Home / Market reports / January 2015 Art auction market report: January 2015 In January 2015, ArtSell recorded 1,569 auction lots from 12 auction houses, of which 1,302 sold (83% sell-through). The 1,302 sales with a published price total $6,939,462, with a median of $1,452 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Back of the Neck”, at $368,576 (Phillips). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
Lots offered
1,569
12 houses
Sold
1,302
83% sell-through
Total
$6.9M
1,302 priced sales
Top sales # Work Artist House · date Price 1 Back of the Neck , 1983 Jean-Michel Basquiat Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$368,576 (£242,500) 2 Untitled , 1988 Donald Judd Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$277,382 (£182,500) 3 Totem , 1988 Keith Haring Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$204,427 (£134,500) 4 Apparat, mit dem eine Kartoffel eine andere Kartoffel umkreisen kann (Apparatus Whereby One Potato Can Orbit Another) , 1969 Sigmar Polke Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$113,233 (£74,500) 5 Lenin , 1987 Andy Warhol Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$104,113 (£68,500) 6 Barcelona Miró 1972-73 , 1973 Joan Miró Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$98,642 (£64,900) 7 Venedig (Insel) (Venice [Island]) , 2003 Gerhard Richter Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$94,994 (£62,500) 8 09h 30m /-50°, from Sterne (Stars) , 1992 Thomas Ruff Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$94,994 (£62,500) 9 04h 24m /-55°, from Sterne (Stars) , 1992 Thomas Ruff Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$91,194 (£60,000) 10 Calder / 75 Alexander. Untitled Calder Clarke Auction Gallery · Jan 11, 2015$80,000 11 Dom Pérignon Balloon Venus (Magenta) , 2013 Jeff Koons Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$79,795 (£52,500) 12 Point of View , 2013 Tony Cragg Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$75,995 (£50,000) 13 Triptych (after, Triptych 1983) , 1983 Francis Bacon Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$60,796 (£40,000) 14 Kate Moss - Green/Turqoise Hair , 2005 Banksy Phillips · Jan 22, 2015$60,796 (£40,000) 15 River Landscape with figure in a boat Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot Brunk Auctions · Jan 17, 2015$60,000
Top American artists Ranked by total of priced sales in the month; region from the artist’s recorded nationality.
Top American artists, January 2015 # Artist Total sold Priced sales Top result 1 Andy Warhol American
$379,785 11 Lenin — $104,1132 Jean-Michel Basquiat American
$368,576 1 Back of the Neck — $368,5763 Donald Judd American
$277,382 1 Untitled — $277,3824 Keith Haring American
$212,406 2 Totem — $204,4275 Robert Longo American
$140,021 7 Tiger — $47,4976 Jeff Koons American
$124,822 5 Dom Pérignon Balloon Venus (Magenta) — $79,7957 Roy Lichtenstein American
$64,646 4 Modern Head #5, from Modern Head series — $30,3988 Christopher Wool American
$56,996 2 Black Book — $32,2989 Marcel Duchamp French
$53,197 2 Rotorelief — $36,09810 Nam June Paik South Korean
$38,947 2 Self-Portrait — $22,799
Top European artists Top European artists, January 2015 # Artist Total sold Priced sales Top result 1 Francis Bacon British
$219,436 7 Triptych (after, Triptych 1983) — $60,7962 Thomas Ruff German
$186,188 2 09h 30m /-50°, from Sterne (Stars) — $94,9943 Pablo Picasso Spanish
$162,871 14 Peintre et modèle au fauteuil — $37,9984 Alfons Walde Austrian
$121,335 3 Skiers on the Horn — $56,7205 Joan Miró Spanish
$120,220 7 Barcelona Miró 1972-73 — $98,6426 Sigmar Polke German
$113,233 1 Apparat, mit dem eine Kartoffel eine andere Kartoffel umkreisen kann (Apparatus Whereby One Potato Can Orbit Another) — $113,2337 Gerhard Richter German
$112,093 2 Venedig (Insel) (Venice [Island]) — $94,9948 Julian Opie British
$106,583 10 This is Shahnoza in 3 Parts. 6 — $37,9989 Damien Hirst British
$103,163 5 Mickey — $49,39710 Lucian Freud British
$97,844 4 Girl Sitting — $36,098
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 Thomas Ruff 09h 30m /-50°, from Sterne (Stars) Phillips $94,994 $87,500 (66 earlier) Francis Bacon Triptych (after, Triptych 1983) Phillips $60,796 $54,691 (47 earlier) Lucian Freud Girl Sitting Phillips $36,098 $28,337 (3 earlier) Marcel Duchamp Rotorelief Phillips $36,098 $27,500 (16 earlier) Constant Troyon Cattle on the meadow im Kinsky $11,577 $10,000 (7 earlier) Herwig Zens Untitled im Kinsky $6,738 $5,096 (3 earlier) Paul Archibald Octave Caron Politics Brunk Auctions $6,500 $2,004 (6 earlier) Gustav Stickley Arts and Crafts Oak Brunk Auctions $6,000 $5,625 (30 earlier) Paul Flora Nachtexpress im Kinsky $5,990 $5,904 (39 earlier) Basil Ede Blue Jays in Winter Brunk Auctions $5,500 $2,317 (4 earlier) Peter Sengl Krokonummer im Kinsky $5,241 $5,096 (8 earlier) Herend "Chinese Bouquet" Pattern Brunk Auctions $4,200 $1,200 (9 earlier) Frank Townsend Hutchens A woman and child cleaning copper pots Bonhams $3,750 $1,955 (3 earlier) Mark Grotjahn and Takashi Murakami Untitled (Canary Yellow and Black Butterfly 830); and Untitled (Scarlet Lake and Indigo Blue Butterfly 826) Phillips $3,420 $1,750 (3 earlier) Onduidelijk gesigneerd 19e eeuw Twents Veilinghuis $1,772 $244 (3 earlier)
Auction houses this month im Kinsky (444) Bonhams (248) Phillips (230) Brunk Auctions (186) Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (117) Clarke Auction Gallery (73) Twents Veilinghuis (73) Agra-Art (66) Van Ham (57) Toovey's (55) Palm Beach Modern Auctions (14) Sworders (6)