Art auction market report: May 2012

In May 2012, ArtSell recorded 3,827 auction lots from 19 auction houses, of which 2,240 sold (59% sell-through). The 2,240 sales with a published price total $61,527,818, with a median of $4,063 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Gerrit Dou, “Painter in his Studio”, at $4,670,195 (Lempertz). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.

Lots offered

3,827

19 houses

Sold

2,240

59% sell-through

Total

$62M

2,240 priced sales

Median

$4.1k

priced sales

Top sales

#	Work	Artist	House · date	Price
1	Painter in his Studio	Gerrit Dou	Lempertz · May 13, 2012	$4,670,195 (€3,608,000)
2	Composition No. 51 - Mille vies se cachent dans le bois, 1960	Chu Teh-chun	Ravenel · May 28, 2012	$2,823,954 (HK$21,920,000)
3	27.8.84, 1984	Zao Wou-ki	Ravenel · May 28, 2012	$1,597,492 (HK$12,400,000)
4	Quotations from Chairman Mao, 2005	Zeng Fanzhi	Ravenel · May 28, 2012	$1,453,202 (HK$11,280,000)
5	Bloodline - Big Family: Childhood No. 1, 1998	Zhang Xiaogang	Ravenel · May 28, 2012	$1,159,470 (HK$9,000,000)
6	Lying nude, 1932	Emil Filla	Galerie Kodl · May 6, 2012	$957,235 (CZK 18,240,000)
7	LANDSCAPE WITH A FARMHOUSE RIVERSCAPE WITH A FERRYBOAT	Salomon van Ruysdael	Lempertz · May 13, 2012	$942,323 (€728,000)
8	Am Starnberger See, 1908	Gabriele Münter	Grisebach · May 31, 2012	$907,900 (€732,000)
9	TOEBACKJE	Jan Fris	Lempertz · May 13, 2012	$880,192 (€680,000)
10	Sky, 2005	Zeng Fanzhi	Ravenel · May 28, 2012	$803,899 (HK$6,240,000)
11	Self-Portrait, 2009	Yayoi Kusama	Ravenel · May 28, 2012	$772,980 (HK$6,000,000)
12	VIEW OF A GRACHT IN AMSTERDAM	Jan van der Heyden	Lempertz · May 13, 2012	$693,798 (€536,000)
13	STILL LIFE OF FLOWERS IN A MANNERIST VASE STILL LIFE OF FLOWERS IN A GLASS VASE	Georg Flegel	Lempertz · May 13, 2012	$678,266 (€524,000)
14	SELF PORTRAIT	copy after Anthonis van Dyck	Lempertz · May 13, 2012	$662,733 (€512,000)
15	Spirale “(Für Rerik), 2011	Günther Uecker	Grisebach · May 31, 2012	$514,476 (€414,800)

Top American artists

Ranked by total of priced sales in the month; region from the artist’s recorded nationality.

Top American artists, May 2012
#	Artist	Total sold	Priced sales	Top result
1	Walasse Ting American	$440,599	4	Do You Like Cool Breeze? — $247,354
2	George Rickey American	$421,383	2	Six Squares Excentric — $302,633
3	Granville Redmond American	$371,750	5	Coastal storm — $134,500
4	Henry Farny American	$362,500	1	Southern Plains Indian warrior — $362,500
5	Andy Warhol American	$311,911	6	Madonna painting — $177,606
6	Christo American	$257,863	2	Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Berlin) — $226,975
7	Daniel Garber American	$242,500	1	Spring Planting - Stony Ridge, ca. 1947 — $242,500
8	Richard Serra American	$229,409	2	Untitled — $219,409
9	Karl Stanley Benjamin American	$211,875	5	#14 — $58,750
10	William Wendt American	$172,250	3	Laguna Canyon — $68,500

Top European artists

Top European artists, May 2012
#	Artist	Total sold	Priced sales	Top result
1	Gerrit Dou Dutch	$4,670,195	1	Painter in his Studio — $4,670,195
2	Zao Wou-ki French	$1,597,492	1	27.8.84 — $1,597,492
3	Philips Wouwerman Dutch	$1,263,334	3	DEPART FOR A FALCONERY — $442,167
4	Emil Filla Czech	$1,118,454	3	Lying nude — $957,235
5	Jan van Goyen Dutch	$1,058,043	4	SUMMER LANDSCAPE WITH FERRYBOAT — $347,417
6	Salomon van Ruysdael Dutch	$942,323	1	LANDSCAPE WITH A FARMHOUSE RIVERSCAPE WITH A FERRYBOAT — $942,323
7	Gabriele Münter German	$907,900	1	Am Starnberger See — $907,900
8	Jan Fris Dutch	$880,192	1	TOEBACKJE — $880,192
9	Emil Nolde German	$776,254	6	Dünen — $287,502
10	Jan van der Heyden Dutch	$693,798	1	VIEW OF A GRACHT IN AMSTERDAM — $693,798

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
Chu Teh-chun	Composition No. 51 - Mille vies se cachent dans le bois Ravenel	$2,823,954	$1,375,376 (69 earlier)
Emil Filla	Lying nude Galerie Kodl	$957,235	$765,677 (22 earlier)
Gabriele Münter	Am Starnberger See Grisebach	$907,900	$560,370 (102 earlier)
Yayoi Kusama	Self-Portrait Ravenel	$772,980	$118,656 (17 earlier)
Emil Schumacher	Tamalan Lempertz	$401,543	$348,066 (182 earlier)
Josef Čapek	King Lear Galerie Kodl	$396,749	$353,707 (14 earlier)
Jan van Goyen	SUMMER LANDSCAPE WITH FERRYBOAT Lempertz	$347,417	$181,427 (5 earlier)
George Rickey	Six Squares Excentric Grisebach	$302,633	$295,856 (21 earlier)
Tamara de Lempicka	Bouquet d'hortensias et citron Grisebach	$234,541	$51,782 (3 earlier)
Richard Serra	Untitled Grisebach	$219,409	$33,550 (18 earlier)
Wilhelm Leibl	Studienkopf eines braunbärtigen Mannes vor grünem Hintergrund Grisebach	$215,476	$78,110 (6 earlier)
Thomas Struth	San Zaccaria, Venedig Grisebach	$211,843	$27,738 (15 earlier)
Ludwig Emil Grimm	Heilige Familie mit Johannesknaben in einer Landschaft Grisebach	$189,680	$4,488 (4 earlier)
Yoshitomo Nara	Monkey Baby Go-Go Ravenel	$185,515	$40,977 (12 earlier)
Carl Hasenpflug	THE GENDARMENMARKT IN BERLIN Lempertz	$173,708	$72,531 (3 earlier)

Auction houses this month

Pananti (1,055)Lempertz (436)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (345)Bonhams (324)Art+Object (264)Sloans & Kenyon (226)Whyte's (210)Jackson's International Auctioneers (191)Grisebach (156)deVeres (141)SOGA (93)Clarke Auction Gallery (88)Ravenel (67)Agra-Art (56)Galerie Kodl (43)Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner (42)Toovey's (42)Levis Fine Art Auctions (33)Leonard Joel (15)