Written by Maeve Zimmerman
“Quality, provenance, and desire” are the key ingredients to success that art advisor Megan Fox Kelly named leading up to the marquee sales week in New York. This November auction weeks indeed proved that where there is quality, desire is alive and well at the very top of the market. Buyers are eager to purchase best in class, top quality, fresh to market works. Embodying this trifecta was Chairman of Christie’s 20/21 Art departments Alex Rotter’s “masterpiece strategy” to secure the best of the best artworks in each category. The strategy was a success: the star of the marquee week was Christie’s sale of René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières for $121.2 million with fees.
Hailing from Mica’s Ertegun’s stunning collection, L’empire des lumières not only set a world-record price for the artist at auction, but for any Surrealist work offered on the secondary market.
Masterpieces abounded at Christie’s and Sotheby’s single owner evening sales, both of which featured the exquisite collections of glamorous taste making women, designer and philanthropist Mica Ertegun and beauty entrepreneur and philanthropist Sydell Miller. In addition to L’empire des lumières, Part I of Mica Ertegun’s collection included eighteen other works by the likes of David Hockney and Ed Ruscha, as well as three additional works by Magritte. Out of the nineteen lots, eighteen were guaranteed by third parties and one by Christie’s itself. Part I of Mica Ertegun’s collection achieved $157 million ($183.9M with fees), achieving a white glove sale and surpassing the presale low estimate of $139 million.
Uptown at Sotheby's, the Collection of Sydell Miller generated $216 million during the evening auction with 100% sold by lot, achieving a white glove sale and exceeding its high pre-sale estimate. Of the 25 lots, 9 sparked bidding wars, including the 17-minute battle for Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1914–17).
Supported by a house guarantee and irrevocable bids, the “jewel of the collection” (as auctioneer Oliver Barker described it) sold for $59 million, or $65.5 million with fees, just below its pre-sale estimate of $60 million. Other gems from the sale were Francois-Xavier Lalanne’s whimsical Troupeau d’Eléphants dans les Arbres Table (2001) and Henri Matisse’s Jeune fille en robe bose (1942), both of which exceeded their high pre-sale estimates.
The single owner sales of Mica Ertegun and Sydell Miller proved hard to beat, and the Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale and Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction that followed generated less excitement. For context, L’empire des lumières generated more revenue than the 31 lots combined at Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction ($93.1 million with 77.4% sold by lot). After withdrawing three works, Christie’s 20th Century offered 53 lots of which six had house guarantees, twenty-one had third party guarantees, and twelve went unsold. A high point was the sale of Ed Rucha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half (1964) for $59 million ($68.2 million with fees).
Low points included the Jasper Johns, Henri Rousseau, Georgia O’Keeffe, Wayne Thiebaud, and Gustave Caillebotte that failed to sell. According to ARTnews. over 40 percent of the lots just met their low estimates or failed to do so, and the Art Newspaper reported that the sale generated $253 million ($302 million with fees), stalling below the pre-sale estimate of $265 million. When compared with the 2023 various owners’ section of Christie’s 20th Century evening sale which reached $543.4 million with fees over 63 lots, this year’s edition presented fewer and lower level lots with a higher percentage of lots guaranteed.
Although Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction was largely guaranteed, with 13 lots supported by the house and another dozen by third parties, results were still mixed. Sotheby’s offered 31 lots after withdrawing two, and seven lots still failed to sell. One of these was supposed to be the sale’s top lot, Henri Matisse’s Torse de jeune fille (1921–22), with a pre-sale estimate of $12 million–$18 million. Instead, the top lot ended up being Alberto Giacometti’s Buste (Tête tranchante) (Diego), which achieved $11.5 million ($13.3 million with fees), followed by the Danner Memorial Window from Tiffany Studios, which reached $10.8 million ($12.5 million with fees). Overall, the Modern Evening Auction generated $93.1 million after fees, just squeaking by the presale low estimate after withdrawals of $92.3 million. For reference, the same sale in 2023 offered 33 lots (after 8 were withdrawn) that yielded a total of $223.4 million with fees, almost two and a half times this year’s revenue. A fun conceptual artwork by (prankster) artist Maurizio Cattelan, "Comedia" sold for $6.2m. It was just a fruit-stand banana taped on the wall. The art banana saw competitive bidding and was ultimately snapped up by a crypto entrepreneur who is intending to eat it.
Phillips also had its fair share of ups and downs at its Modern and Contemporary Evening sale, which generated $54.1 million with fees, down 23 percent from the sale’s $70 million performance in 2023. The star of the show was Jackson Pollock’s Untitled (1948), which sold for $13 million ($15.3 million with fees) and represented 29.4% of the sale’s earnings. Also notable was Elizabeth Peyton’s portrait of Kurt Cobain, Kurt (sunglasses) (1995) which spurred a bidding war that ended with a price tag of $1.9 million ($2.3 million with fees).
A lowlight of the sale was when Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Self-Portrait (1983), estimated between $10-15 million, failed to sell. The sale offered thirty lots after withdrawing three, and 11 were supported by third party guarantees. Including the Basquiat, five lots failed to sell, and eight sold below their low estimates, resulting in the sale falling short of its $60.1 million pre-sale estimate.
During the morning session of Phillips Modern and Contemporary Art Day Sale, many works passed or failed to meet their low presale estimates, but there were moments of excitement largely thanks to Surrealist or Surrealist-adjacent lots. Of the lots that soared well above their high presale estimates, most were Surrealist, by the likes of Joseph Cornell, Dorothea Tanning, Herbert Bayer, Mary Bauermeister, Kurt Seligmann, and Maija Peeples-Bright. These sales echoed the excitement of the Magrittes at Christie’s and the Leonora Carringtons at Sotheby’s; clearly, as the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of Surrealism, the auction houses and their buyers do too.
Ultimately, while the evening sales demonstrated that collectors are willing to pay for top quality trophies, they also revealed that buyers are still selective, especially in the middle market. The day sales further showcased this discretion, marked by tentative bidding and subdued salerooms. Works by highly sought-after artists failed to sell in evening and day sales alike, indicating that buyers are only willing to shell out for works of the highest caliber. Yet, it is important to remember that these auction results are not the sole indicators of today’s art market, as a more holistic and accurate picture must include private and primary sales. For that, we look to Art Basel Miami Beach next week.