Art auction market report: November 2019
In November 2019, ArtSell recorded 6,944 auction lots from 35 auction houses, of which 5,520 sold (79% sell-through). The 5,515 sales with a published price total $267,400,801, with a median of $4,260 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Jean-Michel Basquiat, “The Ring”, at $15,035,000 (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 | Jean-Michel Basquiat American | $19,443,210 | 3 | The Ring — $15,035,000 |
| 2 | Philip Guston American | $10,700,000 | 5 | Smoking II — $7,657,500 |
| 3 | Andy Warhol American | $9,643,978 | 34 | Late Four-Foot Flowers — $7,430,500 |
| 4 | Kaws American | $9,037,027 | 20 | GRRR! — $2,180,000 |
| 5 | Ed Ruscha American | $5,325,250 | 5 | Start Over Please — $4,220,000 |
| 6 | Norman Rockwell American | $4,717,575 | 2 | Before the Shot — $4,700,000 |
| 7 | Richard Diebenkorn American | $4,540,000 | 2 | Berkeley #66 — $3,500,000 |
| 8 | Keith Haring American | $4,119,889 | 9 | Untitled — $2,960,000 |
| 9 | Cy Twombly American | $4,090,000 | 2 | Untitled — $3,740,000 |
| 10 | Jeff Koons American | $3,446,448 | 5 | Hulk (Friends) — $3,380,000 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo Picasso Spanish | $5,017,546 | 28 | Femme assise dans un fauteuil — $4,820,000 |
| 2 | Joan Miró Spanish | $4,852,409 | 17 | Paysan catalan inquiet par le passage d'un vol d'oiseaux — $4,580,000 |
| 3 | Jack Butler Yeats Irish | $4,538,939 | 50 | REVERIE — $1,541,120 |
| 4 | Alberto Giacometti Swiss | $4,357,500 | 2 | Portrait of G. David Thompson — $4,220,000 |
| 5 | Zao Wou-ki French | $4,209,397 | 4 | 29.05-31.10.68 — $4,159,890 |
| 6 | Henry Moore British | $2,481,565 | 4 | Family Group — $2,480,000 |
| 7 | Sigmar Polke German | $2,358,095 | 5 | Table Dance — $2,180,000 |
| 8 | Max Liebermann German | $2,069,155 | 13 | Rote und weiße Blumen nach Südosten (Blumenstauden im Nutzgarten nach Südosten) — $481,469 |
| 9 | Gerhard Richter German | $1,506,880 | 20 | Rot-Blau-Gelb — $375,000 |
| 10 | Marc Chagall Belarusian | $1,471,150 | 13 | Les fiancés aux anémones — $1,348,113 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philip Guston | Smoking II Phillips | $7,657,500 | $150,000 (27 earlier) |
| Norman Rockwell | Before the Shot Phillips | $4,700,000 | $4,281,000 (46 earlier) |
| Ed Ruscha | Start Over Please Phillips | $4,220,000 | $2,405,000 (428 earlier) |
| Yoshitomo Nara | Little Thinker Phillips | $4,220,000 | $3,055,634 (194 earlier) |
| Alberto Giacometti | Portrait of G. David Thompson Phillips | $4,220,000 | $2,623,735 (139 earlier) |
| Richard Diebenkorn | Berkeley #66 Phillips | $3,500,000 | $1,515,000 (66 earlier) |
| Liu Ye | She Isn't Afraid of Mondrian Phillips | $3,393,090 | $748,791 (8 earlier) |
| Zeng Fanzhi | Mask Series No. 1 Phillips | $2,472,930 | $1,756,154 (30 earlier) |
| Jasper Johns | Figure 6 Phillips | $2,420,000 | $975,000 (169 earlier) |
| Wayne Thiebaud | Candies Phillips | $2,420,000 | $2,165,000 (92 earlier) |
| Lee Krasner | Lame Shadow Phillips | $2,180,000 | $1,690,000 (8 earlier) |
| Sean Scully | Red Bar Phillips | $1,760,000 | $1,595,272 (163 earlier) |
| Jack Butler Yeats | REVERIE Whyte's | $1,541,120 | $429,422 (369 earlier) |
| Josef Albers | Homage to the Square: Silent Gray Phillips | $1,316,000 | $719,399 (324 earlier) |
| Jean Arp | Torse Végétal Phillips | $1,280,000 | $591,834 (118 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Lempertz (1,023)Grisebach (560)Rago Auctions (537)Bonhams (529)Van Ham (518)Phillips (517)Davidson Auctions (442)Levis Fine Art Auctions (374)Morgan O'Driscoll (224)Pandolfini (210)Strauss & Co (196)Leonard Joel (157)Art+Object (156)deVeres (134)León Gallery (126)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (125)Jackson's International Auctioneers (118)Circle Auction (106)Sloans & Kenyon (104)Whyte's (91)Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner (86)Smith & Singer (79)Clarke Auction Gallery (79)Brunk Auctions (68)Palm Beach Modern Auctions (59)Ketterer Kunst (58)Agra-Art (58)Cottone Auctions (40)Bolsa de Arte (39)Toovey's (38)Bid & Hammer (30)Pananti (25)Michaan's Auctions (24)Artmark (9)Bogotá Auctions (5)