Art auction market report: February 2018
In February 2018, ArtSell recorded 3,066 auction lots from 18 auction houses, of which 2,243 sold (73% sell-through). The 2,243 sales with a published price total $12,456,225, with a median of $1,250 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was George Condo, “Nude Homeless Drinker”, at $591,000 (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 | George Condo American | $591,000 | 1 | Nude Homeless Drinker — $591,000 |
| 2 | Frederick Hammersley American | $200,000 | 1 | Home run — $200,000 |
| 3 | Jean-Michel Basquiat American | $168,750 | 1 | Untitled — $168,750 |
| 4 | Andy Warhol American | $148,846 | 6 | Valentine’s Hearts Ads ( ... Having a Heart Attack) — $60,000 |
| 5 | Julian Schnabel American | $137,500 | 1 | La Hija Pequeña, la Madrastra y el Amigo Mariquita (The Little Daughter, The Stepmother and the Friend Ladybug) — $137,500 |
| 6 | Ed Ruscha American | $116,875 | 3 | Cheese Mold Standard with Olive — $106,250 |
| 7 | Cy Twombly American | $112,500 | 1 | Note II — $112,500 |
| 8 | Richard Pettibone American | $111,500 | 3 | Stella, Sunapee, 1966 — $53,125 |
| 9 | Frank Stella American | $90,000 | 2 | Rayy Sketch — $81,250 |
| 10 | Mary Corse American | $84,375 | 1 | Untitled (Grey Light Grid) — $84,375 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ugo Rondinone Italian | $405,000 | 2 | No. 69 VIERUNDZWANZIGSTERNOVEMBERNEUNZEHNHUNDERTFÜNFUNDNEUNZIG — $375,000 |
| 2 | Manolo Valdés Spanish | $375,000 | 2 | Joelle sobre fondo verde oscuro — $212,500 |
| 3 | Nicolae Grigorescu Romanian | $183,410 | 4 | Ciobănaș cu turmă de oi — $67,177 |
| 4 | Jan Marcin Szancer Polish | $135,058 | 64 | Szelmostwa Lisa Witalisa, ok. 1969 — $7,374 |
| 5 | Louis le Brocquy Irish | $131,824 | 2 | REACHING. HOMAGE TO JOHN MONTAGUE — $98,560 |
| 6 | Tracey Emin British | $113,486 | 2 | The Kiss Was Beautiful — $112,500 |
| 7 | Jack Butler Yeats Irish | $113,098 | 3 | OLD MEN BATHING — $61,600 |
| 8 | Gustav Klimt Austrian | $101,620 | 1 | Sitting nude to the left — $101,620 |
| 9 | Paul Henry Irish | $98,560 | 1 | LANDSCAPE, WEST OF IRELAND — $98,560 |
| 10 | Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel German | $74,334 | 17 | Opatija — $12,898 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaacov Agam | Continuity Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) | $237,500 | $40,821 (57 earlier) |
| Frederick Hammersley | Home run Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) | $200,000 | $100,000 (33 earlier) |
| Karel Nel | Schism I Strauss & Co | $87,743 | $46,852 (8 earlier) |
| Penny Siopis | Cake Strauss & Co | $73,119 | $40,152 (20 earlier) |
| Tomory Dodge | Cascade Bravo Phillips | $68,750 | $35,000 (9 earlier) |
| Petra Cortright | Might and magic and the mandate of heaven Phillips | $65,000 | $56,250 (15 earlier) |
| Wilhelmina Barns-Graham | Small Vortex Clarke Auction Gallery | $55,000 | $7,582 (5 earlier) |
| Jon Rafman | New Age Demanded (Swerveman Silver) Phillips | $50,000 | $10,000 (3 earlier) |
| Wayne Barker | In God We Trust, triptych Strauss & Co | $34,122 | $1,819 (3 earlier) |
| Willem Boshoff | Spoondance Strauss & Co | $29,248 | $15,116 (8 earlier) |
| Françoise Gilot | Le Dice Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) | $25,625 | $19,000 (17 earlier) |
| Diane Victor | Indemnities for Late Believers, diptych Strauss & Co | $24,373 | $16,230 (31 earlier) |
| Lisa Brice | Untitled Strauss & Co | $21,448 | $5,799 (3 earlier) |
| Roe Ethridge | Pigeon Phillips | $19,375 | $15,000 (9 earlier) |
| Walter Oltmann | Locust Strauss & Co | $16,574 | $11,132 (6 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Art+Object (493)Pananti (350)Clarke Auction Gallery (293)Phillips (243)Artmark (237)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (237)Whyte's (188)Capitolium Art (177)im Kinsky (167)Sloans & Kenyon (159)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (116)Bonhams (108)Van Ham (78)Strauss & Co (62)Toovey's (54)Agra-Art (51)Leonard Joel (50)Colasanti Casa d'Aste (3)