Art auction market report: March 2006
In March 2006, ArtSell recorded 1,520 auction lots from 5 auction houses, of which 1,405 sold (92% sell-through). The 1,405 sales with a published price total $6,672,588, with a median of $1,920 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Tom Wesselmann, “Little Still Life #14”, at $150,000 (Wright). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
Lots offered
1,520
5 houses
Sold
1,405
92% sell-through
Total
$6.7M
1,405 priced sales
Median
$1.9k
priced sales
Top sales
Top American artists
Ranked by total of priced sales in the month; region from the artist’s recorded nationality.
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Wesselmann American | $170,309 | 3 | Little Still Life #14 — $150,000 |
| 2 | Harry Bertoia American | $138,600 | 5 | untitled (Sonambient) — $62,400 |
| 3 | Robert Venturi American | $123,600 | 2 | Chippendale dining chairs, set of twelve — $120,000 |
| 4 | Frank Lloyd Wright American | $101,759 | 10 | sectional sofa from the Sweeton House — $22,800 |
| 5 | Herbert Bayer Austrian | $67,200 | 3 | Signs and Signals — $39,600 |
| 6 | Isamu Noguchi American | $48,000 | 1 | Rudder dining table, model IN-20 — $48,000 |
| 7 | Walter von Nessen American | $43,200 | 1 | side table — $43,200 |
| 8 | John Chamberlain American | $32,400 | 1 | untitled — $32,400 |
| 9 | Ruth Asawa American | $31,200 | 1 | untitled (Continuous Form Within a Form) — $31,200 |
| 10 | Otto Dix American | $27,224 | 10 | Alemannische Masken — $7,346 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo Picasso Spanish | $151,044 | 20 | Portrait de Jacqueline au chapeau de paille fleuri — $51,854 |
| 2 | Georges Jouve French | $100,020 | 6 | mirror — $32,400 |
| 3 | Heinrich Zille German | $88,007 | 30 | Schwangere mit kleinem Kind — $5,762 |
| 4 | Anton Jasusch Slovak | $83,632 | 4 | Divadelná šatňa (Zuzana a starci) — $58,162 |
| 5 | Wassily Kandinsky Russian | $81,957 | 5 | Kleine Welten IV — $38,890 |
| 6 | Alexandre Noll French | $61,200 | 2 | Grande Visage — $43,200 |
| 7 | Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann German | $60,280 | 3 | Wassermühle — $42,491 |
| 8 | Jörg Immendorff German | $52,646 | 5 | Hutmuseum (Beeman) — $44,652 |
| 9 | Horst Janssen German | $51,018 | 47 | Svanshall — $8,210 |
| 10 | Marc Chagall Belarusian | $48,225 | 13 | La joie de vivre — $11,523 |
New artist records
The artist’s best price this month exceeded every earlier priced result for them in the ArtSell database (artists with at least three earlier priced results).
Auction houses this month
Ketterer Kunst (749)Wright (378)Agra-Art (170)Schmidt Kunstauktionen Dresden (115)SOGA (108)