Sotheby's Contemporary Art Sale Achieves $114.4 Million

NEW YORK CITY

:David Smith's rare and iconic "Cubi XXVIII" set a new world record for a contemporary work of art at auction when it sold at Sotheby's on November 9 for $23,816,000, the highest price achieved at auction this season. In total, the sale brought $114,494,400, surpassing the high estimate of $108.4 million and achieving the highest total for an evening sale of contemporary art at Sotheby's, with 97.7 percent sold by value and 88.9 percent sold by lot. New auction records were established for six artists, and 27 lots sold for more than $1 million each.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the sale's results, which was the best contemporary sale we've ever held, and it was fantastic international teamwork that brought us here," commented Tobias Meyer, auctioneer and Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art. "There was great depth of bidding from a global community of collectors who are really passionate about art, especially at the high end. They want the best quality, and as we saw, they will go to great lengths to get it."

"Five bidders competed for the star lot of tonight's sale," added Anthony Grant, senior international specialist in contemporary art. "This exceedingly rare work was the pinnacle of a four-decade career. 'Cubi XXVIII' marks the highest price paid for any contemporary work of art at auction.

"We also saw great connoisseurship in the bidding on the many major works by Warhol, especially 'Jackie Frieze' and the Warhol 'Flowers,' which was rare at that scale," Grant continued. "Jackie Frieze," a figurative tour de force presentation of one of the artist's most poignant images from 1964, sold for $9.2 million. "Flowers," also from 1964, sold for $6,736,000, and Warhol's iconic "Self-Portrait" drew bids from no fewer than four collectors who drove the price to $1,976,000, surpassing a high estimate of $1.5 million.

The auction record for Cy Twombly was broken twice when Sotheby's presented two outstanding works: the cover lot, untitled (New York City), a rare gray painting from 1968, sold for $8,696,000, breaking the record set just a few minutes earlier by untitled (Rome) from 1961, which brought $7,968,000.

The sale featured four works by Alexander Calder, all of which brought strong prices, highlighted by "Brass in the Sky," a hanging mobile from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, that sold for $2,424,000, far surpassing the $1.2 million high estimate. Grant noted that the price of $1,472,000 paid for Calder's maquette of the "Haverford Monster" was nearly $400,000 higher than the price paid for the monumental version of the "Haverford Monster" sold from the collection of Mr and Mrs H. Gates Lloyd at Sotheby's New York in May of 1994. Additionally, the artist's "Aux Shahn," from the "Ben Shahn Family," brought $1,248,000, and an untitled work sold for $665,600.

"El Gran Espectaculo (History of Black People)," one of the most important masterpieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat to ever appear at auction, sold for $5,168,000. This work was executed in 1983 at the height of Basquiat's artistic maturity, and the epic scale and autobiographical rawness of this painting epitomize the intuitive technique and narrative complexity of the artist's style.

As further evidence of a strong contemporary sculpture market, Jeff Koons' exquisite bronze "Lifeboat" from 1985 brought $3,376,000. This life-size work, which comes from the collection of Rudolf and Ute Scharpff, who acquired it in 1986, was part of Koons' first solo show at New York's International with Monument Gallery. Louise Bourgeois' signature bronze "Spider" cast in 1998 set a record when it sold for $3,040,000, and Damien Hirst's "The Most Beautiful Thing in the World," a large-scale, mosaic-like butterfly painting from 2003, sold for $1,304,000.

Prices reported include buyer's premium, which is 20 percent of the hammer price on the first $200,000, and 12 percent thereafter.

For information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com.