Prosperity Sets the Tone at London
Auctions
By CAROL VOGEL
Published: June 26, 2006
LONDON, June 25 — No eyebrows were raised when Russian was heard
at London's important spring auctions of Impressionist, modern and
contemporary art, which ended on Friday. So many of Russia's new rich
have put down roots here that some jokingly call it Londongrad. And
few people at the sales were surprised to see Asians shopping.
$7.1 million for Picasso's "Seated Man With a Pipe and Cupid."
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Forum: Artists and Exhibitions
A detail from Egon Schiele's "Wilted Sunflowers (Autumn Sun II)," the artist's homage to van
Gogh's "Sunflowers."
Prosperity seemed pervasive. Sale catalogs bulged with works by Picasso
and Modigliani, Warhol and Schiele; prices often hit record highs. There
was also much talk of the record $135 million paid this month by Ronald
S. Lauder, the cosmetics heir, for Klimt's 1907 portrait "Adele BlochBauer I," purchased privately for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan.
But the sale results told a somewhat different story from past seasons.
Instead of fighting over pickled sharks or macabre canvases, the
European and Asian new rich here have far more conservative taste,
gravitating toward instantly recognizable names and softer images.
Cynics called them trophy hunters.
Some experts said the week's results were good news for the art world.
"The market is showing a return to sanity," said James Roundell, a
London dealer. "After years of escalating prices for artists barely out of
school, Impressionist paintings are suddenly back in vogue."
Sotheby's and Christie's both boasted the highest totals ever for their
Impressionist and modern art sales in London. And while the
contemporary auctions produced some impressive results, overpriced
and often mediocre examples of works by such artists as Donald Judd,
Egon Schiele, Lucian Freud and Luc Tuymans went unsold. Besides
taste, price had a lot to do with the renewed appetite for Impressionist
and modern art. After the big numbers paid for contemporary art
recently, older works suddenly looked like bargains.
Buyers were different too. Americans did not dominate these sales, as
they did during the New York auction season in May. The weak dollar
made prices seem particularly high to Americans, and the works on
offer, with fewer examples of first-rate classic contemporary works, were
not what appeal to many of today's American hedge-fund millionaires
right now.
Sotheby's sale of Impressionist and modern art, which opened the week
on Monday night, featured a collection of paintings identified in the
catalog as "property from an American private collection." That
collection belonged to Marvin Schein, a manufacturer and distributor of
generic drugs and medical products from Long Island who had spent
years quietly buying paintings, porcelains and French furniture, many of
them at auction. He was selling, people who know him say, because of a
divorce.
The sale was a good indicator of how prices have escalated. The most
expensive painting was Modigliani's "Jeanne Hébuterne (Wearing a
Hat)," a 1919 portrait of the artist's mistress and muse, which an
unidentified telephone bidder bought for $30.1 million, far above its
high $21.8 million estimate. Mr. Schein had bought the painting at
Sotheby's in New York nine years ago for $8.7 million.
An 1895 Degas pastel, "After the Bath," sold to another telephone buyer
for $12.4 million, after an $11.8 million high estimate.
A man in the front row of the salesroom, who bid throughout the
evening went unrecognized by even some of the most seasoned dealers.
Sotheby's experts would not identify him except to say he was one of
many new buyers that night. The mystery man snapped up "Woman in
the Garden," a flowery Renoir landscape from 1873, for $9.1 million, just
under its $10.9 million high estimate. Mr. Schein had bought the
painting, which depicts a woman standing in a garden holding a white
parasol, at Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg six years ago for $6.7
million.
"It's sad that on this occasion divorce does pay," said Mr. Roundell as he
was leaving Sotheby's after the sale, which brought a total of $163.7
million, just under its $167.2 million high estimate.
(Final prices include Sotheby's and Christie's commissions: 20 percent
of the first $200,000 of the hammer price and 12 percent of the rest.
Estimates do not reflect commissions.)
Christie's auction on Tuesday night did nearly as well, bringing $160.3
million, after an estimate of $129.9 million to $182.4 million. Again
some impressive prices were paid for Impressionist and postImpressionist paintings. Three bidders went for an 1881 Cézanne
landscape, "Houses in the Woods," which was sold to an unidentified
collector for $7.6 million, in the middle of its estimate, $6.5 million to
$8.4 million.
But luscious modern paintings drew the evening's top prices. Five
bidders went for a 1969 Picasso, "Seated Man With a Pipe and Cupid."
The hammer fell at $7.1 million, just at its high estimate, or $7.8 million
with Christie's commission, to Helly Nahmad, who runs a London
gallery.
"Wilted Sunflowers (Autumn Sun II)," a large 1914 painting by Schiele
that is the artist's homage to van Gogh's "Sunflowers," sold for $21.6
million, nearly twice its $11 million high estimate. Christopher Eykyn, a
private Manhattan dealer, bought it for a client.
Mr. Eykyn and his partner, Nicholas Maclean, who both left Christie's in
November after running the Impressionist and modern paintings
department, and they were big buyers all week. After the sale Mr. Eykyn
declined to say for whom he had bought the Schiele, other than that he
was a European who has been collecting for 35 to 40 years.
Mr. Maclean bought the most expensive painting at Sotheby's sale of
contemporary art on Wednesday night, paying $5.3 million for David
Hockney's "Splash." The price, just under the $5.4 million high estimate,
was a record for the artist . The 1966 painting depicts a swimming pool
with a splash of water rising up as if frozen in time after a leap off a
diving board. Although Mr. Maclean would not identify the client for
whom he was bidding, he did say it was a "newish collector."
The high price for Mr. Hockney's painting helped bring Sotheby's sale
total to $55. 4 million, just under its $56 million high estimate.
Throughout the evening other British works brought record prices. A
1966 painting by Bridget Riley, "Untitled (Diagonal Curve,)" a classic
black-and-white canvas of dizzying curves, was bought by Jeffrey
Deitch, a Manhattan dealer, for $2.1 million, nearly three times its
$730,000 high estimate and also a record for the artist.
The sale also included Warhol paintings of various dates, subject matter
and quality. "The Scream (After Edvard Munch)," a 1984 Pop
interpretation of the 1893 image, was bought by Theodore Baum, a New
Jersey collector bidding by telephone. Mr. Baum had to fight for the
painting: Lawrence Graff, the London jeweler, also wanted it. Mr. Baum
ended up paying $2.7 million for it, nearly three times its $915,000 high
estimate.
Mr. Graff was more successful at Christie's on Thursday night, when he
was able to buy another of Warhol's Munch-inspired canvases, "Eva
Mudocci" — a 1984 portrait of the British violinist set against a bright
blue background punctuated by ribbons of hot pink — for $565,704, far
above its $420,000 high estimate. Christie's sale brought $47.7 million,
in the middle of its $38.7 to $55.3 million estimate.
Every sale had its share of flops. When the auction houses set estimates
that buyers considered too high, prospective bidders just sat on their
hands. "You can't push estimates," said Philippe Ségalot, a Manhattan
dealer, after the sale. "By playing that game, the auction houses could
well end up the loser."
Perhaps because of the record price Mr. Lauder paid for the Klimt or
because works by German and Austrian artists are in vogue right now,
the best of them, reasonably estimated, brought strong prices. Three
contenders — Mr. Deitch, an unidentified telephone bidder and Kadee
Robbins, the director of Michael Werner Gallery in London — went after
"Composition (Passage: East/West)," a 1968 painting of primitive
figures and abstract signs by A. R. Penck. Ms. Robbins won, paying
$209,760, above its $110,000 high estimate.
"These artists, having been overshadowed by more obvious masters like
Warhol and Basquiat, are now beginning to be more properly
appreciated," Ms. Robbins said. "Their time has come."