New York’s Marquee Auction Week Continues a Downward Trend in the Market, But Shows Promise for New Artists
New York’s Marquee Week, which took place November 18-22, saw several evening and day sales from the big three houses: Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips. The sales yielded mixed results, with several white-glove sales and the record breaking (or setting) for many emerging artists, yet also saw declining sale totals and the unexpected underperformance of once reliable artists.
Oliver Barker at the rostrum during the Sydell Miller Collection Evening Sale, Sotheby's New York, November 2023. Photo Courtesy: Sotheby’s
The art market has been experiencing a steady decline over the past two years, and Marquee Week has continued that trend. According to the ArtTactic Auction Analysis, the week’s evening auctions totaled $906 million in sales, excluding buyer’s premium, and according to The New York Times, up to $1.3 billion after fees. This is a 42% decline from last year's November sales and a 60% decline from the market's peak in 2022. However, 35% of lots exceeded their mid-estimates, which marks a 33% increase from last November. It was a spotlight week for up-and-coming artists as a dozen auction records were broken or set, while several blue-chip names underperformed or failed to sell.
The ArtTactic Auction Analysis reported that Sotheby’s and Phillips both experienced a significant decline in sales compared to last year, with Sotheby’s declining by 54.7% and Phillips 65.5%, while Christie's experienced a steadier decline of 21.3% and showed a 13.3% increase compared to its May sales this year. The report claims that “This season Christie’s accounted for 54.9% of the market share in terms of evening sales value, against Sotheby’s 40.2% and Phillips with 4.9%. The result was a reversal of last year’s November season where Sotheby’s took a 51% market share, against Christie’s 40% and Phillips 9% share of total sales” (ArtTactic, 2024).
Sotheby’s held three evening auctions during the Marquee week. The evening sales grossed $364.1 million in total, just above the pre-sale low estimate of $360.0 million. The total was 55% below the results in November 2023, and 13% lower than May this year. They kicked off the week’s festivities on Monday, 18 November with a double evening auction; A Legacy of Beauty: The Collection of Sydell Miller & the Modern Evening Auction. The total gross of the night was $309 million. Judd Tully wrote for The Art Newspaper, “Sotheby's press office states this is an ‘over 30%’ increase from last year's results, but this calculation appears to only take into account the Modern evening sale it held in November 2023, which netted $190 million ($223.6 million with fees) from 33 lots. Factoring in Sotheby's November 2023 evening sale from the Emily Fisher Landau collection, which made $351.6 million ($406.4 million with fees), tonight's total represents a 42.9% drop from the $541.9 million (with fees) the house made over those two 2023 sales” (Tully, 2024).
The white-glove sale, A Legacy of Beauty, from the estate of cosmetics mogul Sydell Miller, grossed $215.9 million, falling in the middle of the pre-sale estimate. The top grosser of the evening was a Claude Monet entitled Nymphéas (1914-17) which hammered in at $65.5 million against an unpublished estimate which according to The Art Newpaper was in the region of $60 million.
Claude Monet, Nymphéas, 1914-17, Oil on canvas, 175 x 135.4 cm | Photo Courtesy: Sotheby’s
The second half of the evening, the Modern Evening sale, reportedly moved at a slower pace and delivered the lukewarm result of $92.9 million, which just managed to reach the low end of the pre-sale estimate of $92.3-$135 million. Seven of the 31 lots offered failed to sell, resulting in a buy-in rate of 25.6%.
Several major works failed to meet expectations, including a rare-to-auction Franz Marc painting, Das Lange Gelbe Pferd (1913), which once hung in the Guggenheim Museum.
According to Tully, the work passed after a “chandelier bid” of $3.6 million against an estimate of $8-$12 million. A chandelier bid refers to a false bid called by the auctioneer to drum up interest in a work. Henri Matisse’s guaranteed work, Torse de jeune fille (1921-22) met a similar fate and failed to sell at $11.5 million against a $12-$18 million estimate, a loss for the house. Some have speculated that the changes Sotheby’s made to their fee structure earlier this year are hurting the auction house’s ability to secure sellers. The New York Times reported, “Several art advisers said the challenge of winning consignments became so great that Sotheby’s began offering perks to clients, like a cut of the auction house’s own fee, even when it was not explicitly permitted under its new policy” (Small, Reyburn & Halperin, 2024).
The week continued Tuesday with Christie’s double evening sale, MICA: The Collection of Mica Ertegun Part I and the 20th Century Evening Sale, which totaled $460 million. The estate of interior designer and socialite Mica Ertegun began the night and was another white-glove sale, grossing $183.9 million. It was also 100% guaranteed; of the 19 lots, one was backed by the house and 18 by third parties. The top lot of the night was a René Magritte entitled L’empire des lumières (1968), one in a series of 17. The sale set the artist’s auction record at $105 million ($121.1 million with fees), only the 16th artist to break $100 million at auction according to Artprice. The record beat another version from the same series, which sold at Sotheby’s in 2022 for $79.4 million.
René Magritte, L’empire des lumières, 1954, Oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm | Photo Courtesy: Christie’s
The next part of the evening, the 20th century evening sale, grossed $302 million, falling short of the pre-sale estimate of $265-$375 million. Six lots were backed by house guarantees and 21 by third parties. Twelve of the 53 lots failed to sell, and three were withdrawn at the last-minute. The highest grossing sale for this part of the night was Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half (1964), which sold for a record $68.2 million, against an unpublished estimate which according to Tully was in excess of $50 million. Blue-chip artists struggled at this sale—with two works by Pablo Picasso failing to sell, and one being pulled beforehand.
Phillips also held their Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on Tuesday night, which was described by Benjamin Sutton for The Art Newspaper as “a struggle with a half-dozen bright spots.” According to the ArtTactic report, the sale grossed $44.2 million, below the pre-sale low estimate of $61.1 million. The total was 65.5% below what Phillips achieved in November 2023, and 38.6% below the results in May this year.
Of the 30 lots (after three were withdrawn), five failed to sell and ten sold for below estimate, however, two new artist auction records were set. One of these was Li Hei Dei, a 27 year old artist recently signed to Pace. Their large-scale landscape entitled Unfolding a flood (2022), sold for a hammer price of $100,000. At the end of the night, the sale brought in a total of $54.1 million against a pre-sale estimate of $60.1-$89 million.
Li Hei Di, Unfolding a flood, 2022, Oil on linen, 170.2 x 121 cm | Photo Courtesy: Phillips
The biggest, and perhaps most surprising, disappointment of the night was a 1983 self-portrait by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which had one of the night’s highest estimates at $10-$15 million. According to Sutton, “After receiving just one bid, auctioneer Henry Highley appeared to sell it for a hammer price of $9.3 million, however following the sale’s conclusion a spokesperson for Phillips revealed that the work had in fact failed to sell—knocking about 17% off the night’s total” (Sutton, 2024). After that anti-climax, four more well established artists sold below their lowest estimates; Koons, Warhol, Picasso and Boetti.
Christie’s continued their evening sales on Thursday with the 21st Century Evening Sale, which grossed $106.5 million against a $78-$113.24 million estimate, with about half of the 42 lots being guaranteed. Most interestingly, contemporary works were very popular this night, even faring better than some of the big-name artists on offer. The auction records of ten emerging artists were broken at the sale.
A 1982 untitled work on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat netted the highest sale of the evening. Even when falling just short of its $20-$30 million estimate, the $22.9 million work on paper, which is known for being run alongside The New York Times obituary after Basquiat’s 1988 passing, became the artist’s most expensive work of that medium to sell at auction. It is also notable that Untitled (Hollywood African Mask) (1987) by Keith Haring broke the record for his most valuable sculpture at auction, selling for $3.19 million.
Auctioneer Georgina Hilton sells the top lot of the evening, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled for $22,950,000. Photo Courtesy: Christie’s Press Center
Possibly the most talked about auction of the week also occurred on Thursday, with Sotheby’s The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction, which made many headlines for selling the world’s most expensive banana.
Sotheby's auctioneer Oliver Barker overseeing the bidding for Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian (2019) at Sotheby's on November 20, 2024. Photo Courtesy: Sotheby’s
Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan was purchased for $6.2 million against a $1-1.5 million estimate, by Justin Sun, the founder of a cryptocurrency platform. Sotheby’s revealed before the sale that they would accept crypto as payment for the work, which was confirmed as the payment method Sun will use. In a statement made through Sotheby’s after the sale, Sun said, “[Comedian] represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community." Sun also revealed in the statement his plan to eat the Banana as a way of “honouring its place in both art history and popular culture.” Sotheby’s also claimed in a statement that several bidders for Keith Haring’s 31 subway graffiti drawings, which sold for $9.2 million, planned to pay with cryptocurrency.
Despite the vast overperformance of Comedian, The Now and Contemporary auctions overall gross was $112 million, 63% less than last year, and fell below the pre-sale estimate of $102.3-$150 million. According to Kabir Jhala for The Art Newpaper, six lots were withdrawn, while five went unsold, for a sell-through rate of 87.5%. The size of the sale also decreased, going from 64 lots in 2023 to 35 this year, which contributed to the drop in overall gross. The evening’s top lot was another Ed Ruscha, entitled Georges’ Flag (1999), which may have had extra resonance after Donald Trump’s recent presidential win. The work sold for $13.8 million against an $8-12 million estimate.
Ed Ruscha, Georges’ Flag, 1999, oil on canvas, 96.5 x 328 cm | Photo Courtesy: Sotheby’s
New York’s Marquee Auction Week revealed a complex picture of the current art marke—one marked by declines in overall sales, faltering performances by historically dependable artists, and an emerging hunger for fresh voices in the art world. There is still uncertainty about how recent political events, especially about Donald Trump’s impending return to office, will shape the art market and buyer habits, though it is still too soon to tell. The drop in total revenue and sell-through rates underscores the market’s re-adjustment since its 2022 peak after the pandemic. The high number of guarantees placed on works can either indicate confidence in the market, or a need for the houses to secure works to sell. However, record-breaking sales for emerging artists and the successful performance of smaller works by well-known artists may show a shift towards a more cautious market, such as a Basquiat failing to sell at Phillips and then breaking that artist’s record for a work on paper in the same week. The media circus created by Comedian distracted from an otherwise underwhelming auction but did put a spotlight on the intersection of popular-culture, meme-culture and the traditional art world. Whether this will kick off a trend or is just another example of an art stunt remains to be seen.
Sources
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Basha Shapiro
Art Markets Co-Editor, MADE IN BED