Art auction market report: March 2014
In March 2014, ArtSell recorded 2,724 auction lots from 19 auction houses, of which 2,112 sold (78% sell-through). The 2,112 sales with a published price total $27,644,999, with a median of $1,593 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Andy Warhol, “Marilyn Monroe”, at $1,805,000 (Phillips). 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 | Andy Warhol American | $1,828,196 | 5 | Marilyn Monroe — $1,805,000 |
| 2 | Rudolf Stingel American | $1,450,000 | 2 | Untitled — $989,000 |
| 3 | Ken Price American | $509,000 | 1 | Pink Egg — $509,000 |
| 4 | Nate Lowman American | $413,000 | 1 | Mint — $413,000 |
| 5 | Kaws American | $328,250 | 3 | Untitled — $257,000 |
| 6 | Sterling Ruby German | $300,500 | 2 | Alabaster SR10-2 — $293,000 |
| 7 | Richard Prince American | $293,000 | 1 | My boyfriend married a girl — $293,000 |
| 8 | Mark Grotjahn American | $288,250 | 3 | Untitled (Butterfly) — $137,000 |
| 9 | Jim Dine American | $269,000 | 1 | Yellow Rushing Toward Me — $269,000 |
| 10 | Cady Noland American | $269,000 | 1 | Untitled — $269,000 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Boyd British | $767,561 | 10 | Death of a Husband 1958 — $619,927 |
| 2 | Allen Jones British | $425,000 | 1 | Refrigerator — $425,000 |
| 3 | Eugene von Guerard Austrian | $335,627 | 3 | View of Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt from the Crater of Bald Hill 1856, — $247,066 |
| 4 | Wojciech Fangor Polish | $287,455 | 2 | M 16 — $157,690 |
| 5 | Arnulf Rainer Austrian | $213,867 | 8 | Circle — $45,504 |
| 6 | Martin Kippenberger German | $185,000 | 1 | Untitled (Mushrooms) — $185,000 |
| 7 | Ugo Rondinone Italian | $173,000 | 1 | ZWEITERAUGUSTZWEITAUSENDUNDELF (August 20, 2011) — $173,000 |
| 8 | Tadeusz Makowski Polish | $165,204 | 2 | Pracownia L'atelier — $164,260 |
| 9 | Hans Staudacher Austrian | $139,241 | 8 | Untitled — $40,043 |
| 10 | Franz West Austrian | $121,040 | 4 | Ossi aussi Ossi — $63,705 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Price | Pink Egg Phillips | $509,000 | $314,500 (29 earlier) |
| Allen Jones | Refrigerator Phillips | $425,000 | $57,949 (33 earlier) |
| Jim Dine | Yellow Rushing Toward Me Phillips | $269,000 | $163,591 (70 earlier) |
| Kaws | Untitled Phillips | $257,000 | $149,000 (7 earlier) |
| Eugene von Guerard | View of Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt from the Crater of Bald Hill 1856, Leonard Joel | $247,066 | $211,792 (15 earlier) |
| Wojciech Fangor | M 16 Polswiss Art | $157,690 | $105,485 (37 earlier) |
| Matthew Barney | Cremaster 5: Her Giant Phillips | $118,750 | $60,581 (10 earlier) |
| Ólafur Elíasson | Timezone Lamp Phillips | $118,750 | $86,108 (14 earlier) |
| Colin Middleton | Untitled deVeres | $99,281 | $68,399 (61 earlier) |
| Peter Halley | Lock Phillips | $81,250 | $75,000 (10 earlier) |
| Hugh Scott-Douglas | Untitled 032 Phillips | $81,250 | $52,500 (3 earlier) |
| Kehinde Wiley | Passing/ Posing (The Reluctant Messiah) Phillips | $81,250 | $37,500 (3 earlier) |
| Juan Davila | Portrait of Enriqueta Gallardo (Buckley's Return) 1999 Menzies | $77,491 | $1,765 (3 earlier) |
| Josef Pillhofer | Hammubrabi im Kinsky | $63,705 | $59,011 (3 earlier) |
| Roger Kemp | Horizontal Sequence c1970 Menzies | $53,137 | $49,812 (6 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Art+Object (405)Schmidt Kunstauktionen Dresden (338)im Kinsky (256)Phillips (237)Leonard Joel (234)Agra-Art (171)Menzies (136)Toovey's (131)León Gallery (128)Crocker Farm (122)Levis Fine Art Auctions (101)Lempertz (99)SOGA (94)Bonhams (74)deVeres (63)Clarke Auction Gallery (60)Cottone Auctions (46)Polswiss Art (27)Artmark (2)