Kathryn Widing, Head of Sale, Midseason & Online Sales, Post-War and Contemporary Art spoke to us about her $20.9m sale in New York.

You put two works by Mary Bauermeister at the front of the sale and they did well. What was the story behind that strategy? 

I have always admired Mary Bauermeister’s work — she has a wholly unique style that is difficult to categorize or label. I have been consistently surprised by the gap between her primary and secondary prices on the market, and sought to close that gap. The placement of these two works at the beginning of the sale was a two-pronged approach; it was an educational placement as we introduced many clients to her work who were not previously familiar with her output, and it was a strategic placement as the works were estimated conservatively to generate competitive bidding and achieve standout results.

Jean-Paul Riopelle’s Rondo No. 10 did very well. Riopelle’s works have sold very well in Canada for several years. He was once considered a global Contemporary artist (as opposed to a Canadian one) Is your sale a reflection of his emerging from the national category? ​

Riopelle certainly deserves to be considered as a global contemporary artist. We have consistently sold his works very well in Paris and London, in addition to New York. The example in our sale was a true gem as it was in very good condition for its age as a 50s painting, and the intensely layered, punchy and colorful surface of the painting was one of the best we have seen. The estimate was also extremely conservative for works from this period. These factors fused together to create a successful result.

Beauford Delaney’s Abstraction Number 4 doubled the estimates. Is this a harbinger of interest in late Delaney abstract works? Delaney too has been sold mostly in African American art sales in recent years. Is his emergence a parallel to Sam Gilliam and thus driven by his abstract works? ​

We are in an opportunity-driven art market. Delaney’s works have long been undervalued, and clients responded to this realization in the sale. I strongly believe in Delaney as an artist and in his market, which is underscored by the work’s placement towards the front of the sale. I was glad to see this successful result, and believe that his works will continue to achieve high prices going forward, both abstract and figurative, with exposure internationally.

Can you tell us a little about the difference between the two Warhol flower paintings. Were the prices a function of the difference in size? ​

Certainly. Warhol Flowers are estimated depending on size using recent comparables, as well as by their color palettes (a green background is preferred to a white background, as an example). Warhol was quite prolific in producing the Flowers, as he often gave them out to friends and family as Christmas gifts.

A Tom Otterness bear similar to the Barney Ebsworth’s sold well? Is that the explanation? 

​Otterness’ bear sculptures have always performed well — both Melva Bucksbaum’s medium scale example and Barney Ebsworth’s large scale example performed extremely well against their pre-sale estimates. The bear’s saddened expression is infectiously endearing — everyone who sees the work smiles. It is that attraction that results in competitive bidding for these works, and these results are outliers from the general market for Otterness.

Lindsay Griffith, International Head of Contemporary Editions at Christie’s, went over the results of her recent $1.74m Contemporary editions sale held in advance of the Armory Show in New York with us to give a little more color on the results.

Julie Mehretu’s Entropia signficantly out performed its $15-25k estimate. What’s the source of the demand for this work?

This work by Julie Mehretu was one of the the big narratives of the sale, we estimated Entropia (review) conservatively despite the fact that the work hadn’t been up to auction since 2010 (it sold for $28,125). Mehretu’s editions are sought-after both by important collectors as well as institutions. Additionally, Mehretu has not produced many prints in color making Entropia (review) particularly covetable. We know that in 2004 when this work was published, there were a lot of people who were clamoring to acquire it and couldn’t because of the relatively small edition size. As a result, on the day of the auction there many people bidding on this work which resulted in the impressive final price of $87,500.

James Rosenquist’s Shriek seems to be prefiguring interest in Rosenquist in the broader market or is this simply a reflection on this work?

I believe that James Rosenquist’s market is undervalued when compared to the other members of the Pop generation. Shriek, is a very commercial print and a great, colorful composition. It will be interesting to see where his market will go – we have an example of F-111, one of his most important monumental works in our April Print sale in New York and it will be interesting to see how it performs.

Damien Hirst’s Garden of Dreams, a recent print, and Love of God, from a decade ago both performed better than expectations. Is there are story line that connects these two works?

Damien Hirst continues to have a very broad collecting base. The success of Garden of Dreams reflects the continued popularity of his show The Veil Paintings at Gagosian in 2018. With Love of God, we continue to see well known images by Hirst resonate with collectors.

Jeff Koons had two balloon dog plates that sold at very different levels. Is that because the yellow plate is still being sold by Bernardaud? Nonetheless, the set of balloon animals performed far better. Can you provide some color on this part of the Koons market?

The Koons balloon animals are simply a well-known and well-loved multiple. We find that set of animals typically perform better than the plates because of their scale and smaller edition size

Keith Haring’s Chocolate Buddha 1-5 set performed very well. Again what color can you provide.

This Chocolat Buddah 1-5 set by Haring was in exceptional condition. The previous owner never framed it which kept the colors very vibrant. Keith Haring’s market is strong generally and for editions if the condition is excellent it typically will lead to a high price.