Sotheby’s Modern evening auction last night (19 May) brought in $264m ($303.3m with fees). Although the sale lacked the blockbuster, record-breaking moments seen at Christie’s the previous evening and at Sotheby's own Robert Mnuchin sale last week, the total landed comfortably within its estimate of between $244m and $322.8m, excluding two lots withdrawn ahead of the auction (estimates do not include fees).
The sale began strong with a pair of sculptures by Diego Giacometti. Pair of “Carcasse” Chenets (around 1975) sold for $400,000 ($512,000 with fees), above its $250,000 to $350,000 estimate, following competition among five bidders. The works came from the collection of David and Shoshanna Wingate.
Another highlight from the Wingate collection was an untitled painting by Mark Rothko from around 1959. The oil-on-paper work, rendered in hazy red and orange tones, was featured in the first exhibition dedicated to the artist’s works on paper that toured the US between 1984 and 1986. The painting sold for $7.5m ($9.27m with fees) against a $5m to $7m estimate, making it among the most valuable works on paper by the artist ever sold at auction. The result came one day after Rothko’s artist auction record was reset at Christie’s. According to Sotheby’s, works by Rothko sold across the auction houses this season have totalled $230.5m with fees.
A major result for the Wingate collection came with Alberto Giacometti’s La Clairière (Composition avec neuf figures), which sold for $23.1m against an $18m to $25m estimate after a five-minute bidding battle. Another Giacometti sculpture, Buste d'homme (dit New York I, 1972), depicting the artist’s brother Diego, hammered at $2.6m ($3.3m with fees).
La Chaise lorraine by Henri Matisse. Courtesy Sotheby's
The standout lot of the evening was Henri Matisse’s 1919 painting La Chaise lorraine from the Barbier Mueller Collection. The still life, depicting a wooden chair topped with a plate of peaches, hammered at $41.5m ($48.4m with fees) against an estimate in excess of $25m after a ten-minute bidding battle involving four bidders. It became the second most valuable Matisse painting sold at auction and the highest-priced work sold at Sotheby’s that evening. Another Matisse painting, La Séance du matin, sold for $17.5m ($20m with fees) against a $20m to $30m estimate.
Bidding was also energetic for Aux Aguets le jour (1939) by Yves Tanguy. The first lot from the collection of Adele and Enrico Donati, the painting sold for $1.4m ($1.8m with fees) against an $800,000 to $1.2m estimate. Enrico Donati, himself an artist, had acquired the work directly from Tanguy in exchange for one of his drawings. Sotheby’s said the painting, appearing at auction for the first time, sold to a bidder from Asia. The auction house added that several lots attracted strong interest from Asian buyers.
Pablo Picasso’s Arlequin (Buste, 1909), from the collection of Adele and Enrico Donati, sold for $40m ($42.6m with fees) against an estimate in excess of $40m. Works on paper by Georgia O’Keeffe and Vincent van Gogh also achieved notable results. O’Keeffe’s Pink Camellia (1945) sold for $2m ($2.6m with fees), becoming the second most valuable work on paper by the artist sold at auction. Van Gogh’s La Moisson en Provence (1888) achieved $25m ($29.4m with fees), making it the second-highest price for a work on paper by the artist at auction.
Demand was strong for female Surrealists. Leonor Fini’s Portrait de Alida Valli II (1948), depicting the Italian actress and singer, sold for $900,000 ($1.2m with fees), while Leonora Carrington’s El retorno de la osa mayor (1966) fetched $1.4m ($1.6m with fees).
Portrait de Alida Valli II by Leonor Fini. Courtesy Sotheby's
Not every lot found a buyer—Auguste Rodin’s Penseur Taille de la Porte dit was passed after stalling at $7.5m, below its $8m to $12m estimate. Meanwhile, Adolph Gottlieb’s Crescendo (1960), estimated to sell for between $2m to $3m, was withdrawn mid-sale.
The auction featured works from five single-owner collections, reflecting the continued reliance by auction houses on high-profile collections to anchor major evening and day sales.
The previous evening, back-to-back sales at rival house Christie’s brought in $1.1bn with fees and set artist auction records for Constantin Brâncuși, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Alice Neel. While Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday lacked the spectacle surrounding the Mnuchin or Newhouse collections, the auction house noted that the $303.3m total was its highest Modern Evening Auction result since November 2022, further evidence that the auction market could be stabilising after a prolonged downturn.