Tiffany & Co. sterling silver mounted Favrile glass vase, $23,000.
NEW YORK CITY – The results of Sothebys recent online auction of International Young Art are in, and in spite of the enthusiasm and excrdf_Descriptionent of the offerings, overall sales generated surprisingly low numbers. The sale was sponsored by Artlink as part of a new annual program. This year’s collection consisted of 173 lots chosen from a pool of 24,000 works by Sotheby’s Selection and Advisory Board members. The collection’s estimated total was $163/207,900; the sale finished with a total of $67,155 – less than half what was anticipated.
Entries, however, were exciting and eclectic, the work of 49 up-and-coming artists from around the world. Among the countries represented were Brazil, Russia, El Salvador, Iran, Israel, Japan, Norway and the United States, in the form of sculpture, paintings and drawings, as well as computer-based art.
Top-selling lots included a pen and ink on canvas by Pedrag Pajdic, entitled “Victory,” (est.2,8/3,200) which sold for $7,425; an acrylic, oil paper dress pattern, entitled “OK,” by Denise Falk (est.$3,2/3,800) which rang up $4,620; “Quos & 90,” by Eric Tierolf, oil on canvas (est $2,8/3,200), which reached $4,620; and “On the Shore,” an oil on canvas by Sergei Belov (est.$1,2/1,800), which garnered $3,520.
This year Artlink.com has had three exhibitions in Chicago, Vienna and Tel Aviv, and after launching its interactive Web site artlinkinc.com, the company reports tripling its number of artists.
In the past, Sotheby’s has held annual February Contemporary Art auctions in its New York salesrooms. The firm presented its February 28 Contemporary sale, however, on the Internet, accompanied by an exhibition in New York. The auction achieved a total of $336,325 with 65 sold lots.
A series of seven drawings of Prince Charles by David Hockney brought the highest price following a bidding war. With 51 online bids from 10 participants, the lot finally closed for $39,600, well above the estimate of $4/6,000. Another top-selling contemporary lot was Jean Dubuffet’s “Tete de Profil a Gauche, 1945,” which realized $33,000 (est $40/60,000).
Also of note, a pasted collage by Christo entitled “Surrounded Islands,” dated 1982, posted by Web site associate Sam Berkovitz of Concept Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pa, sold for $29,700 (est $30/40,000).
Additional highlights included “10 Banners,” by Mike Kelley, which brought $12,650 (est $¾,000); Karel Appel’s “Portrait # 3,” which sold for $14,300 (est 8,/12,000); an untitled Cindy Sherman photograph which sold for $10,725 (est. $5/7,000); and, and oil on canvas by Donald Roller Wilson entitled “Mrs. Jenkin’s House,” which sold for $7,150 (est. $2,000/3,000).
