ART MARKET PRICES FOR SEPTEMBER

Despite growing economic ills, notably in the real-estate sector, plenty of dough seems to be sloshing around in the art market this September 2007.

Sotheby’s New York’s "Asia Week" sales, Sept. 18-21, 2007, totaled $61,931,226. The super-hot property continues to be Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958), maker of the haunting "Bloodline" portraits of communist cadres, whose auction record now stands at $3,065,000, paid for the admittedly hyper-historical Chapter of a New Century -- Birth of the People’s Republic of China (1992). from artnet.com

Faberge Desk Clock sold four times the expected price

Faberge Desk Clock sold for $123,900 four times the expected price at the Sloans and Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers.
What: Faberge Desk Clock, Dated 1896-1908, Yellow guilloche enamel With a silver mounting, 4 1/2 inches in diameter, Lot 1488
Where: Sloans and Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers Chevy Chase, Md. September Estate Auction Sept. 16, 2007
How Much: Pre-Sale Estimate: $30,000 to $50,000
Final Selling Price: $123,900
[from forbes.com]

Francis Bacon Self-Portrait Expected to Fetch in Excess of $15 Million

"Self-Portrait" by Francis Bacon, a 1969 oil on canvas painting measuring 14 x 12 inches (35.5 x 40.5 centimeters). The work is expected to fetch in excess of $15 million during the Sotheby's New York.
Contemporary Art Evening sale on Nov. 14, 2007. Source: Sotheby's via Bloomberg News.


And, a Self-Portrait by Regia Marinho a 2004 acrylic on canvas painting measuring 24 x 24 inches (60.9 x 60.9 centimeters). The work is expected to fetch...

Portrait Of A Lady by Alice Neel sold for $445,000 at Christie's, New York

What: Alice Neel (1901-1984)
'Portrait of Roberta Johnson Roensch'
Oil on canvas
30 x 22 inches
Painted circa 1943-1946

Where: Christie's, New York
First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art
September 10, 2007

How Much: Pre-auction estimate: $50,000-$70,000
Final selling price: $445,000

The painting, on the auction block for the first time since it was created in the '40s, sold to a private U.S. collector after strong bidding for $445,000. It was expected to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000. It also set a new record for any Alice Neel painting at auction. The previous record, for the portrait "Peter B. Kaplan" was $216,000, sold at Sotheby's in 2006. [from forbes.com]

Art Auction Christie’s New York Sept.10

Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
1982
$1,161,000
Christie’s New York
Sept. 10, 2007

The top lot, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s untitled 1982 acrylic and oil stick on canvas, featuring a skull-like face with a crown on a turbulent background of blues, whites and burgundies. With a presale estimate of $1,200,000-$1,800,000, the painting ultimately sold for $1,160,000, presumably close to its undisclosed reserve. Still, $1,000,000-plus is a good price for a work that some observers thought marginal and haphazard. [from artnet]

"Most of the art press is writing about the sky falling," wrote Josh Baer, "but the art business is very strong. Demand is strong." [from Josh Baer, publisher of the Baer Faxt art-market newsletter]

Rostropovich art collection to be sold off at Sotheby's in London

A detail from Faces of Russia, by Boris Grigoriev, hailed as the most important Russian painting since the 1917 revolution. Photograph: Sotheby's

The art collection of 22 pieces, worth about twenty-six million to forty million dollars, is to be sold off September 18 and 19 at Sotheby's in London.

Yesterday Jo Vickery, the head of Sotheby's Russian department in London, said that Rostropovich and his wife bought their most significant works at a time when there was little interest in Russian art, unlike today, when Russian masterpieces routinely fetch millions. [from Guardian]

Francis Bacon Rent Cheque to Make £9 Million in Auction

Study from the Human Body, Man Turning on the Light (detail) by Francis Bacon (1909-1992).

A painting by renowned artist Francis Bacon, given to London's Royal College of Art in return for rent, is expected to fetch up to £9m at auction.

Study from the Human Body, Man Turning on the Light goes under the hammer at Christie's in London on 14 October. from BBC