Home / Market reports / December 2010 Art auction market report: December 2010 In December 2010, ArtSell recorded 2,643 auction lots from 17 auction houses, of which 1,894 sold (72% sell-through). The 1,894 sales with a published price total $36,857,496, with a median of $1,916 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Ju Ming, “Taichi Series – Single Whip”, at $2,713,920 (Ravenel). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
Lots offered
2,643
17 houses
Sold
1,894
72% sell-through
Total
$37M
1,894 priced sales
Top sales # Work Artist House · date Price 1 Taichi Series – Single Whip , 1991 Ju Ming Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$2,713,920 (NT$82,240,000) 2 Kinderköpfchen , 1906 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ketterer Kunst · Dec 4, 2010$2,304,804 (€1,740,000) 3 Paysage , 1952 Zao Wou-ki Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$1,531,200 (NT$46,400,000) 4 Little Orange (Sunset) 1974 , 1974 Brett Whiteley Menzies · Dec 15, 2010$1,372,189 (A$1,380,000) 5 Bloodline Series - Big Family , 1998 Zhang Xiaogang Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$1,272,480 (NT$38,560,000) 6 Warrego Jim c1964 , c1964 Russell Drysdale Menzies · Dec 15, 2010$1,252,868 (A$1,260,000) 7 Untitled Sigmar Polke Lempertz · Dec 4, 2010$858,341 (€648,000) 8 Die Polizei , 1929 Richard Ziegler Ketterer Kunst · Dec 4, 2010$808,006 (€610,000) 9 27.12.00 , 2000 Zao Wou-ki Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$712,800 (NT$21,600,000) 10 Le jardin abandonné , 1955 Zao Wou-ki Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$514,800 (NT$15,600,000) 11 Kleiner Verkehr (Kreuzung Hauptstraße-Gerwigstraße, St. Georgen - Nach Witzleben links - Capri Nr. 8) , 1981 Martin Kippenberger Ketterer Kunst · Dec 4, 2010$468,643 (€353,800) 12 Landschaft am Meer , 1919 Gabriele Münter Ketterer Kunst · Dec 4, 2010$436,323 (€329,400) 13 Landschaft mit Haus in Oberau , 1908 Gabriele Münter Ketterer Kunst · Dec 4, 2010$420,163 (€317,200) 14 Landscript , 2004 Xu Bing Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$415,800 (NT$12,600,000) 15 The Little Shanghai Girl , 2004 Yan Pei-ming Ravenel · Dec 5, 2010$316,800 (NT$9,600,000)
Top American artists Ranked by total of priced sales in the month; region from the artist’s recorded nationality.
Top American artists, December 2010 # Artist Total sold Priced sales Top result 1 Lyonel Feininger American
$179,271 4 Just somewhere II — $74,3372 Walasse Ting American
$165,695 4 Do You Like My Red Hair ? — $91,0803 John Way American
$114,840 2 Vermilion — $71,2804 Sol LeWitt American
$105,299 3 Grids and Color — $58,1765 Sam Francis American
$75,655 3 Ohne Titel (SF59-526) — $42,0166 Josef Albers German
$73,356 2 SP (Homage to the Square) — $46,8647 Chihung Yang American
$71,280 2 Growth and Decay — $41,5808 Fred Sandback American
$63,024 1 Untitled — $63,0249 Yun Gee American
$47,520 1 Female Nude Bust — $47,52010 George Rickey American
$45,765 2 Mäander — $31,459
Top European artists Top European artists, December 2010 # Artist Total sold Priced sales Top result 1 Zao Wou-ki French
$2,758,800 3 Paysage — $1,531,2002 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German
$2,606,945 8 Kinderköpfchen — $2,304,8043 Gabriele Münter German
$1,338,674 6 Landschaft am Meer — $436,3234 Sigmar Polke German
$1,080,635 8 Untitled — $858,3415 Richard Ziegler German
$808,006 1 Die Polizei — $808,0066 Martin Kippenberger German
$691,600 7 Kleiner Verkehr (Kreuzung Hauptstraße-Gerwigstraße, St. Georgen - Nach Witzleben links - Capri Nr. 8) — $468,6437 Gerhard Richter German
$586,930 8 Sich Ankleidende — $219,7788 Emil Schumacher German
$413,275 2 Monta 1 — $286,1149 Emil Nolde German
$342,555 5 Rote Dahlien und Feuerlilie (Red Dahlias and Tiger Lily) — $166,90010 Conrad Felixmüller German
$313,864 2 Der Bettler von Prachatitz — $298,962
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).
Artist Work Price Previous high Ju Ming Taichi Series – Single Whip Ravenel $2,713,920 $1,847,808 (55 earlier) Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Kinderköpfchen Ketterer Kunst $2,304,804 $1,053,935 (234 earlier) Brett Whiteley Little Orange (Sunset) 1974 Menzies $1,372,189 $1,315,598 (24 earlier) Zhang Xiaogang Bloodline Series - Big Family Ravenel $1,272,480 $836,784 (4 earlier) Russell Drysdale Warrego Jim c1964 Menzies $1,252,868 $864,321 (17 earlier) Sigmar Polke Untitled Lempertz $858,341 $337,258 (192 earlier) Richard Ziegler Die Polizei Ketterer Kunst $808,006 $61,582 (4 earlier) Martin Kippenberger Kleiner Verkehr (Kreuzung Hauptstraße-Gerwigstraße, St. Georgen - Nach Witzleben links - Capri Nr. 8) Ketterer Kunst $468,643 $270,053 (79 earlier) Xu Bing Landscript Ravenel $415,800 $84,691 (4 earlier) Conrad Felixmüller Der Bettler von Prachatitz Ketterer Kunst $298,962 $110,727 (73 earlier) Johann Georg Müller Maskerade Ketterer Kunst $185,841 $93,048 (20 earlier) Bernd and Hilla Becher Hilla Becher Bernd Becher Fosse L'Archevque, Aniche, France Nord Fosse Liévin no. 3, Eleu, France Nord Puits Marseille, St. Etienne, France Fosse Dourges no. 4, Hénin Liétard, France Nord Lempertz $182,795 $99,699 (10 earlier) Yeh Tzu Chi Ginger Lily Ravenel $118,800 $48,500 (10 earlier) Martin Benka Drevári pod Ďumbierom SOGA $78,842 $67,875 (51 earlier) Stephan Balkenhol Stehender Mann Ketterer Kunst $77,569 $76,249 (21 earlier)
Auction houses this month Van Sabben Poster Auctions (359) Lempertz (312) James D. Julia (268) Schmidt Kunstauktionen Dresden (247) Bolsa de Arte (207) Whyte's (201) Agra-Art (169) Sloans & Kenyon (161) Ravenel (160) Ketterer Kunst (150) SOGA (144) Menzies (128) Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner (68) Art+Object (58) Levis Fine Art Auctions (9) Van Ham (1) Leonard Joel (1)