Bloomberg’s Scott Reyburn does a tour of all the big names at Basel and comes up with these sales:
“It’s like 2007 again in some ways,” said Alex Logsdail, associate director of the Lisson Gallery, who had sold 15 pieces within the first four hours […] a black wall sculpture by Anish Kapoor for 550,000 pounds and a stereogram by Haroon Mirza — who won the Silver Lion for the most promising young artist at this year’s Venice Biennale — for 16,000 pounds.
Hauser & Wirth: The gallery also sold three versions of Paul McCarthy’s 2010-2011 black monumental bronze sculpture “White Snow DWARF 7,” to collectors from the U.S. and Europe for $2.75 million each, said an Art Basel e-mailed statement.
Karen Blankfeld grabbed some more sales too:
* Sterling Ruby’s SP166 spray paint on canvass sold for $145,000 to an European collector.
* Mark Bradford’s He Barked Just Like A Watchdog sold for $400,000 to an European museum.
* Cerith Wyn Evans In Girium Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Iggni sold for GBP 75,000.
* A large Hernan Bas sold to a Hong Kong collector for more than $150,000.
* A large Erwin Wurm sculpture sold to a Latin American collector for more than 120,000 Euros.
* Mickalene Thomas’ Three Graces: Les Trois Femmes Noires sold to the American Museum for more than $110,000.
* Three editions of Tracey Emin in Aqua sold to two New York collectors and one European collector for more than £55,000 each.
Abramovich’s Partner Browses Basel; $5.5 Million Rothko Sells in VIP Spree (Bloomberg)
ArtBasel Update: How Much is the Art Selling For? (Forbes)