: Christie's International has reported worldwide sales totaling
$947 million for the first six months of 2003. This figure
represents auction sales of $883 million and private sales of $64
million.
The total is a decrease against the 2002 half-year total of $989
million, which the company said can be attributed to uncertainty
in the general worldwide economy and markets as a result of the
Iraq conflict, the adverse impact of foreign currency movements,
and the SARS epidemic in the Far East. The SARS outbreak
compelled the postponement of Christie's Hong Kong sales of Asian
art and jewelry from April to July (the sales totaled $52
million) and are not reflected in the half-year sales results
reported.
In Christie's salesrooms around the world, 87 works of art sold
for more than $1 million, led by Paul Cézanne's "Portrait de Paul
Cézanne," circa 1895, which sold for $17.4 million at Christie's
evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in May in New York.
"We are delighted to have established such strong market share in
the first half of the year," said Edward Dolman, chief executive
officer, Christie's International. "Overall the art market
remains healthy, steady and selective. Christie's continues to
lead the field in achieving consistent sold percentages at all
price levels and in all regions by offering the highest quality
and the most attractive objects with appropriately priced presale
estimates.
"We felt our decision to postpone the Hong Kong sales was the
right course of action, and the strength of the Asian market was
reflected in the July sale results, which were the second highest
total for a sales series in Hong Kong. Christie's activities in
France also continue to grow, and with the half-year auction
sales total of $46 million, we have established our position
amongst the market leaders and have reported increased sales
compared with the same period last year. Looking ahead, a number
of important consignments for the autumn auctions in New York,
London and Paris are already agreed. While we continue to be
focused on remaining the market leader and offering the most
exclusive works of art at auction, Christie's are also committed
to growing our strong regional auction businesses that handle the
highest quality of objects in a broad range of categories, as
well as at a wide range of price ranges."
The breakdown in sales results among the international sale
centers for the first half were as follows: Europe, $510 million;
King Street, $332 million; South Kensington, $67 million; United
States, $367 million; Rockefeller Center, $361 million; Asia and
Australia $7 million (results do not include July 2003 Hong Kong
sales that realized $52 million).
The top ten international department totals were as follows:
Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Art, $388 million; Impressionist
and modern art, $133 million; European furniture, $98 million;
British and Irish art, $69 million; jewelry, jadeite and watches,
$65 million; Old Masters, $46 million; Asian art, $43 million;
silver and Russian, $23 million; American paintings, $22 million;
books and manuscripts, $18 million; and antiquities, $8 million.
The top ten lots sold at Christie's worldwide were: Paul Cézanne,
"Portrait de Paul Cézanne," circa 1895, $17,367,500; Mark Rothko,
"No. 9 (White and Black on Wine)," 1958, $16,359,500 (world
auction record for the artist); Edgar Degas, "Petite danseuse de
quatorze ans," circa 1879-1881, $10,311,500; Piet Mondrian,
"Composition in White, Blue and Yellow," circa 1936, $8,071,500;
Pablo Picasso, "Femme dans un fauteuil," 1932, $7,231,313;
Vincent van Gogh, "Nature morte, vase avec oeillets," $7,103,504;
Mark Rothko, "Brown and Blacks in Reds," 1957, $6,727,500;
Vincent van Gogh, "Une liseuse de romans," $5,609,872; Thomas
Eakins, "Cowboys in the Badlands," 1888, $5,383,500 (world
auction record for the artist); and Yves Klein, "RE 2," 1958,
$5,271,500.
Among the international highlights in the United Kingdom and
Europe, the sale of the Forbes collection of Victorian pictures
and works of art totalled $27 million in London. Established and
new collectors to the category crowded the saleroom and the sale
was 75 percent sold by lot and 81 percent by value. Sixty-five
new artist records at auction were established.
Three Renaissance silver-gilt pieces from the collection of Eugen
and Fritz Gutmann were sold at Christie's London for a combined
total of $3.3 million following the auction of 90 works of art
from the Gutmann collection at Christie's Amsterdam in May, which
realized $983,981. The sales were held following an act of
restitution made last year by the Dutch government.
The world record for a photograph at auction was established by
the daguerreotype by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey from the
archive of the artist. "Temple de Jupiter Olympien" realized
$922,488 in May in London.
The furniture department and the newly established private
collection and house sales division saw consistent results
throughout the season. Several private collections were offered
in London including "50 Years of Collecting -- The Decorative
Arts of Georgian England," which realized $10.4 million.
Sales at Christie's in Paris totaled $46 million, an increase on
the same period in 2002. The collection of Madame Cates realized
$6 million and led several sales that included works from the
estates Baron Fould-Springer and from Cécile de Rothschild and
the collection of Valerian Rybar and Jean-Francois Daigre.
In the Americas, the spring 2003 sales of Impressionist and
modern, postwar and contemporary art in New York totaled $161.5
million. The postwar and contemporary art evening sale on May 14
totaled $69.8 million - more than $23 million over the spring
2002 sale - and established world auction records for seven
artists, including Mark Rothko, Chuck Close and Takashi Murakami.
Property from the Seagram Collection, formed over a 40-year
period and long regarded as one of the world's finest corporate
art collections, was sold in a series of sales this spring and
summer in New York and realized a total of $12.4 million.
The collection of Russell B. Aitken (1910-2002) comprising
African, American Indian and Oceanic art; arms and armor;
military artifacts; medals and decorations; wildlife and sporting
art, as well as one of the most significant private collections
of sporting books, was sold in a series of sales in New York. The
sales to date have totaled $10.5 million. They began in January
with the auction of The Russell B. Aitken Collection of Wildfowl
Decoys in Association with Guyette and Schmidt, Inc, which was
100 percent sold. The top lot, a preening pintail drake, sold for
$801,500 against a presale estimate of $300/500,000, a world
auction record for an American waterfowl decoy.
A special sale of Picasso lithographs totaled $6.2 million and
was 100 percent sold in New York in April. The sale attracted
many new buyers whose active bidding pushed prices well over
presale estimates. The top lot, "Green Haired Woman: Seven States
and the Woman with a Hair Net," sold for $567,500.
The international jewelry department maintained its leading
market share with sales realizing a worldwide total of $65
million. Auction highlights included the New York sale of
"Magnificent Jewels," including the estate of Lillian Goldman,
which realized $14.6 million. The most expensive jewel sold by
any auction house in the world so far this year was the Star of
the Emirates, a 53.07 Asscher-cut, D color, internally flawless
diamond, that realized $2.5 million at Christie's Geneva.
