: Christie's International reported worldwide sales totaling $1.253
billion for the first six months of 2004, an increase of 19
percent on last year's figure of $947 million from the same
period. This figure represents auction sales of $1.192 billion
and private sales of $62 million.
In Christie's salesrooms around the world, 99 works of art sold
for more than $1 million, compared to 87 works sold during the
same period last year.
Edward Dolman, chief executive officer, Christie's International,
commented "The success of our sales in Hong Kong, the
record-breaking $104 million total of our postwar and
contemporary art sales in New York, and the continued market
dominance of Christie's France, are proof that Christie's
business is strong."
The spring 2004 sales of Impressionist and modern and postwar and
contemporary art in New York totaled $204,580,825. The postwar
and contemporary art evening sale on May 11 was the most
successful sale of postwar and contemporary art ever, fetching
$102,111,650 and established nine world auction records for
artists, including Jackson Pollock, Ed Ruscha and Joan Mitchell.
The Doris Duke collection, sold to benefit the Doris Duke
Charitable Foundation and offering jewelry, wines and the
contents of several residences of the legendary American heiress,
totaled $34.5 million. A series of sales was nearly 100 percent
sold, while a group of works of art from the collection, offered
in specialized sales, achieved what the gallery called "equally
impressive results."
Highlights included a world auction record for the French
symbolist Odilon Redon at $3,815,50 and a world auction record
for a Tiffany Dragonfly lamp at $903,500. A selection of Asian
art from the collection will be part of Christie's Asian art
sales in September.
Asia Week, offering Chinese, Japanese and Korean and Indian and
Southeast Asian art, achieved the highest sale total ever in this
category for Christie's New York at $20,061,100. The results of
both the Chinese as well as the Indian and Southeast Asian art
sales were the second highest ever achieved by those departments
for a various owner sale.
The Americana sale in New York featured two rare discoveries from
the Chippendale era - the Haraden-Ropes bombé chest of drawers
and the Townsend family block and shell bureau table. Both of
them broke records; the Haraden-Ropes piece at $2,023,500 and the
Townsend family bureau at $1,911,500. The sale totaled
$12,460,158.
The sale of Important American paintings, drawings and sculpture
showcased a portrait of George Washington by Charles Willson
Peale. The painting sold for $6,167,500, not only setting a new
world auction record for the artist but also for an American
portrait.
The Crossroads guitar auction - Eric Clapton and Friends for the
Crossroads Centre - placed Christie's New York in the spotlight
for guitars fans around the world. The sale realized $7,438,624
and established a new world auction record for a guitar with
$959,500 for Clapton's "Blackie."
In the United Kingdom and Europe, the evening sales of
Impressionist and modern and postwar and contemporary art totaled
$121,496,370 and set several records, most notably for Lyonel
Feininger's "Zeitungleser (Newspaper Reader II)," which sold for
$4,498,974. The Art of the Surreal, part of the evening sale
series, realised its highest total ever at $17,096,591. The
highest selling painting in the postwar and contemporary art
field was a London scene by Lucien Freud, which made $3,817,986.
The Islamic Art week conducted in April brought a total of
$24,834,238, surpassing all previous results for this category.
The star of the sales was a Seventeenth Century Mughal
jade-covered flask from the Clive of India Treasure, which sold
for $5,210,209, a world auction record for any Indian work of
art.
Several significant books and manuscript collections also
performed at high levels. In March, the Halsted B. Vander Poel
collection of English literature realized $3,782,311; in April,
the Quentin Keynes collection Part I: The Important Travel Books
and Manuscripts, fetched $6,181,216; and in May, a newly
discovered collection of Conan Doyle items totaled $1,681,772.
The total result of the Paris salesroom was $55 million, an
increase of nine percent on the same period in 2003. Highlights
of the spring auction season were the sales of Chäteau de
Gallerande ($2,161,893), Ancienne Collection de Madame Bernheim
($1,670,790) and Bibliothéque Daniel Filipacchi, a library of
surrealist works ($7,087,226).
Christie's Geneva saw an extraordinary result for its sale
important watches and pocket watches in May. Achieving the
highest total ever for any watch auction at Christie's,
$10,443,698, the sale also set various world auction records,
notably $1,779,080 for a Patek Philippe platinum watch made for
H. Graves Jr in 1930.
In May, Christie's House Sales department organized the sale of
works of art from the collection of antiques dealer Axel
Vervoordt at Kasteel van's-Gravenwezel, the residence of
Vervoordt in Belgium. The sale realized nearly $7 million,
doubling its presale estimate.
In Asia, the spring 2004 sales season in Hong Kong saw sales
totaling $87,670,223, the highest seasonal total ever achieved at
auction in Asia and a clear indication of the continuing growth
of this rapidly evolving buyers' market. The Imperial sale
showcased an early Ming blue and white "Dragon" brushwasher,
which sold for $5,322,688, a world auction record for Ming blue
and white porcelain.
The series of Asian art sales, including imperial art, snuff
bottles, Twentieth Century Chinese art and paintings totaled
$56,123,000, a record total for Asian Art sales in Hong Kong.
The jewelry ($25,912,153) and watches ($5,725,070) sales were
deemed successful.
