Art auction market report: May 2024
In May 2024, ArtSell recorded 8,165 auction lots from 44 auction houses, of which 6,569 sold (80% sell-through). The 6,408 sales with a published price total $194,354,135, with a median of $2,149 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Untitled (ELMAR)”, at $46,479,000 (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 | $69,364,994 | 6 | Untitled (ELMAR) — $46,479,000 |
| 2 | Donald Judd American | $8,843,092 | 5 | Untitled — $5,989,000 |
| 3 | Helen Frankenthaler American | $4,905,874 | 4 | Acres — $3,690,000 |
| 4 | Barkley L. Hendricks American | $3,206,000 | 1 | Vendetta — $3,206,000 |
| 5 | George Condo American | $2,231,951 | 11 | Focusing on Space — $1,270,000 |
| 6 | Andy Warhol American | $1,734,367 | 26 | Statue of Liberty — $1,143,000 |
| 7 | Rashid Johnson American | $1,568,800 | 3 | Anxious Red Painting September 24th — $1,391,000 |
| 8 | Marsden Hartley American | $1,264,650 | 2 | New Mexico Recollection No. 8 — $1,143,500 |
| 9 | Derek Fordjour American | $965,200 | 2 | Numbers — $889,000 |
| 10 | Kaws American | $927,920 | 7 | PAY THE DEBT TO NATURE — $763,495 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banksy British | $4,710,305 | 7 | The Leopard and Lamb — $4,700,693 |
| 2 | Emil Filla Czech | $1,703,196 | 5 | Couple — $1,104,264 |
| 3 | Jadé Fadojutimi British | $1,079,500 | 1 | The Pour — $1,079,500 |
| 4 | Diego Giacometti Swiss | $1,062,197 | 3 | 'Grecque' low table — $667,123 |
| 5 | Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German | $1,030,185 | 5 | Heuernte — $892,778 |
| 6 | Toyen Czech | $999,096 | 1 | Va et vient — $999,096 |
| 7 | Marc Chagall Belarusian | $903,353 | 8 | Fleurs chez Bella — $863,600 |
| 8 | Henri Matisse French | $774,700 | 1 | Portrait de femme — $774,700 |
| 9 | Jean Dubuffet French | $773,250 | 4 | Paysage à la vache (Le rendez-vous) — $635,000 |
| 10 | Günther Uecker German | $771,856 | 7 | Phantom — $741,693 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Judd | Untitled Phillips | $5,989,000 | $3,539,000 (220 earlier) |
| Barkley L. Hendricks | Vendetta Phillips | $3,206,000 | $937,500 (7 earlier) |
| Grace Hartigan | Montauk Highway Phillips | $927,100 | $113,400 (22 earlier) |
| Derek Fordjour | Numbers Phillips | $889,000 | $517,991 (13 earlier) |
| Aristide Maillol | La nymphe aux fleurs Phillips | $635,000 | $349,126 (79 earlier) |
| Jules Olitski | Boyar Time Phillips | $635,000 | $447,000 (39 earlier) |
| Manolo Valdés | Reina Mariana Phillips | $444,500 | $346,500 (49 earlier) |
| William Morris | Beetles with Flora vase (from the Flora & Fauna series) Rago Auctions | $390,600 | $167,000 (147 earlier) |
| Neil Jenney | Biosphere #3 Phillips | $323,850 | $245,700 (5 earlier) |
| Wolf Kahn | Pink Light on the Sea Bonhams | $298,950 | $162,813 (152 earlier) |
| Odilon Redon | Fleurs dans un vase Phillips | $254,000 | $212,194 (55 earlier) |
| Paul Sample | North Broadway Neighborhood Bonhams | $241,800 | $37,500 (18 earlier) |
| Alfred Leslie | Hipped Phillips | $241,300 | $119,700 (17 earlier) |
| Cornelis de Heem | Still Life of Peaches and Cherries on a Salver with other Fruits, Nuts and Sunflowers Lempertz | $219,059 | $73,808 (3 earlier) |
| Charles Alston | Black and White #7 Phillips | $215,900 | $25,000 (3 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Phillips (615)Bonhams (509)Artmark (497)Strauss & Co (473)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (425)Rago Auctions (416)Morton Subastas (380)Art+Object (361)Grisebach (339)Van Ham (316)Davidson Auctions (314)Wright (295)Morgan O'Driscoll (269)Levis Fine Art Auctions (242)Lempertz (226)Galerie Kodl (215)Toomey & Co. (183)Capitolium Art (182)HAUS Galerii (182)Maison Bibelot (149)Chorley's (135)Whyte's (130)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (120)Clarke Auction Gallery (115)Agra-Art (113)Toovey's (111)Pandolfini (105)deVeres (98)Brunk Auctions (96)Bogotá Auctions (88)Circle Auction (76)Lyon & Turnbull (73)Palm Beach Modern Auctions (71)Cottone Auctions (67)Leonard Joel (34)Elstob & Elstob (32)Sloans & Kenyon (28)Billings (19)Olympia Auctions (19)Sworders (16)Bertolami Fine Art (12)Vogt Auction (10)Blindarte (8)Piguet Hôtel des Ventes (1)