
Sotheby’s press department has these details from the sale:
UNCONFIRMED SALE TOTAL: $343,621,000
85.9% Sold by lot
Artist records set for: Jasper Johns, Glenn Ligon, Robert Ryman, Jean Dubuffet, for a Glenn Ligon Neon, an Alexander Calder painting.
Works consigned from 12 countries on five continents sought after by participants from 38 countries including nearly 40% from outside the US, and with participation from Latin America and Asia.
The sale was led by Mark Rothko’s No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange) from The Schlumberger Collection which was sought by five bidders before selling for $44,965,000.
Other Schlumberger works that performed well included Jean Dubuffet’s Cité Fantoche which set a record for the artist when it sold for $7,445,000 (est. $4/6 million).
Jasper Johns’ 1983 Flag sold tonight for $36,005,000 to set a new record for the artist at auction after an extended contest between four bidders
Liz #3 (Early Colored Liz) the portrait of Elizabeth Taylor on a distinctive mint background achieved $31,525,000, Brigitte Bardot from the Gunter Sachs Collection sold for $11,645,000, and Self-Portrait (Fright Wig) fetched $11,365,000.
The 1961 Untitled Robert Ryman fetched $15,005,000.
Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild from 1991 drew multiple bidders to fetch $21,445,000
Christopher Wool’s Halloween Fell on a Weekend from 2004 sells for $8,005,000, to exceed the high estimate.
An Untitled Cy Twombly work on paper is sought by 6 bidders before exceeding the high estimate to sell for $5,205,000 to a bidder in the room.