High-ranking treasures from one of the most grotesque treasures in Manhattan Billionaire Divorce Monday night helped Sotheby’s achieve what it described as record total sales of a private set of artworks at auction, $922 million, in fees.
Sotheby’s has sold its second stash of modern and contemporary works named the Grail owned by the real estate mogul Harry McCullough And his ex-wife, Linda McCullough, Honorary Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Artfor $246.1 million. The first batch of sale, raised in November $676.1 million Of the 35 pieces, it is topped by works by Mark Rothko ($82.5 million) and Alberto Giacometti ($78.4 million).
As is the nature of the sequences, Selling the second McCulloughwhich includes 30 lots, wasn’t quite in that league, but is powered by Rothko for $48 million, Gerhard Richter Priced at $30.2 million and Andy Warhol At $18.7 million, he paid the final total, which Sotheby’s said exceeded the sale of Peggy and David Rockefeller Collection in 2018 for $835.1 million, before inflation, at Christie’s.
Monday’s sale, estimated to raise at least $168 million, kicked off the second week of two weeks of high-profile auctions for modern and contemporary art.
There were a few noteworthy things that exceeded expectations, such as a 1961 orange and yellow de kooning which sold for $17.8 million over the high estimates of $10 million and Sigmar Polk’s “scribe,” which sold for $6 million above the high estimate of $4 million.
“Either art is one of the few assets that appears to be well immune to recession, or inflation is much stronger than we think,” said Loic Gouzer, former senior specialist at Christie’s. “The art market is very close to the parts market – good works are hard to find and very expensive.”
For more than 50 years, the McCulloughs have acquired prime examples of the work of white male artists such as Warhol, Richter, Rothko and Cy Twombly, which are traditionally seen as excellent investments. But recently, a lot of energy and money in the market has turned towards Young emerging namesespecially female and male artists.
“We thought about our place with white male artists,” said Susan Giorgi, global head of art and financial advisory at Citi Private Bank. “Then McCullough’s sale came and he did very well.”
Gyorgy said the Macklowe sale showed that there was still a lot of demand for works with museum-approved names, provided they were of high quality. “There are collectors who want the best of the best and are still upgrading their collections,” Giorgi said. “Even if there are dips in certain markets, these artists are here to stay.”
The sale of McLaws’ precious artwork was the result of New York Court Order in 2018. Dissatisfied with the inability of the quarreling spouses to agree on how to divide their property, Judge Laura E. Drager The state Supreme Court decided that the collection – then valued at more than $700 million – should be sold at auction.
While the McCulloughs originally shared a love of collecting—he filled their Plaza and Hampton homes with paintings and sculptures—art became Mrs. McCullough’s chief passion. She had hoped to keep the major art pieces, but since most of her assets were restricted to the art collection, this proved impossible.
“The incomparable eye of Linda McCullough is on display again tonight,” said trader Mark Glimcher. “The amazing prices were a confirmation of that. We can only hope that she decided to use this money to bring back her keen sense, impeccable taste, and deep knowledge of the artists and for the collection.”
Christie’s 2018 charity sale of The Rockefeller Charity Collection—a marathon prose of art and antiques assembled in a different era of collecting flair—included 1,580 items on display in six direct sales and one online-only auction. The Macklowe collection consists of only 65 high-value items (all sold out).
Selling strong, b Roy Lichtenstein mirror painting and Agnes Martin worked from Blurry Lines each sale at about three times their high estimates ($6 million and about $10 million, respectively).
Last week, Christie’s raised $1.4 million from its various sales, including 195 million dollars For Warhol’s 1964 silk screen “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn”. This week, Sotheby’s is introducing its merchandise, as is Phillips, which Wednesday night will feature Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting It is estimated to sell for $70 million.
But with the suffering of stocks Six consecutive weeks of backtrackingBecause of the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine and persistent concerns about rising inflation and interest rates, the higher end of the international art market could be put to a stress test.
“I never thought I would see a sale of the McCullough collection,” Harry McCullough said at an after-sale press conference, reflecting on all the auctions he himself attended as a collector. “I’m happy with that. Not by economics, but by the quality that collectors admit. Everyone has endorsed the choices we’ve made over the past 65 years, that’s been the greatest payoff.”