The grandiose results of the auction of contemporary art at Sotheby’s

On Wednesday at the Sotheby’s contemporary art auction, Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis work was sold for $ 37 million, and the work of Roy Lichtenstein and Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei broke all records.

Photo: Sotheby’s

Picture of Roy Lichtenstein “Sleeping Girl” ) Roy Lichtenstein - Sleeping Girl ) was auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York on May 9 (Contemporary Art Evening Auction). By that time, the segment of contemporary art was extremely heated by the sale on May 2 of Edward Munch’s “Scream” painting for a record $ 119 million.

Liechtenstein’s “Sleeping Girl,” depicting a blonde woman with her eyes closed, went under the hammer for $ 44,882,500. Handmade porcelain composition "Weiwei Sunflower Seeds" (by the way, it weighs a ton) was sold for $ 782,500.

Another attraction of the auction - "The figure of the writer, reflected in the mirror" by Francis Bacon - was sold for 44,882,500 dollars. The names of the buyers of all four items are kept secret.

Bidding took place on the rise, caused by incredible previous events. Last week, the auction house sold Edward Munch’s Scream for $ 119.9 million, making the painting the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned off.

“The reason for such record sales was, simply put, the quality of the exposed material,” said Michael Frahm, contemporary art consultant at London-based Frahm Ltd. “The key was quality.”

Double Elvis Andy Warhol, a portrait of Elvis Presley on silver silk, depicting a singer in the role of a cowboy, was sold for $ 37,042,500. It was assumed that he would be bought for 30-50 million. Representatives of the auction say that this is the first "Double Elvis", which appeared on sale since 1995. Warhol painted a series of 22 portraits of Elvis, nine of which are in museum collections.

On the canvas, the king of rock and roll is depicted armed: he famously shoots from the hip, and next to him is another, almost transparent, figure of Elvis. The picture was put up for sale by the owner of a private collection from the USA, which got it in 1977.

The record was brought to Warhol by the picture “The Green Car Accident” (“The Burning Green Car - 1”), which in 2007 was sold at Christie’s for $ 71.7 million.

Liechtenstein’s “Sleeping Girl” is one of a series of female images that were painted by the artist in the sixties, influenced by comics. The work was exhibited only once - in 1989-90 at the Museum of Modern Art in Los Angeles. It was sold by Los Angeles collectors and philanthropists Beatrice and Philip Gersh, who founded MOCA.

His “I see the whole room!.. And there is nobody there!” Helped the artist set the previous record. She was sold at Christie’s in November for $ 43.2 million.

Weiwei’s “Sunflower Seeds” is one of ten works in the series, which is confirmed by a certificate signed by the sculptor. Ceramic seeds, which can be laid out as you like, were exhibited in 2010 at the Tate Modern Gallery. The last record was set by Weiwei “Candlestick”, which in 2007 was sold at Sotheby’s for 657 thousand dollars.

The work is filled with symbolism: sunflower seeds were once a popular delicacy among the Chinese, and this is also the image used by Mao Zedong in his time.

“The work of Ai Weiwei and Francis Bacon is popular for a variety of reasons,” said Lisa Fischman, director of the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. “The interest in the former is fueled by the political provocations of the author, and in the latter, by the tantalizing sexual mystery.”

"The figure of the writer" Francis Bacon, depicting his partner, another artist, George Dyer, who writes at the table, was presented at an exhibition in Paris in 1977 together with Triptych in 1976 (sold in 2008 with Sotheby’s for $ 86.2 million).

This work held a record of value among works of modern art until Tuesday, when at the evening auction it was beaten by a painting "Orange, Red, Yellow" Mark Rothko - a day earlier she was sold at Christie’s (Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale) for an unimaginable $ 86.8 million. Work 30 years spent in a private collection.

Screen printing "Elvis" was exhibited in 1963 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. The auction catalog describes this copy of the famous photo as follows: "the deification of the modern warrior-saint, an outstanding, exceptional idol holding a deadly weapon as if he were defending the mythical world of glory itself."

Sotheby’s Post Sale Report: Contemporary Art Evening Auction (English):

Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, In The Saleroom: Mark Rothko ’s Orange, Red, Yellow (bidding video):