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Christie’s Warms Up to Pierre Soulages Record Price

October 4, 2018 by Marion Maneker

Pierre Soulages, Peinture 186 x 143 cm, 23 décembre 1959 ($10-15m)

There are a number of undervalued artists receiving more attention in the market these days. The demand for abstract work from the middle of the 20th Century that might not have been as valued because of the shift from European to American artists has been particularly acute. That backdrop makes the appearance of this Pierre Soulages painting from 1959 such a potential market mover. Peinture 186 x 143 cm, 23 décembre 1959 will be offered at Christie’s this November with an estimate of $10-15m.

That low estimate would put the painting’s sale more than 50% higher than Soulages’s current record price of $6.9m set last year. That record work had a distinctive blue tinge. Chalk up the aggressive pricing to this work’s distinctive coal-hearth red glow and the fact the work was bought directly from the artist before being sold to the current owner. That’s about as ‘fresh-to-market’ as one could hope nearly sixty years later.

Paris Contemporary Results Analysis

June 21, 2017 by Marion Maneker

The full analysis of the Paris Contemporary art sales—including which artists’s markets are surging—is available to AMMpro subscribers. 

The Paris Contemporary sales are not a major event in the international circuit of art auctions. Even though the sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s are conducted in Day and Evening events, the works on offer and artists who predominate are secondary players. This isn’t an insult to the French or to Paris. The sales reflect a specific taste and feature the kinds of works that connoisseurs, dealers and other value-seekers are looking for.

Moreover, the current market continues to be more about discovering over-looked historical masters whose work will increase in value as time goes on. For that kind of buying, Paris is a playground of value. This last sales cycle illustrated that vividly. The top lot of the week was a world record price for a 1960s work by Pierre Soulages. The work was owned by Soulages’s American dealer Sam Kootz which only added to provenance. the €6.2m price reflected that.

There’s more going on these results than a single work with good provenance. Soulages had four of the top ten prices in Paris. Nicolas de Stael had three of the top ten prices. Seven of the top ten lots were sold at prices over the estimate range reflecting strong bidding and persistent competition. Only two works sold within estimates and one lot required a compromise from the consignor to get a transaction.Continue Reading

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