Art auction market report: October 2023
In October 2023, ArtSell recorded 10,402 auction lots from 42 auction houses, of which 7,739 sold (74% sell-through). The 7,638 sales with a published price total $104,048,277, with a median of $1,512 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Yoshitomo Nara, “No Means No”, at $8,366,870 (Phillips). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
Top sales
| # | Work | Artist | House · date | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Means No, 2006 | Yoshitomo Nara | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $8,366,870 (HK$65,530,000) |
| 2 | Still Life with an Olive, 2012-2013 | Nicolas Party | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $3,301,805 (HK$25,860,000) |
| 3 | Forgive Us Our Trespassing, 2011 | Banksy | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $3,300,238 (£2,710,000) |
| 4 | The End of Baroque, 1998 | Liu Ye | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $2,838,326 (HK$22,230,000) |
| 5 | Rome, 2007 | Luc Tuymans | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $1,826,700 (£1,500,000) |
| 6 | Abstraktes Bild (456-2), 1980 | Gerhard Richter | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $1,447,891 (HK$11,340,000) |
| 7 | Untitled, 1973 | Cy Twombly | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $1,113,556 (£914,400) |
| 8 | Seated Harlequin, 2007 | George Condo | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $1,082,624 (£889,000) |
| 9 | Untitled, 2012 | Anish Kapoor | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $1,005,294 (£825,500) |
| 10 | Untitled, 2022 | Hilary Pecis | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $891,845 (HK$6,985,000) |
| 11 | Mares do Sul, 2001 | Beatriz Milhazes | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $850,633 (£698,500) |
| 12 | Ariel, 2016 | Alex Katz | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $850,633 (£698,500) |
| 13 | Das einzige Licht, 2006 | Anselm Kiefer | Phillips · Oct 13, 2023 | $850,633 (£698,500) |
| 14 | No. 164, 1963 | Chu Teh-chun | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $810,768 (HK$6,350,000) |
| 15 | The dead line, 2011 | Hernan Bas | Phillips · Oct 6, 2023 | $810,768 (HK$6,350,000) |
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 | Andy Warhol American | $3,445,070 | 50 | Grapes (F. & S. 190-195) — $304,800 |
| 2 | Cy Twombly American | $1,350,888 | 3 | Untitled — $1,113,556 |
| 3 | Roy Lichtenstein American | $1,310,733 | 25 | Nude with Yellow Pillow, from Nudes series (C. 283) — $546,100 |
| 4 | George Condo American | $1,082,624 | 1 | Seated Harlequin — $1,082,624 |
| 5 | Alex Katz American | $976,996 | 9 | Ariel — $850,633 |
| 6 | Hilary Pecis American | $891,845 | 1 | Untitled — $891,845 |
| 7 | Josef Albers German | $860,384 | 8 | Homage to the Square — $742,371 |
| 8 | Rudolf Stingel American | $804,235 | 1 | Untitled — $804,235 |
| 9 | Issy Wood American | $656,128 | 4 | Cries Real Tears! — $262,923 |
| 10 | Christina Quarles American | $618,642 | 1 | Lil' Dapple Do Ya — $618,642 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banksy British | $3,360,351 | 4 | Forgive Us Our Trespassing — $3,300,238 |
| 2 | Nicolas Party Swiss | $3,301,805 | 1 | Still Life with an Olive — $3,301,805 |
| 3 | Gerhard Richter German | $1,995,388 | 7 | Abstraktes Bild (456-2) — $1,447,891 |
| 4 | Luc Tuymans Belgian | $1,826,700 | 1 | Rome — $1,826,700 |
| 5 | Damien Hirst British | $1,104,554 | 7 | Fear — $425,317 |
| 6 | Anish Kapoor British | $1,006,564 | 2 | Untitled — $1,005,294 |
| 7 | Henri Matisse French | $875,940 | 8 | Grand Nu accroupi (Olga) — $804,235 |
| 8 | Anselm Kiefer German | $850,633 | 1 | Das einzige Licht — $850,633 |
| 9 | René Lalique French | $769,029 | 153 | DEUX GRENOUILLES VASE — $121,152 |
| 10 | Jadé Fadojutimi British | $756,540 | 3 | Debris is welcome in this stream of thought — $454,030 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas Party | Still Life with an Olive Phillips | $3,301,805 | $2,204,618 (64 earlier) |
| Luc Tuymans | Rome Phillips | $1,826,700 | $1,544,751 (62 earlier) |
| Hilary Pecis | Untitled Phillips | $891,845 | $630,000 (7 earlier) |
| Daniel Richter | Schakal Reloaded Phillips | $618,642 | $563,650 (122 earlier) |
| Simon Hantaï | Tabula Phillips | $618,642 | $92,373 (4 earlier) |
| Laura Owens | Untitled Phillips | $469,011 | $346,000 (20 earlier) |
| Tomokazu Matsuyama | Daylight In My Place Phillips | $324,307 | $138,291 (5 earlier) |
| Miriam Cahn | o.t. Phillips | $291,876 | $144,704 (9 earlier) |
| Max Ingrand | Large mirror Phillips | $262,426 | $220,025 (197 earlier) |
| Chen Fei | Life is Porn Phillips | $259,446 | $105,446 (4 earlier) |
| Mela - (Melania Mutermilch) Muter | PORTRET KOBIETY Agra-Art | $233,385 | $126,631 (32 earlier) |
| Harry Clarke | Titania and Bottom Morgan O'Driscoll | $170,112 | $28,343 (20 earlier) |
| Stanisław Fijałkowski | Czerwiec 2001 Polswiss Art | $138,173 | $94,357 (186 earlier) |
| Stefan Gierowski | Ob. DCVI Polswiss Art | $123,880 | $71,117 (72 earlier) |
| Wei Jia | Time Elapsed Phillips | $105,400 | $59,400 (3 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Phillips (1,259)Rago Auctions (762)Lyon & Turnbull (737)León Gallery (651)Toomey & Co. (515)Whyte's (480)Strauss & Co (472)Bonhams (466)Art+Object (391)Van Ham (384)Twents Veilinghuis (355)Artmark (314)Sworders (281)Maison Bibelot (268)Capitolium Art (260)Wright (258)Morton Subastas (249)Davidson Auctions (219)Pandolfini (216)Agra-Art (205)Pananti (157)Morgan O'Driscoll (149)Leonard Joel (144)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (141)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (136)Brunk Auctions (123)Lawrences Auctioneers (107)Clarke Auction Gallery (99)deVeres (94)Olympia Auctions (93)Sloans & Kenyon (88)Polswiss Art (67)Austin Auction Gallery (65)Michaan's Auctions (47)Circle Auction (45)Bertolami Fine Art (31)Aste Boetto (27)Grisebach (16)Elstob & Elstob (12)Sheffield Auction Gallery (10)Bogotá Auctions (8)Bolsa de Arte (1)