Art auction market report: December 2020
In December 2020, ArtSell recorded 8,162 auction lots from 35 auction houses, of which 6,213 sold (76% sell-through). The 6,076 sales with a published price total $348,494,182, with a median of $5,457 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was David Hockney, “Nichols Canyon”, at $41,067,500 (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 | $19,361,692 | 5 | Portrait of A-One A.K.A. King — $11,500,000 |
| 2 | Clyfford Still American | $18,442,500 | 1 | PH-407 — $18,442,500 |
| 3 | Joan Mitchell American | $11,297,500 | 1 | Untitled — $11,297,500 |
| 4 | George Condo American | $4,491,800 | 2 | Transparent Female Forms — $4,265,000 |
| 5 | Amy Sherald American | $4,265,000 | 1 | The Bathers — $4,265,000 |
| 6 | Alexander Calder American | $3,828,836 | 17 | Dot + Loop — $2,329,000 |
| 7 | Helen Frankenthaler American | $3,748,220 | 2 | Off White Square — $3,720,500 |
| 8 | Donald Judd American | $3,540,389 | 2 | Untitled — $3,539,000 |
| 9 | Ruth Asawa American | $3,539,000 | 1 | Untitled (S.045, Hanging Five-Lobed, Multilayered Continuous Form within a Form, with Spheres in the First, Second and Third Lobes) — $3,539,000 |
| 10 | Roy Lichtenstein American | $2,772,100 | 8 | Nude with Joyous Painting (Study) — $1,672,500 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Hockney British | $41,143,038 | 4 | Nichols Canyon — $41,067,500 |
| 2 | Gerhard Richter German | $9,931,639 | 32 | Abstraktes Bild (678-1) — $4,265,000 |
| 3 | René Magritte Belgian | $6,181,154 | 4 | Le Choeur des Sphinges — $3,115,500 |
| 4 | Georges de La Tour French | $5,257,476 | 1 | A Girl Blowing on a Brazier (La Fillette au braisier) — $5,257,476 |
| 5 | Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German | $4,606,619 | 25 | Unser Haus — $1,994,892 |
| 6 | Zao Wou-ki French | $3,625,513 | 5 | 12.2.69 — $1,749,376 |
| 7 | Pablo Picasso Spanish | $3,261,647 | 52 | Deux personnages — $2,147,500 |
| 8 | Banksy British | $2,996,758 | 20 | Monkey Detonator — $682,721 |
| 9 | Georg Baselitz German | $2,894,640 | 10 | Forstarbeiter — $2,087,000 |
| 10 | Emil Nolde German | $2,799,502 | 20 | Schauspielerin (recto) / Piazza S. Domenico II, Taormina (verso) — $606,350 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Hockney | Nichols Canyon Phillips | $41,067,500 | $6,970,000 (568 earlier) |
| Yoshitomo Nara | Hothouse Doll Phillips | $13,302,866 | $4,220,000 (248 earlier) |
| Joan Mitchell | Untitled Phillips | $11,297,500 | $11,062,500 (42 earlier) |
| Matthew Wong | River at Dusk Phillips | $4,871,418 | $848,000 (4 earlier) |
| George Condo | Transparent Female Forms Phillips | $4,265,000 | $2,692,711 (159 earlier) |
| Helen Frankenthaler | Off White Square Phillips | $3,720,500 | $3,020,000 (122 earlier) |
| Donald Judd | Untitled Phillips | $3,539,000 | $2,655,000 (146 earlier) |
| Ruth Asawa | Untitled (S.045, Hanging Five-Lobed, Multilayered Continuous Form within a Form, with Spheres in the First, Second and Third Lobes) Phillips | $3,539,000 | $1,430,000 (16 earlier) |
| René Magritte | Le Choeur des Sphinges Phillips | $3,115,500 | $2,295,000 (93 earlier) |
| François-Xavier Lalanne | Carpe (Très Grande) Bonhams | $2,430,313 | $666,369 (33 earlier) |
| Peter Voulkos | Black Bulerias Phillips | $1,264,200 | $915,000 (114 earlier) |
| Jan Zrzavý | Queen of the Seas Arthouse Hejtmánek | $1,013,100 | $796,450 (49 earlier) |
| Karl Hofer | Arbeitslose Ketterer Kunst | $990,776 | $739,656 (359 earlier) |
| Barkley L. Hendricks | Selina/Star Phillips | $937,500 | $3,900 (5 earlier) |
| Arnulf Rainer | Schwarze Übermalung auf Braun Ketterer Kunst | $903,462 | $334,025 (284 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Phillips (965)im Kinsky (789)Lempertz (749)Grisebach (543)Pananti (387)Art+Object (359)Ketterer Kunst (355)Van Ham (352)Schmidt Kunstauktionen Dresden (346)Whyte's (341)Agra-Art (302)Bonhams (298)Capitolium Art (256)Ravenel (216)Rago Auctions (212)Lyon & Turnbull (194)Sworders (165)Brunk Auctions (146)Maison Bibelot (138)Clarke Auction Gallery (131)Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner (122)deVeres (115)Sloans & Kenyon (100)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (99)Pandolfini (94)Polswiss Art (90)Crocker Farm (89)Leonard Joel (73)Arthouse Hejtmánek (66)Michaan's Auctions (40)Jackson's International Auctioneers (12)Bid & Hammer (9)Bolsa de Arte (6)Piguet Hôtel des Ventes (2)Colasanti Casa d'Aste (1)