A Cy Twombly blackboard painting, Untitled (New York City, 1968), set a new record for the artist last night (11 November) when it sold for $70.5m (hammer $62.7m/est $60m), inching past the previous record of $70m achieved last November at Christie's New York for a similar but slightly smaller work. This new record was perhaps achieved because some of the proceeds will go to The Audrey Irmas Foundation for Social Justice.
It was a price indicative of the sale, strong but expected, with just one more record for an artist set with Mike Kelley's Memory Ware Flat #29 (2001), which sold for $3.1m (hammer $2.5m/est $1.5m-$2m). The auction made a total $294.9m (est $254m-$313.7m) with 44 of the 54 lots on offer finding buyers, an 80% sell-through rate made more impressive by the fact that just three of the lots carried guarantees and irrevocable bids.
The night's second-highest selling lot was one such work. Andy Warhol’s Mao (1972) sold for $47.5m (hammer $42.2m/est $40m), though as at Christie's the night before, the appetite for Warhol works was varied. Flowers (1964) sold for $2.4m (hammer $1.8m/est $2.2m-$3.2m), Four Pink Marilyns (Reversal Series) (1986) sold for $4.5m (hammer $3.8m/est $3m-$4m), and Diamond Dust Shadows sold for $2.9m (hammer $1.8m/est $1.8m-$2.5m). However, Diamond Dust Shoes (1980-81) (est $2m-$3m), Brillo Painting (3 ¢ Off) (est $5m-$7m) and The Kiss (Bela Lugosi) (1945, a work on paper) (est $3m-$5m) failed to sell.
The dealer Ales Ortuzar said “it was a very positive sale,” there was a "really good rhythm, really good energy."
The collector-dealer Allan Schwartzman, the co-founder of Art Agency Partners, said that the Sotheby's sale was strong and that any disappointments seen at Christie's the night before could be attributed to over-ambition on the part of Christie's. "The market sent a very clear message that it's not willing to be pushed past price points that seem to have plateaued," he said.
• Additional reporting by Charlotte Burns