The report is is available to AMMpro subscribers. (The first month of AMMpro is free and subscribers are welcome to sign up for the first month and cancel before they are billed.)

Thursday's long-awaited Old Masters sale at Sotheby’s New York had been billed as potentially being the biggest sale of its kind ever with a pre-sale estimate, not including buyers’ premium, of $121.9 million–$142.8 million. But after three lots were withdrawn, including a highly-rated $20 million–$30 million Rembrandt, that estimate was reduced to $100 million–$110 million.

Nonetheless, the sale continued Sotheby’s New York winter Old Master sales steady upward trajectory, arguably at the expense of the London equivalents. Since 2017, totals from these sales have risen from $35.8 million to $69.7 million last year. Today’s sale—the first half of a two-part auction—totaled $114.5 million alone. The London winter Old Master sales (which play second fiddle to their higher-value summer auctions) show a reverse momentum, coming in at £36.5 million in 2018, £19.2 million in 2019, and £11.8 million in 2020.

The record to beat today was £85 million ($135 million including premium), set by Christie’s in London in July 2012, when 15 works sold for over £1 million ($1.4 million), including John Constable’s The Lock, which sold for £22 million ($30 million). Today’s sale fell somewhat short of that.

The report is available to AMMpro subscribers. (The first month of AMMpro is free and subscribers are welcome to sign up for the first month and cancel before they are billed.)

On Tuesday, Christie’s set artist records for new-to-market works during its final old masters evening sale of the year.  Live-streamed from its London headquarters, the sale brought in £18.7 million on the hammer or £22.8 million with buyer's fees ($30.9 million) across 38 lots. That total landed solidly within the pre-sale estimate range of £14 million-£21 million. Led by Christie's global president Jussi Pylkknänen, the evening sale saw a sell-through rate of 86 percent. That was equivalent to last year's sale, which had a slightly higher total of £24.2 million made across 44 lots. Three lots were withdrawn before the sale, including Milanese painter Bernadino Luini's anticipated canvas, The Nativity, with the Journey to Egypt, estimated at £3 million-£5 million.

The report is available to AMMpro subscribers. (The first month of AMMpro is free and subscribers are welcome to sign up for the first month and cancel before they are billed.)

Hauser & Wirth (Zurich, London, Somerset, Los Angeles, New York, St. Moritz, Hong Kong):

• Sold George Condo’s oil painting Distanced Figures (2020) for $2.2 million, John Chamberlain’s painted-and-stainless-steel sculpture SUPERSTARMARTINI (1999) for $1 million, Rashid Johnson’s oil on linen Anxious Red Painting July 8th 2020 for 675,000, Avery Singer’s Soda Gun (2020) for $425,000, and Simone Leigh’s bronze sculpture Sphinx (2020) for $400,000. Buyers also purchased works by Lorna Simpson, Mary Heilmann and Nicolas Party for prices between $300,000–$350,000.