NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2017
/PRNewswire/ -- Sotheby's concluded our 2017 auctions
this week, reaching an annual sales total of $4.7 billion that represents a 13.1% increase
over our 2016 results. From the record-breaking sale of
Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1982
masterpiece Untitled to Japanese collector and entrepreneur
Yusaku Maezawa, to the crowds who
visited our London galleries to
view the personal collection of Gone With the Wind star
Vivien Leigh, below is a look back
at the major moments that helped define the year at Sotheby's:
SOTHEBY'S LEADS ALL INTERNATIONAL HOUSES IN ASIA
WITH ANNUAL AUCTION TOTAL OF $850
MILLION
Asian Clients Contribute $1.6 Billion
of Sotheby's 2017 Sales
ONLINE BUYERS SPEND MORE THAN $180
MILLION THIS YEAR
23% of All Lots Sold in 2017 Are Purchased Online
TOP LOT OF THE YEAR:
Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled from 1982
Sets $110.5 Million Auction Records
for the Artist
And for Any Work of American Art
JANUARY
Our annual Americana Week auctions raised an outstanding
$19.4 million – the highest Americana
Week total at Sotheby's in a decade – with more than 1,000 lots
sold across six auctions. The series kicked off with the 'White
Glove' (100% sold) auction of over 75 archival letters and
manuscripts from Alexander Hamilton,
matching the excitement surrounding of the wildly-successful
Hamilton: An American Musical and setting a new auction
record for any manuscript by the founding father.
This year Sotheby's celebrated a number of landmark
anniversaries, including our 100th anniversary on New
Bond Street in London. In January,
we marked our 40th anniversary in Geneva with an expanded sales calendar and a
brand new location. The new premises at 2 Rue François Diday –
located in the heart of Geneva –
will help to further improve the exceptional and tailor-made
service to which our clients are already accustomed.
FEBRUARY
In London, an inaugural sale
comprising artistic representations of love and sex from antiquity
to the present day bested expectations in totaling £5.3 million
($6.6 million). Featuring 100+ lots
of fine art, photography, sculpture and design, the Erotic:
Passion & Desire auction saw almost half of all works sell
above their high estimates.
MARCH
Our Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art Evening Sales
achieved a combined total of £194.7 million ($240.8 million) – the highest total for any
auction ever staged in London. The
sales were led by Gustav Klimt's rare masterpiece
Bauerngarten, one of the greatest works by the artist ever
to appear at auction, which achieved £48 million ($59.3 million).
APRIL
Our spring sales series in Hong
Kong set a number of benchmark prices, including: a new
world auction record for any diamond or jewel, achieved by the
'CTF Pink Star' that sold for a staggering HK$553 million (US$71.2
million) to Hong Kong
jeweler Chow Tai Fook; a new auction record for any work of Western
Contemporary art sold in Asia,
with Andy Warhol's Mao sold for HK$98.5 million (US$12.6
million) to an Asian private collector; and a new world
auction record for any lot of whiskey, with The Macallan in
Lalique –The Legacy Collection fetching HK$7.7 million (US$989,423). In total, Asian clients purchased
US$1.6 billion at Sotheby's auctions
in 2017.
MAY
In London, our inaugural sale
of Modern and Contemporary African Art totaled £2.8 million
($3.6 million), with new auction
records achieved for 16 artists including British Nigerian artist
Yinka Shonibare MBE.
Sotheby's captured the world's attention in May, when
Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1982
masterpiece Untitled sold for $110.5
million, marking a world auction record not only for the
artist, but for any work by any American artist. That same night,
noted collector and entrepreneur Yusaku
Maezawa announced via social media that he purchased the
work, and will eventually house it in a museum based in his
hometown of Chiba, Japan.
JUNE
For the first time ever in London, four works sold for over $20 million in our Evening Sales of Impressionist
& Modern Art. Heated bidding drove a new auction record for
pioneering artist Wassily Kandinsky, broken twice in the same
auction – first for his 1909 depiction of the blazing colours of
Murnau, followed just six lots later by the powerful abstract
masterpiece Bild mit weissen Linien, which led the sale at
£33 million ($41.6 million).
JULY
On the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon
landing, the bag used by Neil
Armstrong to bring back to Earth the very first samples of
lunar material sold for $1.8 million
in Sotheby's Space Exploration auction. Prior to its public debut
at Sotheby's, the bag had been misidentified and lost for decades,
before being acquired by the consignor from a US Marshall Service
auction for $995.
AUGUST
RM Sotheby's flagship Monterey
sale achieved nearly $133 million in
sales, highlighted by the 1956 Aston Martin DBR1/1 that sold
for $22.6 million. That price is
superlative in a number of ways, marking a new auction record for
any British car as well as the most valuable car sold by any
auction house this year.
SEPTEMBER
Almost 4,000 visitors flocked to our New Bond Street galleries
to witness the personal collection of incandescent Hollywood icon and star of Gone With the
Wind, Vivien Leigh. The
unprecedented sale of her private possessions included paintings,
jewelry, couture, books, furniture, porcelain and objets
d'art, which were 100% sold and soared to over 5 times the
pre-sale auction estimate, realizing more than £2.2 million
($3 million).
The legendary photographer Mario
Testino shook up Sotheby's London, as thousands attended an exhibition
and auction of his personal collection that was organized to
benefit the Museo MATE in Lima,
Peru. Parts I & II of the Shake It Up series
totaled £8.7 million ($11.6 million),
establishing 11 artist auction records in the process.
OCTOBER
The strong results of our autumn auction series in Hong Kong helped raise Sotheby's annual
auction total in the region to HK$6.64
billion (US$850 million) – our
highest total since 2014, and leading all international houses
in Asia this year. The five days
of curated sales were highlighted by a new world auction record for
Chinese Ceramics, achieved by A Highly Important and Extremely
Rare Ru Guanyao Brush Washer, Northern Song Dynasty
that sold for HK$294.3 million
(US$37.7 million).
In London, we presented an
unparalleled personal portrait of celebrated artist
Howard Hodgkin and his private
inspirations, exhibiting his collection beyond the closed doors of
his Bloomsbury home. The sale brought £5.2 million ($6.8 million), led by the work of his close
friend and one of India's greatest
20th-century artists, Bhupen
Khakhar, whose De-Luxe Tailors soared to a
record-breaking £1.1 million ($1.5
million).
NOVEMBER
Our marquee auctions of Impressionist & Modern and
Contemporary Art achieved $724
million, representing a 31% increase over the same series in
November 2016. Five of the top ten
Impressionist & Modern works sold to Asian private collectors,
while Francis Bacon's triptych
portrait Three Studies of George
Dyer led the week with its $38.6
million result.
This November, we hosted our first auction at Sotheby's
Dubai. Offering an array of
paintings, sculpture, photography, design, books & manuscripts,
jewelry and textiles, Boundless: Dubai provided invaluable new perspectives
on art from and inspired by the Middle
East, achieving $3.6
million.
Collectors were captivated by a look into the private world of
celebrated French interior designer Jacques
Grange. Our dedicated sale in Paris spanned two days, comprising an
unforgettably-eclectic mix of objects, including iconic works by
François-Xavier Lalanne,
Alexandre Noll, Damien Hirst and René Magritte. With remarkable
results across every category, the sale achieved an incredible
€28.4 million ($33.3 million) – the
highest ever total for a single-owner sale at Sotheby's
Paris.
Sotheby's celebrated ten years in Moscow with a series of dedicated Russian art
auctions and exhibitions. Notably, the best portrait by
Nikolai Fechin ever to come to
auction sold for £3.7 million ($4.9
million).
DECEMBER
Just in time for holiday gifting, Sotheby's A Life of
Luxury sales series saw 1,640 lots of jewelry, watches, cars,
wine and fashion achieve $117.3
million across six auctions. The sales were led by an
Exquisite 5.69-Carat Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond Ring
that brought $15.1 million, while a
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione
roared to an $18 million result.
Our annual sales of Old Master Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
in London were highlighted by one
of Joseph Wright of Derby's most
important candlelit pictures, and one of the last of his major
works remaining in private hands. An Academy by Lamplight
sold for £7.3 million ($9.7 million),
marking a new world auction record for the renowned British
artist.
FOR MORE NEWS FROM SOTHEBY'S
News & Video: http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video.html
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sothebys
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sothebys
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sothebys
Snapchat ID: sothebys
YouTube: www.youtube.com/SothebysTV
Weibo: www.weibo.com/sothebyshongkong
WeChat ID: sothebyshongkong
Sotheby's has been uniting collectors with world-class works of
art since 1744. Sotheby's became the first international auction
house when it expanded from London
to New York (1955), the first to
conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973),
India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international
fine art auction house in China
(2012). Today, Sotheby's presents auctions in 10 different
salesrooms, including New York,
London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby's BidNow program allows
visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from
anywhere in the world. Sotheby's offers collectors the resources of
Sotheby's Financial Services, the world's only full-service
art financing company, as well as the collection advisory services
of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby's
presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories,
including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art
Division, and two retail businesses, Sotheby's Diamonds and
Sotheby's Wine. Sotheby's has a global network of 80 offices in 40
countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock
Exchange (BID).
*Estimates do not include buyer's premium. Prices achieved
include the hammer price plus buyer's premium and are net of any
fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an
irrevocable bid.
Images are available upon request
Browse sale catalogues, view original content, stream live
auctions and more at www.sothebys.com, and through Sotheby's apps
for iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV and Amazon Fire
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sothebys-2017-auctions-reach-47-billion-worldwide-300574943.html
SOURCE Sotheby's