Art auction market report: August 2023
In August 2023, ArtSell recorded 5,768 auction lots from 30 auction houses, of which 4,877 sold (85% sell-through). The 4,531 sales with a published price total $23,992,076, with a median of $1,008 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Fred Williams, “Masons Falls (1981)”, at $2,047,383 (Smith & Singer). 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 | Lynne Mapp Drexler American | $342,000 | 4 | Keller Fair Racetrack — $235,000 |
| 2 | Edgar Alwin Payne American | $229,000 | 6 | A Mountain Lake in the Sierras — $76,700 |
| 3 | Wolf Kahn American | $131,680 | 8 | Interstate Painting (Vermont from New Hampshire) — $35,200 |
| 4 | Andy Warhol American | $114,958 | 9 | Northwest Coast Mask (from the Cowboys and Indians series) — $37,800 |
| 5 | Roy Lichtenstein American | $113,924 | 14 | Red Lamp 1992 — $23,837 |
| 6 | William Wendt American | $106,240 | 2 | Showery Day — $57,600 |
| 7 | Lon Megargee American | $105,300 | 1 | The Last Drop from his Stetson — $105,300 |
| 8 | Albert Bierstadt American | $104,262 | 4 | Sierra Nevada from Fort Independence — $48,640 |
| 9 | Granville Redmond American | $102,400 | 3 | Sunset — $51,200 |
| 10 | Alson S. Clark American | $96,000 | 5 | Brookside Park (Pasadena) — $61,440 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wojciech Kossak Polish | $303,900 | 1 | Szarża Mameluków. Fragment panoramy Bitwa pod piramidami, 1900 r. — $303,900 |
| 2 | Arthur Boyd British | $200,037 | 6 | Wimmera Landscape with Birds (1986) — $70,871 |
| 3 | Pablo Picasso Spanish | $97,570 | 17 | Cavalier et Cheval 1952 — $25,427 |
| 4 | John Byrne British | $59,253 | 8 | TATTOOED BEACH BOY — $17,640 |
| 5 | Józef Pankiewicz Polish | $58,349 | 1 | Pejzaż prowansalski z gajem oliwnym — $58,349 |
| 6 | Peter Howson British | $57,249 | 15 | WEST END HERO — $17,640 |
| 7 | Alan Davie British | $54,466 | 5 | THOUGHTS FOR A GIANT BIRD, OPUS 0.526B — $51,163 |
| 8 | Banksy British | $52,775 | 3 | Love Is In The Air (2003) — $39,373 |
| 9 | Julian Fałat Polish | $48,381 | 2 | Na Polesiu — $24,312 |
| 10 | Maria Helena Vieira da Silva French | $44,749 | 1 | Untitled — $44,749 |
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).
Auction houses this month
Bonhams (714)Toomey & Co. (631)Wright (489)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (376)Scottsdale Art Auction (375)Davidson Auctions (314)Barridoff Auctions (285)Morgan O'Driscoll (251)Lyon & Turnbull (232)Strauss & Co (217)Sloans & Kenyon (197)Crocker Farm (191)Morton Subastas (183)Helmuth Stone Gallery (171)Leonard Joel (148)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (145)Bogotá Auctions (121)Art+Object (114)Menzies (108)Smith & Singer (81)Austin Auction Gallery (71)Clarke Auction Gallery (71)Van Ham (66)Toovey's (65)Agra-Art (55)Michaan's Auctions (42)Bolsa de Arte (26)Grisebach (15)Sworders (9)Elstob & Elstob (5)