The early reports are in and Frieze has been good to Damien Hirst. Fears that his market had evaporated were somewhat dispelled by reports that White Cube sold a $5.6 million fish in formaldehyde, as Bloomberg reported:
“The prices seem pretty reasonable,” Morgan Long, head of art investment at the London-based Fine Art Fund, said in an interview. “This is a place where dealers try to be sensible and this isn’t the time to be silly with price points. Over the years Frieze has become more and more commercial. The major galleries aren’t prepared to go out on a limb.”
- Lisson Gallery: Six works by Marina Abramovic priced between $30,000 and $300,000, and four sculptures by Anish Kapoor, ranging from 200,000 pounds for an editioned hanging object and 800,000 pounds for a large black fiberglass piece, were among the confirmed sales.
- Almine Rech: a new, purple-chrome abstract sculpture by the German artist Anselm Reyle at 189,000 euros ($263,880).
- Marianne Boesky: had sold four new works by the U.S. painter Donald Moffett for $60,000 each. Three sold to American collectors and one to a European, said Boesky.
- David Zwirner: 2005 Luc Tuymans painting, “Evidence,” for $850,000.
Judd Tully reports that the buyer of the Tuymans at Zwirner was renowned Chicago collector Stefan Edlis. Tully had some other sales:
- Michael Werner Gallery: Hurvin Anderson’s large-scale 2009 painting “Palm House” sold for around $100,000, an untitled 2010 canvas by Enrico David went for around $50,000, and Sigmar Polke’s big and brawny 1984 abstraction in artificial resin and acrylic on canvas, “Who Has Not, Who Will Again,” found a new home for a price in the $2 million range.
- Galerie Eva Presenhuber: where four of [Ugo Rondinone]t’s limited-edition bronze-and-lead 2008 sculptures representing lemons, a door, four pieces of Styrofoam, and an L-shaped tree trunk in hyper-real detail were snapped up for between €40,000-140,000 ($63,000-220,000).
- Sao Paulo’s Galeria Fortes Vilaca: Cuban-based Los Carpinteros’s ambitious, room-sized “Sala de Lectura (Reading Room)” from 2010 in medium-density fibreboard, […] sold to a European collector for €125,000 ($200,000).
Sarah Douglas gets her oar in for ArtInfo.com too:
- Hauser & Wirth: Paul McCarthy’s 2009 “Snow White” series, featuring advertisements for phone sex […] sold swiftly, to a European collection for $375,000, as did another work on paper, a $300,000 2010 piece by Ellen Gallagher, and a 2009 sculpture of McCarthy’s went for $750,000. The gallery also sold a 2010 Michael Raedecker painting, “Contact,” to a South American collection for £65,000 ($100,000), and a Wilhelm Sasnal painting, “Untitled (A Conservator)” to a European collection for €40,000 ($63,000).
- David Zwirner: a 2006 Chris Ofili watercolor, “Untitled (Afro Nude),” garnered $125,000. The gallery also sold pieces by Francis Alys, Raoul De Keyser, and others from its prodigious stable.
- Thaddeus Ropac: Marc Quinn life-size bronze sculpture of a hooded youth holding a skull, standing in front of a brand new, sprawling charcoal on paper work by Robert Longo depicting a fierce-looking caged tiger. The Quinn is in an edition of four, and two of them sold almost as soon as the fair had opened, for £200,000 ($315,000) apiece. The Longo went for $280,000. On a nearby wall was a new painting by German star Georg Baselitz. It, too, had sold, almost immediately, for €400,000 ($630,000).
- Lehmann Maupin: Two unique Tracy Emin embroideries sold to private European collectors, with “More Alone” (2009) going for £14,000 ($22,000) and “You Said No” (2009) for £12,000 ($20,000). Teresita Fernandez’s “Double Dissolve,” 2010, made from silvered glass cubes, sold for $80,000 to a private Korean collector, and Fernandez’s “Nocturnal (Fall),” 2010, made from graphite on wood panel, sold for $30,000. All three editions of Jennifer Steinkamp’s 2010 video installation “Orbit 8,” sold for $55,000 each, and her piece called “Fly to Mars” sold to the Daego National Museum in Korea.
Claudia Schiffer Browses at Frieze as $5.6 Million Hirst Sells (Bloomberg)
At Frieze’s Upbeat VIP Vernissage, Air Kisses Led to Major Art Buys (ArtInfo.com)
Early Sales Abound as Megacollectors Prowl an Exuberant Frieze (ArtInfo.com)