After its rocky night Monday, it looked like Sotheby’s could become a distant also-ran in the art-auction sweepstakes. But tonight, with a little help from some late-breaking irrevocable bids (likely accompanied by lowered reserves), it glided through a smooth Contemporary sale, with an impressive 95.4% sold by lot and 98.6% sold by value.
The price levels, for the most part, were not as impressive: This is a time of lowered expectations.
So it was with the top lot, a Twombly blackboard with blue (instead of the usual white) scribbles, that sold at a hammer price of only $32.5 million, stopping far short of its presale estimate—“in excess of $40 million”:
Photo by Lee Rosenbaum
By contrast, a bigger, white-scribbled Twombly blackboard at Sotheby’s last November had hammered at $62.75 million, setting an auction record, with buyer’s premium, of $70.5 million.
Nevertheless, attendees gave a hearty round of applause at the end of the tonight’s sale, happy that the beleaguered auction house (and the contemporary market) had landed on its feet.
Here’s my rundown of how it went tonight: