Art Auctions Posted Over $8-B In 1-H Of This Year
$BID
Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger, (Version ‘O’),” hammered for $179.4-M, the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction
Global art auctions took in $8.1-B in 1-H of Y 2015 as collectors chased Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Andy Warhol.
Auction results 5.8% to $8.1-B from the same frame in Y 2014 because of soft sales in China, the UK, France and Germany, according to current figures.
Prices soared for trophy works as a smaller number of high value transactions dominated.
Sales have not declined in 1-H of the year since Y 2013, when global auctions fell 1.4% to $7.2%, according to the data.
Art auctions in China declined 32% to $1.5-B in 1-H. The U.S. ranked #1, with $3.4-B in sales, comprising 42% of the total take.
The Top 10 lots were auctioned in May in New York, with Christie’s handling 8 of them (as reported here on LTN).
Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger, (Version ‘O’),” was the Top Lot at $179.4-M (the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction), followed by Alberto Giacometti’s “Pointing Man” sculpture for $141.3-M. Sotheby’s (NYSE:BID) sold Vincent van Gogh’s “L’Allee des Alyscamps” for $66.3-M and Monet’s “Nympheas” for $54-M.
The Top 10 artists at auction sold more than $2-B of works in 1-H.
Picasso topped the list with $441-M in sales, which was bolstered by “Les Femmes.”
Monet was 2nd with $289-M in sales.
Warhol was 3rd with $288-M.
Giacometti, Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, Francis Bacon, Cy Twombly, Joan Miro and Jean-Michel Basquiat rounded out the Top 10, respectively.
Christie’s said that sales of art and collectibles at the London-based auction house rose to a record GBP 2.9-B ($4.5-B) in 1-H of this year.
Sotheby’s said its preliminary sales in 1-H were $3.2-B, the same take for the frame last year.
The the overall total does not include some sales in London and private sales. Sotheby’s said it will release full sales results in August.
“Prices are so high it is unlikely that they will appreciate as much and offer the same sort of returns to the new owners,” an art market analyst said.
| Symbol | Last Trade | Date | Change | Open | High | Low | Volume |
| NYSE:BID | 42.95 | 22 July 2015 | 0.06 | 42.77 | 43.21 | 42.77 | 275,621 |
| HeffX-LTN Analysis for BID: | Overall | Short | Intermediate | Long |
| Bearish (-0.41) | Very Bearish (-0.54) | Bearish (-0.35) | Bearish (-0.35) |
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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