Victoria Kleiner, Head of Art Valuation and Due Diligence
Following the immense success of the Karpides auctions at Sotheby’s in September, in which every single lot was sold – the majority well above their estimates – the London Frieze week auctions at the two major houses continued to provide signs of optimism with regards to market recovery. This October saw the highest auction total since October 2022, when the market was at a peak. Christie’s saw an especially strong showing, taking its highest Frieze week total in seven years.
Christie’s took a total of 106,925,400 million GBP (including premium) from 60 lots, whilst Sotheby’s took a total of 47,560,640 million GBP (including premium) from 27 lots. Of particular note in both sales was the low rate of unsold and withdrawn works, indicating overall market health and good demand, whilst also suggesting that estimates had been pitched at an appropriate level. Christie’s saw five unsold lots and withdrew two, whilst Sotheby’s saw three unsold lots, with no withdrawn works. The sell through rate of 91.3% at Christie’s was a rise on their 88.5% sell through rate in October 2024, whilst Sotheby’s sell through rate of 88.9% was also a rise from 81.8% in October 2024.
Christie’s strong total was primarily due to the inclusion of a single-owner section devoted to the collection of Ole Faarup, which included significant works by Jean-Michael Basquiat, Peter Doig and Chris Ofili, amongst others. The top two results from the auction were achieved for Doig oils from the Faarup collection – ‘Ski Jacket’, which hammered at 12 million GBP against its estimate of 6-8 million GBP, and ‘Country Rock’ which hammered at 7.6 million GBP against its estimate of 7-10 million GBP. Both oils were top quality examples of Doig’s work, featuring highly sought after subjects, and were of a calibre rarely seen on the market recently.
Also of note within the Christie’s Evening Sale were strong prices for Domenico Gnoli (hammer price of 770,000 GBP against an estimate of 500-700,000 GBP) and a striking work by Maurice Denis (hammer price of 1.35 million GBP against an estimate of 600-900,000 GBP). Sculptor Annie Morris also continued her recent strong streak at auction, with one of her Bronze ‘Stack’ pieces selling for a hammer price of 380,000 GBP against an estimate of 100-150,000 GBP. Success was not unalloyed: 2 out of 3 works offered from the Crex Collection – a Gerhard Richter and a Blinky Palermo – went unsold. Both works were somewhat more esoteric examples of the artists oeuvres, with their dark palettes being rather less commercial than their other, more vibrant, offerings. In addition, although it took the third highest price of the sale, Lucian Freud’s ‘Self-Portrait Fragment’ hammered at 6.2 million GBP against its estimate of 8-12 million GBP, with its unfinished nature presumably holding off further bidding.
Of particular note at Sotheby’s was Francis Bacon’s ‘Portrait of a Dwarf’, which took the top price of the sale (hammer price of 11 million GBP against an estimate of 6-9 million GBP) after a protracted bidding battle. Contemporary American artist Lucy Bull soared above the estimate of 300-500,000 GBP for her work ‘9.59’ to achieve a hammer price of 1 million GBP. However, there was a feeling that Sotheby’s was holding back its strongest offerings for the upcoming November New York sales. Indeed, several major single-owner collections have been announced by the House for these November auctions, including the collection of Leonard A. Lauder and the collection of Cindy and Jay Pritzker, as well as a major group of 80 Surrealist works from a private collection. In addition, it is worth noting that Christie’s much larger sale was in part due to the fact that it now only holds London Evening 20/21 sales in March and October, having abandoned their June auction, whereas Sotheby’s still maintains three major London Evening auction seasons each year in the category.
Market momentum was maintained the week following Frieze during the sale series that took place alongside Art Basel in Paris. Sotheby’s took a total of 89.7 million EUR (including premium) – 50% higher than the equivalent total this time last year - whilst Christie’s took a total of 92.5 million EUR (including premium). Sotheby’s saw fierce competition for a Modigliani portrait that set a new record for the artist in France, simultaneously becoming the most expensive artwork sold by Sotheby’s Paris to date: the work raced ahead of its estimate of 5.5-7.5 million EUR to take a hammer price of 23 million EUR. Also of note was a remarkable necklace by Salvador Dali, blurring the line between art and jewellery, which sold for a hammer price of 580,000 EUR against its estimate of 300-500,000 EUR (whilst being worn by auctioneer, Aurelie Vandevoorde). Christie’s set their own record with the sale of Yves Klein’s ‘California (IKB 71)’ which set a new record for the artist in France, selling for a hammer price of 15.5 million EUR against an undisclosed estimate. Another work of interest at Christie’s was a very early sculptural relief by Max Ernst that took a hammer price of 2.65 million EUR, well above its estimate of 800-1.2 million EUR.
These two weeks of auctions can be said to have exceeded expectations, coming as they did on the back of a period of correction within the market. Given the overall strength of these recent results, cautious optimism can be the abiding mood in the run up to the Marquee New York auctions in November.
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