Record breaking night at auction with Gerard Richter

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Domplatz, Mainland by Gerhard Richter was on display during a preview of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sales in New York. AFP photo

The Contemporary Art Evening sale at Sotheby’s totaled $293.5 million, the auction house reported on May 15. There were exceptional prices for works from every decade from the 1940s through today with records set for Barnett Newman and Gerhard Richter, among others.

The price achieved for Richter’s masterwork also established a new benchmark for any living artist at auction. “The global nature of today’s art market was yet again underlined with collectors from 35 countries registering to bid in the sale, 20 percent of whom were new to either Sotheby’s or the category,” said a press release following the event.

“This evening we are very pleased to have achieved three landmark prices for masterpieces by key post-war artists,” said Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, “Barnett Newman’s Onement VI established a world record for the artist at auction and doubled the world record price achieved just one year ago. Gerhard Richter’s Domplatz, Mailand set a record for a living artist at a price which was a triumph for a photo-painting by the artist, and Yves Klein’s exquisite sculpture set a medium record for the artist.” “Tonight we offered important works spanning 70 years, and witnessed strong demand across that impressive range – from early works by Pollock and Calder from the 1940s to works by Currin and Colen made just last year,” commented Alexander Rotter, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department in New York, adding, “We are delighted with the results achieved for the works sold to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building project, which nearly doubled the high estimate to realize a total of $11.8 million, with 17 more works to be offered tomorrow.”

The sale was led by Barnett Newman’s Onement VI, which sold for $43.8 million after competition among five bidders – that price eclipses Newman’s previous auction record by a margin of more than $20 million. The monumental 1953 painting is the most important work by the artist ever to appear at auction and stands as a masterwork not only of Newman’s artistic enterprise, but of the entire Abstract Expressionist movement. Domplatz, Mailand by Gerhard Richter sold for $37 million, a record both for Richter at auction and for any living artist at auction.