After the confusing year of 2020, the auction industry is back, bolstered by a more impressive digital presence made critical by the pandemic. The art and auction world proved its market prowess as observed in the top ten most-expensive artworks auctioned in 2021, four of which even came from the same collection.
10. Cy Twombly, Untitled, 2007
See also: A $600 Million Collection of Art at Auction
The number ten of this list comes from the auction of the Macklowe Collection, which took place on 15 November at Sotheby's in New York and was considered "the greatest collection of modern and contemporary art ever to come to the market" by Sotheby's CEO Charles F. Stewart. The total value of the collection, the second part of which will go under the hammer in May later this year, was estimated at $600 million. Cy Twombly's Untitled from his later series 'A Scattering of Blossoms' from 2007 ultimately sold for around $58.9 million.
9. Jackson Pollock, Number 17 , 1951, 1951
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Jackson Pollock's Number 17, 1951 was also auctioned in November as part of the Macklowe Collection at Sotheby's. The work from Pollock's lesser-known group of works known as his Black Paintings achieved a new auction record for the master of action painting at $61.2 million.
8. Beeple, Everydays: The First 5000 Days , 2021
See also: Digital Art Makes History at Auction
NFT art is the latest craze on the auction market and so it isn't surprising that an NFT work of art managed to get into the top ten most expensive auction sales of the year. Everydays: The First 5000 Days by the digital artist Beeple was auctioned at Christie's in New York on 11 March. With a profit of $69.3 million, the work became the most expensive digital work of art in auction history and made its creator the third most expensive living artist.
7. Claude Monet, Le Bassin aux nymphéas , 1917-19
See also: The Art of Plein Air Painting
On 12 May at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York, an important water lily painting by Claude Monet was presented. Le Bassin aux nymphéas from 1917-19, which was last auctioned at Sotheby's in 2004 for $16.8 million, was now up for $40-60 million. The achieved price of $71.4 million makes the work the fourth most expensive work by the Impressionist in auction history.
6. Vincent van Gogh, Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès, 1889
See also: 8 Artists Inspired by the South of the France
Another important private collection that went under the hammer in 2021 was that of the Texan businessman and philanthropist Edwin Lochridge Cox on 11 November at Christie's in New York. Unlike the Macklowe Collection with modern and contemporary art, the focus here was on Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Regarded as "the finest collection of its kind left in private hands" by art consultant Stephane Connery, the Cox collection boasted Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès, which Vincent van Gogh painted in Saint-Rémy in October 1889. Estimated at around $40 million, the masterpiece eventually changed hands for $71.4 million.
5. Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez, 1947
See also: The 10 Most Expensive Sculptures Sold at Auction
We return to the Macklowe Collection with Alberto Giacometti's Le Nez from 1947. The extraordinary work of art made of bronze, steel and iron, essential to Giacometti's oeuvre, achieved the second-highest result of the collection with $78.4 million and set the fourth-highest auction record for the artist. The 31-year-old crypto billionaire Justin Sun became the new owner of the fascinating sculpture.
4. Mark Rothko, No. 7 , 1951
See also: The 12 Most Expensive Paintings Ever Auctioned
Now we come to the most expensive work of art in the Macklowe Collection: Mark Rothko's No. 7 from 1951. With a realised price of $82.4 million, it is the second-most-expensive work by the artist. The first part of the Macklowe Collection auction, in which every single work was sold, exceeded the previously estimated amount with a total result of $675 million.
3. Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Man with a Round Image , c. 1470-80
See also: Botticelli Portrait Smashes Auction Records
Sandro Botticelli's Portrait of a young man holding a roundel from the second half of the fifteenth century was auctioned on 28 January at Sotheby's 'Master Paintings & Sculpture Sales' in New York. The Renaissance portrait was called up as the top lot in the offer, but did not generate many different bids. Nevertheless, its impressive sale price of $92.2 million was the highest result that Sotheby's has ever achieved with an Old Masters painting.
2. Jean-Michel Basquiat, In This Case, 1983
In Jean-Michel Basquiat's hometown of New York, his work In This Case went under the hammer on 11 May at Christie's '21st Century Evening Sale'. The 1983 painting became the star of the evening when it sold for $93.1 million. In This Case comes from a series of three Skull Paintings that Basquiat did between 1981 and 1983. Another is Untitled from 1982, which sold for $110.5 million in 2017 and has since held the auction record for the artist.
1. Pablo Picasso, Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse), 1932
First place in 2021 went to the only artwork that could surpass the $100 million mark: Femme assise près d'une fenêtre, for which Marie-Thérèse Walther, Picasso's partner, sat as model on 30 October 1932. Christie's achieved $103.4 million for it in its '20th Century Evening Sale' on 13 May in New York. This is the first time since 2015 that Picasso has topped the list of the most expensive auction sales. He succeeded in doing this with his record work Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O') from 1955.
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