TEN GREAT BUYS FROM THE CHRISTIE’S DAY SALES
NEW YORK, MAY 2024
Every season in New York—May and November—you’ll almost certainly find me at an auction house. It’s one of my great passions and a forum where exceptional artworks can be won. Each season I view over a thousand works on offer at the major auction houses, in search of great pieces at great prices for my clients. My job is to help narrow down the selection down by style, fit, quality and condition—as well as expectation. Expectation is key because an estimate does not tell you the whole story and, often, when I study the market I can understand better where the final sale price may land.
From a strategic standpoint, the beauty and madness of auctions are their unpredictability. And market intelligence is extremely helpful when targeting works a client may have their eye on or to determine if each piece selected is in line with a client’s ideal budget. A bidder doesn’t want to have false hopes and begin chasing something that isn’t going to be in their reach when they could miss the opportunity on something that checks all the boxes. Conversely, it’s important to be ready as things do fall through the cracks and undersell. Having great on-the-ground intel can open up a host of possibilities as reserves can come down as the season gets into its final days.
When it gets down to the actual bidding, there is no place better to be than in the auction room. It is one of my favorite endeavors. It’s also highly advantageous, as it’s possible to get bids in first or allowing for an auctioneer to take a split bid.
Below is a list from one of the Day Sales at Christie’s as an illustration of what kind of opportunities are presented. The Evening sales, typically with works over $1,000,000 also have some amazing buys as well. Please feel free to reach out to me about more services and discussion about how this unique format can benefit your collection.
1.
It’s hard to find a great little gem of a Picasso for this price. Undersold at $850,000 hammer ($1.07 w premium) against a $1-1.5m estimate.
2.
A fantastic, referential and great scale Bob Thompson painting. The sale price was testament to quality at $1.26 against a $300-400k est.
3.
An excellent price a $567,000 for a large scale Whitney which have sold much higher in recent years.
4.
Buyers are not paying attention enough to shaped canvases by Frank Stella. They are incredibly important art historically and sold for one bid at $504,000 all in.
5.
A lot of value here for a 60s Frankenthaler but a nice example and the right date that can fit anywhere for $504,000 all in.
6.
Incredible buy for a large Lichtenstein canvas at just under $1.2 all in.
7.
Warhol camouflage works are a clever riff on Geometric Abstraction and a really cool smaller canvas here which undersold at $52,920 all in against a $60k low est.
8.
Some works just have it and the black and white Chamberlains are the best ones to get after. A huge price for a smaller, late work at $705k but a refined selection
9.
Unmistakably a Magritte, with classic scale shifts and imagery. His works on paper stand on their own. $693,000 w premium.
10.
Still unsold against a conservative estimate of $50-70k for large brassy Larry Bell “Cube”.