Contemporary Art

A series of blue-chip consignments from different sectors of the market helped Christie’s ‘Defining British Art’ evening sale in London last night to a £99.5m total including premium. The auction offered paintings by major names including Joshua Reynolds, John Constable, Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon but it was a Henry Moore sculpture that led proceedings, selling at £22m.

Two paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) consigned to auction by the actor Johnny Depp sold for a combined £7.6m at Christie’s evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art last night.

Fears that the Brexit vote would seriously impact the art market were partially allayed last night as Sotheby’s Contemporary art sale delivered robust results.

Sotheby’s will start dedicated sales of Modern and Contemporary African Art in London next year. The decision underlines the growing importance of a sector in which Bonhams have stolen a march in recent years.

Contemporary art dealer David Zwirner has announced plans to open a fourth gallery in Hong Kong in 2017.

Alex Rotter has been appointed as the new chairman of Post War and Contemporary art, Christie’s Americas, having left Sotheby’s after 16 years in March.

The David Zwirner Gallery has been appointed worldwide representative for selling works from the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, after a competitive, open competition between four galleries.

Phillips have announced the appointment of Cheyenne Westphal as chairman, reporting to CEO Edward Dolman. Formerly Sotheby’s worldwide head of Contemporary art, she will start in her new role in 2017.

Just under $1.2bn changed hands at the top-end of the art market in New York this week as Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips all held their Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary auctions over seven days for the first time. Here is ATG’s pick of individual highlights sold across the week.

A temporary export bar has been placed on Femme, a 15in (37cm) plaster sculpture made by Alberto Giacometti c.1928-29.

A decade on since Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) was launched in the UK, over £50m has been collected from auctions and dealers for artists and their heirs.

The Contemporary art market survived better than many had expected at the London auction series last week.

A jury in New York lost their chance to rule on the first of several lawsuits against the Knoedler Gallery and its former director Ann Freedman when the suits were settled out of court.

Expert witnesses were called to give evidence during legal proceedings between Domenico De Sole, chairman of Sotheby’s, and Ann Freedman, the former president of Knoedler gallery, over the sale of a fake Rothko painting.

Sotheby’s are following Christie’s by staging their flagship New York May auctions of Impressionist & Modern art and Contemporary art in a single week.

An archive comprising Lucian Freud’s sketchbooks, drawings and letters has been acquired by the nation from the estate of the artist through the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme.

The large sums of money changing hands at the top end of the Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art market was underlined at the latest auctions in New York.

A new auction record came for American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) when 'Nurse' was knocked down at $85m (£58.6m) at Christie’s cross-category sale entitled The Artist’s Muse earlier this week.

Bonhams will their launch their sales of Modern and Contemporary Art from Asia in Hong Kong on March 15 during the ‘Art Basel Hong Kong’ week.