Art auction market report: April 2013
In April 2013, ArtSell recorded 3,302 auction lots from 18 auction houses, of which 2,509 sold (76% sell-through). The 2,509 sales with a published price total $37,157,311, with a median of $4,445 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Pablo Picasso, “Buste de Femme”, at $746,500 (Wright). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
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 | Christopher Wool American | $760,000 | 14 | Untitled — $506,500 |
| 2 | Andy Warhol American | $752,142 | 23 | True Love — $251,372 |
| 3 | Diane Arbus American | $707,500 | 4 | Identical Twins Cathleen (l) and Colleen, Roselle, N.J. — $602,500 |
| 4 | Irving Penn American | $671,250 | 8 | Harlequin Dress (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn) — $290,500 |
| 5 | Alfred Stieglitz American | $428,250 | 3 | Georgia O'Keeffe — $302,500 |
| 6 | Roy Lichtenstein American | $392,666 | 14 | The River, from The Landscape series — $75,000 |
| 7 | Robert Frank American | $353,750 | 6 | Trolley, New Orleans — $242,500 |
| 8 | László Moholy-Nagy American | $278,500 | 1 | Lyon Stadium — $278,500 |
| 9 | André Kertész American | $250,500 | 5 | The Stairs of Montmartre, Paris — $194,500 |
| 10 | Sally Mann American | $243,250 | 6 | Candy Cigarette — $134,500 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo Picasso Spanish | $2,499,104 | 83 | Buste de Femme — $746,500 |
| 2 | Alfons Walde Austrian | $508,559 | 1 | Wilder Kaiser und Hof — $508,559 |
| 3 | Gio Ponti Italian | $471,508 | 12 | Pair of small side tables, designed for the First Class Ballroom of the ‘Augustus’ transatlantic ocean liner — $81,191 |
| 4 | Rolf Nesch Norwegian | $447,254 | 10 | Elbbrücke II — $216,004 |
| 5 | Diego Giacometti Swiss | $384,305 | 1 | 'Torsade' table — $384,305 |
| 6 | Martin Benka Czech | $379,698 | 4 | V jeseni - Turiec — $155,880 |
| 7 | Charlotte Perriand French | $373,022 | 6 | ‘Tunisie’ bookcase, designed for the student rooms of La Maison de la Tunisie, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris — $226,562 |
| 8 | Egon Schiele Austrian | $365,798 | 1 | Stehender Akt — $365,798 |
| 9 | Max Ingrand French | $364,007 | 6 | Pair of large chandeliers, model no. 2243 from the Hotel Savioli, Spiaggia — $198,725 |
| 10 | Emil Nolde German | $281,305 | 18 | Apostelkopf — $67,201 |
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
Phillips (1,110)Ketterer Kunst (656)Wright (236)Levis Fine Art Auctions (209)Bonhams (195)Sloans & Kenyon (191)Pananti (156)Twents Veilinghuis (142)Clarke Auction Gallery (73)Art+Object (64)Jackson's International Auctioneers (60)Agra-Art (57)Toovey's (56)SOGA (47)Bolsa de Arte (44)im Kinsky (4)Artmark (1)Piguet Hôtel des Ventes (1)