Art auction market report: October 2020
In October 2020, ArtSell recorded 8,481 auction lots from 38 auction houses, of which 6,738 sold (79% sell-through). The 6,738 sales with a published price total $82,403,090, with a median of $1,401 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Georg Baselitz, “Das letzte Selbstbildnis I”, at $6,444,164 (Phillips). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
Top sales
| # | Work | Artist | House · date | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Das letzte Selbstbildnis I, 1982 | Georg Baselitz | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $6,444,164 (£4,983,500) |
| 2 | Untitled (Pestus), 1982 | Jean-Michel Basquiat | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $2,845,467 (£2,200,500) |
| 3 | The Age of Reason, 2010 | George Condo | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $2,692,711 (£2,082,369) |
| 4 | Untitled (Grace Jones Mask), 1987 | Keith Haring | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $2,219,606 (£1,716,500) |
| 5 | Flowers, 1964 | Andy Warhol | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $2,063,141 (£1,595,500) |
| 6 | Girl with Balloon & Morons Sepia, 2007 | Banksy | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $1,593,746 (£1,232,500) |
| 7 | Birds Over Sea, 1957 | Milton Avery | Brunk Auctions · Oct 3, 2020 | $1,400,000 |
| 8 | Somebody's Angel, 2017 | Sean Scully | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $1,312,109 (£1,014,700) |
| 9 | Untitled, 2011 | Rudolf Stingel | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $1,280,816 (£990,500) |
| 10 | Die Veränderungen, 2005 | Albert Oehlen | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $1,046,118 (£809,000) |
| 11 | Kopf an Kopf II, 1989 | Georg Baselitz | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $911,636 (£705,000) |
| 12 | Trump Descending an Escalator, 2017 | Dana Schutz | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $889,653 (£688,000) |
| 13 | Femme debout, 1961 | Alberto Giacometti | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $842,713 (£651,700) |
| 14 | Back of the Neck, 1983 | Jean-Michel Basquiat | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $811,420 (£627,500) |
| 15 | Rocks, 2014 | Nicolas Party | Phillips · Oct 20, 2020 | $780,127 (£603,300) |
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 | $4,232,737 | 4 | Untitled (Pestus) — $2,845,467 |
| 2 | Andy Warhol American | $3,078,052 | 30 | Flowers — $2,063,141 |
| 3 | George Condo American | $2,754,918 | 4 | The Age of Reason — $2,692,711 |
| 4 | Alexander Calder American | $2,306,536 | 10 | Untitled — $592,356 |
| 5 | Keith Haring American | $2,238,317 | 8 | Untitled (Grace Jones Mask) — $2,219,606 |
| 6 | Sean Scully American | $1,412,681 | 2 | Somebody's Angel — $1,312,109 |
| 7 | Milton Avery American | $1,402,875 | 3 | Birds Over Sea — $1,400,000 |
| 8 | Rudolf Stingel American | $1,280,816 | 1 | Untitled — $1,280,816 |
| 9 | Dana Schutz American | $891,903 | 2 | Trump Descending an Escalator — $889,653 |
| 10 | Alex Katz American | $717,904 | 5 | Ada with Mirror — $684,309 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georg Baselitz German | $7,355,799 | 2 | Das letzte Selbstbildnis I — $6,444,164 |
| 2 | Banksy British | $2,065,444 | 9 | Girl with Balloon & Morons Sepia — $1,593,746 |
| 3 | Albert Oehlen German | $1,660,340 | 2 | Die Veränderungen — $1,046,118 |
| 4 | Wojciech Fangor Polish | $1,056,445 | 3 | M 61 — $604,440 |
| 5 | Nicolas Party Swiss | $999,365 | 4 | Rocks — $780,127 |
| 6 | Jacek Malczewski Polish | $938,893 | 6 | AUTOPORTRET Z KWIATEM KONICZYNY — $367,973 |
| 7 | Alberto Giacometti Swiss | $852,327 | 3 | Femme debout — $842,713 |
| 8 | Lynette Yiadom Boakye British | $506,053 | 2 | Luminary — $407,327 |
| 9 | Paul Henry Irish | $496,806 | 3 | A SUNNY DAY, CONNEMARA — $494,970 |
| 10 | Piotr Michałowski Polish | $475,785 | 2 | Husary austriackie — $446,760 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georg Baselitz | Das letzte Selbstbildnis I Phillips | $6,444,164 | $2,541,189 (297 earlier) |
| George Condo | The Age of Reason Phillips | $2,692,711 | $2,225,089 (155 earlier) |
| Milton Avery | Birds Over Sea Brunk Auctions | $1,400,000 | $564,500 (67 earlier) |
| Nicolas Party | Rocks Phillips | $780,127 | $762,567 (24 earlier) |
| Titus Kaphar | Alternate Endings Phillips | $602,843 | $187,500 (4 earlier) |
| Paul Henry | A SUNNY DAY, CONNEMARA Whyte's | $494,970 | $269,206 (147 earlier) |
| Piotr Michałowski | Husary austriackie Polswiss Art | $446,760 | $187,005 (33 earlier) |
| Rockwell Kent | Tree Tops and Mountain Peaks Cottone Auctions | $336,000 | $60,000 (34 earlier) |
| Harland Miller | Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore Phillips | $279,724 | $228,025 (28 earlier) |
| Andy Warhol American | Muhammad Ali (1978) (F. & S. II.179-182) Morgan O'Driscoll | $248,472 | $36,458 (27 earlier) |
| Chuck Close | Keith/Mezzotint Phillips | $176,400 | $133,867 (70 earlier) |
| Bram van Velde | Untitled Phillips | $164,543 | $984 (8 earlier) |
| Lockwood de Forest | Impressive Carved Mantel Bonhams | $162,575 | $5,625 (7 earlier) |
| Jerzy Nowosielski | MONOGRAFIA NIEZNAJOMEJ Agra-Art | $155,096 | $124,467 (404 earlier) |
| R.A. Sir Peter Blake | Nudina Phillips | $97,758 | $91,907 (9 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Phillips (986)Van Ham (639)León Gallery (626)Bonhams (624)Auktionshaus Mehlis (501)Sworders (454)Lyon & Turnbull (441)Whyte's (384)Twents Veilinghuis (341)Capitolium Art (329)Artmark (312)Pananti (284)Agra-Art (245)Davidson Auctions (232)Rago Auctions (216)Helmuth Stone Gallery (193)Morgan O'Driscoll (165)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (165)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (156)Clarke Auction Gallery (154)Maison Bibelot (126)Brunk Auctions (121)Arthouse Hejtmánek (115)Sloans & Kenyon (106)Toovey's (98)Polswiss Art (73)Leonard Joel (70)Pandolfini (60)HAUS Galerii (56)Palm Beach Modern Auctions (46)Cottone Auctions (44)Wright (40)Bolsa de Arte (40)Michaan's Auctions (17)Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner (9)Grisebach (8)Aste Boetto (3)Art Auction East Africa (2)