The FT’s Jackie Wullschlager laments Eduardo Chillida’s declining stature as a sculptor since his death in the early 2000s:
Since his death a decade ago, the reputation of Spanish abstract sculptor Eduardo Chillida has not had an easy run. New York’s Metropolitan Museum tried to sell its only Chillida in 2006 (“Silent Music II” was eventually pulled from auction under pressure from its donor), and the Chillida Museum in San Sebastián closed in 2011. There has not been a Chillida exhibition in London for two decades.
Exhibitions may have been scarce but Chillida’s market has been very active in the same period. Not only did his peak price come in 2006 with the $3.7m sale of an iron work but 7 of the top 10 prices for the artist have come in the years since the market crash from 201o until now. In the European sales, Chillida’s works have regularly out performed estimates up and down the price spectrum.
No doubt, market savvy gallerists like Pilar Ordovas have noticed. Orodovas’s old shop, Christie’s, also has this large scale work on offer later this month with an estimate upon request.
Chillida: From Iron to Light, Ordovas, London – review (Financial Times)
