major setback took place midway when the company announced it was withdrawing its most expensive Warhol painting of the season, the Big Electric Chair.
“The weakness of the Warhol market is a clear takeaway,” said art advisor Jacob King after leaving the auction floor. “There is a huge amount of uncertainty in the financial market. The auction house's response was to give everything a guarantee.”
But there were some signs of life. Paintings by Gerhard Richter, Vincent Van Gogh and Helen Frankenthaler were sold for high estimates, a sign of demand in the art market.
After a five-minute bidding contest, “Peupliers au bord de l'epte, crépuscule, crépuscule” 1891 Monet's painting of the poplar tree. Thomas Dunziger, the lawyer who represented the anonymous seller behind the canvas, said the auction house's purchases of between an estimated $30 million and $50 million were a positive indication.
“The world has clearly changed since the bubbly arts market in 2022,” Danziger said. “If you choose between blue chip paintings and more speculative artwork, a savvy collector might say, “Show me Monet.” ”
However, not all sales were created equal, and some successful transactions showed how far the market for a given artwork has declined.
Lucio Fontana's painting (or $17.4 million when adjusting inflation) sold nearly $14 million at Christie's in 2017, returned to the auction house Monday evening. It sold for just $7.5 million, including the price.
Christie's CEO Bonnie Brennan said the company has an aggressive performance. “It was a solid result,” she said. “Did we want to see an even more exciting bid in our room? Of course?”
Christie's global president, Alex Rotter added: “It's a healthy market. You need to work very hard on it.”
