Sotheby’s had significantly fewer lots at its mid-season Contemporary Curated sale this year, but the live auction in New York on February 26 still yielded $19.88 million including fees.
This year’s sale had 101 lots—21 of which did not sell and six withdrawals—for a sell-through rate 73.3 percent. By comparison, last year’s Contemporary Curated sale in March had 276 lots, 45 which did not sell and 22 withdrawals, for a sell-through rate of 75.7 percent. That auction yielded $25.7 million with fees.
While there was a 64 percent decline in total lots, the difference in sales was 22.7 percent, due to more than half (52 percent) of the works selling above their high estimates with fees. The auction house also said bids came from more than 40 countries, an 11 percent increase compared to last year.
When ARTnews asked about whether the decline in lots would be interpreted as due to challenges with potential consignors and Sotheby’s recent layoffs, assistant vice-president and head of sale Haleigh Stoddard called it a “frustrating misconception” even with the final results.
“Although the sale was small and that was intentional, we wanted it to be a more highly edited selection,” she said. “It was really a goal for us to limit our volume this season, and I think we did that really successfully with with higher quality works and higher value works, sort of above the $300,000, $400,000 range.”
“Our buyers responded really well, and we’ve only heard positive things from the participants in the auction today. From our perspective, it’s something that’s positive. In fact, we will continue to focus on this low volume, high-value ratio for the rest of the year. It’s something that we are very interested in exploring further for our mid season sales.”
“It’s something that we’ve always wanted to focus on.”
It’s worth noting the sale took place in the midst of ongoing fragmentation of the art market, after the devastating fires in Los Angeles, several geopolitical conflicts, concerns over new tariffs, as well as growing economic uncertainty under a second Trump administration.
Works by blue-chip artists that did not sell included Diane Arbus, Josef Albers, Damien Hirst, KAWS, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and Claes Oldenburg. However, there were strong results for several works by women artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Olga de Amaral, Annie Morris, and Firelei Báez.
(All prices mentioned below include buyer’s premium and other fees unless indicated otherwise.)
The top lot at Tuesday’s sale in New York was an untitled oil on canvas painting by Joan Mitchell executed in 1985. It sold for $3.95 million on an estimate of $3 million to $5 million. Stoddard said that was an “incredible price” for a mid-season sale, and highlighted that Mitchell’s Pastel (1991) also did well early on, with Lot #9 selling for $571,500 on an estimate of $200,000 to $300,00.
George Condo‘s Artist and Muse (2015). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
The two other lots which garnered seven figures had guarantees and irrevocable bids: George Condo’s Artist and Muse (2015), which sold for $1.88 million on an estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million; and Jean Dubuffett’s 8.5-foot tall, 16.5-foot wide acrylic sculpture Echec à l’être (1971), which sold for $1.54 million on an estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million.
A bidding war for Louise Bourgeois’ Are you in Orbit? (2008) pushed the price to $920,750, more than three times its high estimate of $300,000. Stoddard said three bidders competed for the 5-foot by 6-foot unique work on paper for more than four minutes. “It was a real moment of excitement in the auction room,” she said.
Olga de Amaral’s wool and horsehair sculpture Hojarasca Barbas de piedra (1973). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Competition among five bidders for Olga de Amaral’s wool and horsehair sculpture Hojarasca Barbas de piedra (1973) also led to a sale price of $444,500, rocketing past its high estimate of $120,000. The result followed the Colombian textile and visual artist’s recent show at Fondation Cartier in Paris as well as inclusion of her work in last year’s Venice Biennale and major exhibition on women fiber artists at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
“We knew it would do well, and I think that’s another example of the market responding to shows and exhibitions and sort of renewed excitement in artists,” Stoddard said. “I think there’s a lot of excitement around her, and there’s a real reconsideration of her importance within not only sort of Latin American art history, but international art history.”
Other works by female artists that did well were Annie Morris’ Bronze Stack 3, Cadmium Red (2023). The 5-foot-tall patinated bronze and steel sculpture sold for $228,600 on an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. The first lot of the sale, Firelei Báez’s acrylic and ink on paper Patterns of Resistance (2015), also sold for $114,300 on an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
Also worth noting near the end of the sale: conceptual artist Mel Bochner’s monoprint Blah Blah Blah (2014) sold for $57,150 on an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. The conceptual artist recently passed away on February 12 at age 84.
