{"id":6897,"date":"2025-05-16T15:28:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/16\/sothebys-may-16-contemporary-sales-closed-at-186-1m-in-new-york\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T15:28:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:28:29","slug":"sothebys-may-16-contemporary-sales-closed-at-186-1m-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/16\/sothebys-may-16-contemporary-sales-closed-at-186-1m-in-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Sotheby\u2019s May 16 Contemporary Sales Closed at $186.1M in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sales on May 16 reflected renewed energy in the contemporary and ultra-contemporary segments. Bre Johnson\/BFA.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Closing out a week-long marathon of evening marquee sales, Sotheby\u2019s capped its final major May auction with a combined total of $186.1 million across three sales. After Tuesday\u2019s disappointment, when the star Giacometti went unsold<\/a>, the tone shifted notably. The night opened with strength: a tightly edited selection of twelve works from the personal art collection of legendary dealer Barbara Gladstone<\/a>, defined as much by quality as by a distinctly dark aesthetic. The white-glove segment brought in $18.8 million, surpassing its presale estimate of $11.9-17.2 million.<\/p>\n

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The first lot\u2014a tender, intimately scaled portrait by Elizabeth Peyton<\/a>\u2014quickly sold for $700,000 ($889,000 with fees), landing comfortably within its $600,000-800,000 estimate. A Thomas Sch\u00fctte sculpture followed, attracting four bidders before settling at $550,000 ($698,000 with fees). On Kawara<\/a>\u2019s Aug. 8, 1975<\/i> came next, selling for $635,000. Interest grew more subdued with Rudolf Stingel<\/a>\u2019s introspective psychological self-portrait, which hammered at $1.4 million ($1.8 million with fees).<\/p>\n

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Richard Prince\u2019s Man Crazy Nurse sold for $3.9 million, falling short of its presale low estimate of $4 million. Sotheby\u2019s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then came Richard Prince<\/a>\u2019s iconic Man Crazy Nurse<\/i> from his first show with Gladstone. Opening at $3 million, it sold almost immediately for $3.9 million\u2014likely to a guarantor\u2014falling just short of its $4 million low estimate and far from the $10 million works from the series commanded a decade ago. In contrast, Prince\u2019s more conceptual, text-based work, Are You Kidding<\/i> (1988), climbed swiftly to $2.6 million. Although auctioneer Oliver Barker<\/a> initially rejected $50,000 increments, he eventually relented in the face of a stall, and the lot inched forward to a final hammer of $2.85 million ($3.5 million with fees).<\/p>\n

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Andy Warhol\u2019s Flowers<\/em> sold for $3.8 million\u2014well above its $1.5 million presale high estimate. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seven drawings by Raymond Pettibon<\/a> opened at $40,000 and surged to $241,300, chased by at least five phone bidders. Next came the rare Black Flower<\/i>, which began with \u201clittle interest\u201d at $600,000\u2014despite an absentee bid already placed at $1 million\u2014with phone specialists audibly urging the action forward. Chased by four bidders, the rare black version ultimately achieved $3.8 million with fees.<\/p>\n

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SEE ALSO:<\/b> At Christie\u2019s, Women Commanded the Market While Rewriting Records<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Closing the sale was a large, colorful embroidery by Alighiero Boetti<\/a>, which opened with a conservative $200,000 bid and eventually hammered at $550,000 ($698,500 with fees), despite recent international momentum surrounding the Italian artist.<\/p>\n

Daniella Luxembourg<\/a>\u2019s collection pointed to revived interest in Italian postwar works<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to start,\u201d said a slightly impatient Oliver Barker, pushing into the next session, which featured works from the top-tier collection of visionary dealer Daniella Luxembourg<\/a>. The selection captured a moment of essential rapture in the history of 21st-century art, in dialogue with evolving concepts of form, matter and space, and the sale closed white glove at $40.4 million, meeting its presale expectations and signaling a revived appetite for Italian postwar. Sixty percent of lots sold above their high estimates and, wrapping the session, Barker remarked, \u201cWhat a lucky night,\u201d thanking the dealer\u2019s daughter for her collaboration.<\/p>\n

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Lot 3, Michelangelo Pistoletto\u2019s Maria Nuda<\/em> fetched $3.4 million, exceeding its $1.5 million high estimate. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The aforementioned appetite was evident from the first lot, as Lucio Fontana<\/a>\u2019s Concetto Spaziale<\/i> climbed from a $40,000 opening to fetch $440,000, setting a new auction record for a sculptural work by the artist. Immediately after, the first of two Alexander Calders in the collection\u2014The Beetle<\/i> (1969), once lyrically suspended in the dealer\u2019s living room\u2014opened at $2.2 million, surged past its high estimate to sell for $4.2 million ($5.1 million with fees) to a lone phone bidder, five times its last auction result. Momentum carried into a later lot with the rare black Calder, Armada<\/i>, made just after the war when he returned to metal sheets. It hammered at $5.4 million ($6.5 million with fees), despite a bidder attempting to enter after the hammer had already fallen.<\/p>\n

Lively bidding followed for Michelangelo Pistoletto<\/a>\u2019s early mirror painting Maria Nuda<\/i> (1969), depicting the Arte Povera master\u2019s wife. Chased by eight bidders, it hammered at $2.75 million ($3.4 million with fees) to a phone bidder with Claudia Deck<\/a>, after a tense sequence of $50,000 increments. A quintessential Arte Povera piece, Pino Pascali<\/a>\u2019s seminal work also surged, with recognition recently revived by a major survey at Fondazione Prada and a group show at Bourse de Commerce-Pinault Collection. It hammered at $13 million ($14.485 million with fees).<\/p>\n

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Lucio Fontana\u2019s Concetto spaziale, La Fine di Dio<\/em> (1963) sold for $14,485,000. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later in the sale, Fontana\u2019s luminous gold Fine di Dio<\/i> opened at $11 million and landed within its $12-18 million estimate, selling for $14.4 million with fees after several tense minutes of Barker coaxing a muted room and likely going to its guarantor. A later Teatrini<\/i> work by Fontana saw little action and sold for $500,000. Held in Luxembourg\u2019s collection for 25 years, another yellow canvas by the artist sold for $1.3 million, while a drawing achieved $400,000.<\/p>\n

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SEE ALSO:<\/b> Despite Quiet Bidding, Christie\u2019s Evening Sales Brought in $489M<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Luciano Fabro\u2019s iconic Italy<\/i> silhouette was pursued by at least four bidders and beat its high estimate, selling for $1,079,500 with fees. Strong interest also met the museum-quality Soft Switchers<\/i> by Claes Oldenburg<\/a>, which sold in the room for $1.55 million, setting a new record for the artist\u2019s Light Switch<\/i> series. Next, Alberto Burri<\/a>\u2019s monumental black Cretto<\/i> from 1966\u2014comparable only to examples now in institutions like Centre Pompidou\u2014attracted steady bidding and hammered at $2.6 million ($3.1 million with fees), landing squarely within its $2.5 million low estimate. Closing the curated offering, Joseph Kosuth<\/a>\u2019s neon hammered on the phone for $190,000 with fees, surpassing its $150,000 high estimate.<\/p>\n

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Alexander Calder\u2019s Armada<\/em> sold for $6.3 million, passing its $5 million low estimate. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

The night continued with the main sale, Sotheby\u2019s<\/a> The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction<\/a>, which began with strong interest in Danielle Mckinney<\/a>\u2019s emotional Stand Still<\/i>, which was chased by multiple phone bidders and hammered at $220,000 ($279,400 with premium), setting the second-highest price ever for the artist. Fierce bidding also propelled Mohammed Sami<\/a>\u2019s work to $571,500, well above its high estimate but still shy of his record of $952,500.<\/p>\n

A rare appearance at auction, Michael Armitage<\/a>\u2019s 2014 painting Mpeketoni<\/i> sold on the phone for $2,368,000 after a drawn-out battle between two bidders, the final increment coaxed out by Barker. The new record coincides with Armitage\u2019s debut show at David Zwirner, which recently announced the gallery\u2019s representation of the artist.<\/p>\n

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Danielle McKinney\u2019s Stand Still<\/em> (2023) sold for $279,400, more than four times its $40,000-60,000 estimate. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Timed with his career survey now on view at the Guggenheim, Rashid Johnson<\/a>\u2019s mosaic Two Standing Broken Men<\/i> quickly exceeded its $1.2 million high estimate, selling for $1.4 million ($1,758,000 with premium). Later in the sale, a work by Jack Whitten<\/a>\u2014whose major institutional show is currently at MoMA\u2014achieved $1.1 million, also above its estimate.<\/p>\n

From a $5 million opening, Ed Ruscha<\/a>\u2019s text-based sky painting That Was Then, This Is Now<\/i> hammered at $7 million ($7,795,000 with premium). It was followed by a Laura Owens<\/a>, fresh off a critically acclaimed show at Matthew Marks in New York, which sold with thin bidding for $952,500 to a woman in the room.<\/p>\n

Momentum picked back up with Adrian Ghenie<\/a>\u2019s Alpine Retreat<\/i>, which sold to a phone bidder in Hong Kong for $2.55 million ($3.2 million with premium). A new record was also set for a sentimental work by fast-rising Japanese painter Yu Nishimura<\/a>, which soared to $406,400\u2014doubling his previous high of $296,100.<\/p>\n

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The evening top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat\u2019s Untitled<\/em> from 1981, which sold for $16.4 million. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The evening\u2019s top lot was a five-foot Jean-Michel Basquiat<\/a> painting, held in the same private collection since 1999, which sold for $13.7 million ($16,365,000 with fees). The vibrant work was pursued by four phone bidders in a prolonged six-minute battle that ended in applause, marking the artist\u2019s second-highest result.<\/p>\n

Strong results also came from a selection of works from Roy Lichtenstein<\/a>\u2019s collection, beginning with Nude in the Mirror<\/i>, which sold for $2 million, and Woman. Sunlight. Moonlight.<\/i>, a sculpture that climbed from its $3 million opening to $4.9 million. Lichtenstein\u2019s Stretcher Frame with Cross Bars III<\/i> achieved $4.9 million with fees, well above its $3.5 million high estimate. Altogether, the nine Lichtenstein lots brought in $29 million, exceeding the $25 million high estimate.<\/p>\n

As the marathon continued, fatigue set in with the lengthy list of Lichtenstein lots, and the pace slowed noticeably through the final twenty lots. Still, most sold within expectations. Notable exceptions included Tom Wesselmann<\/a>\u2019s iconic smoking-shaped canvas, which achieved $1.7 million, and Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Lalanne\u2019s coveted sheep set, originally commissioned by Gunter Sachs<\/a>, which sold for $2.3 million. The evening session concluded at $127.1 million, within its $101.4-146.6 million presale estimate, with 93 percent sold by lot.<\/p>\n

Overall, Sotheby\u2019s performance last night (May 16) reflected renewed energy in the contemporary and ultra-contemporary segments\u2014and perhaps more importantly, robust activity in the sub-seven-figure range. That said, guarantees and irrevocable bids continue to play a decisive role, even in this more dynamic end of the market.<\/p>\n

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Roy Lichtenstein\u2019s Stretcher Frame with Cross Bars III<\/em> sold for $4.9 million, twice its $2.5-3.5 million estimate. Sotheby’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Sotheby\u2019s<\/p><\/div>\n