Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Abstract Expressionism is the New Pop

September 7, 2012 by Marion Maneker

Auction cycles are driven by fresh material and new desires. Sotheby’s November sales is gaining momentum from a clutch of Abstract Expressionist works owned by Wisconsin collector Sidney Kohl. With a total estimate for the eight works of $80-100m, the collection is the beating heart of the house’s Autumn season (and they can’t be happy to have been bumped from the top slot in Carol Vogel’s column.)

Top among the group is Jackson Pollock’s “Number 4, 1951,” created with layers of red, blue, yellow, green, ocher and silver. It is estimated to sell for $25 million to $35 million. “There hasn’t been a drip painting on canvas at auction for years,” said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s director of contemporary art worldwide.

A 1956 action painting by Franz Kline, “Shenandoah,” […]. “Impatience,” a 1945 canvas by Arshile Gorky […] Also of historical importance is “Abstraction,” one of Willem de Kooning’s paintings from around 1949. Estimated to sell for $15 million to $20 million, it combines his urban-landscape work with the biomorphic figures that presage his return to his famed “Woman” series.

Pollock Painting (Inside Art/The New York Times)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Bonhams 19th C Sale = £2.8mBonhams 19th C Sale = £2.8m
  • Israel Museum Joins Art Project as Google ExpandsIsrael Museum Joins Art Project as Google Expands
  • Newly Discovered Van Dyck Comes By Way of Museum ProjectNewly Discovered Van Dyck Comes By Way of Museum Project
  • Christie’s London IM Eve HighlightsChristie’s London IM Eve Highlights
  • Chuck Close Is Not ImpressedChuck Close Is Not Impressed
  • The Met Gets ModernThe Met Gets Modern

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Phillips to Showcase Helen Frankenthaler at Southampton Outpost
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Re-discovered John Constable Painting at Sotheby's in December
  • How to Chant Like an Auctioneer
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor