Monet, Basquiat and Twombly top a $702 million week of auctions

This week, a variety of art was on the auction block, including Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art. It was at an evening sale, that the total reached $596.8 million. The auctioneer for the evening was Olivier Baker, who works for Sotheby's. It was possible to view the auction, which took place in New York, through a live broadcast. Many buyers were present, from New York to Hong Kong and London. The auction featured sublime authentic works by Monet, Picasso, Warhol and Basquiat as well as other 20th and 21st century artists.

Warhol, Still, Richter and Diebenkorn top the Marion collection                     

The sale began with Exhibition of Mrs John. L. Marion un which there were many legendary works, sold for a total of 157.2 million dollars. These included expressionist and port art. Also, to name a few important works, we find Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park, made in 1971 and sold for 27 million dollars, but also the painting "Rocker" by Kenneth Noland sold for 4.2 million dollars. There is also the painting "Elvis 2 Times", a creation of Andy Warhol sold for 37 million dollars. 

100% sold out contemporary art auction brings in $218.3 million               

In the evening, the sales continued with the Contemporary Art auctions which totaled a record $281.3 million. Included were collections by Mooris and Rita Pynoos, Kay Unger and Hidden Harmony. Jean-Michel Basquiat's talent was the main reason for the sale, with his 1982 work Versus Medici reaching $50 million, and Twombly's work at the top selling for $41 million. A page in a history textbook from 1975 also animated the auction, lasting seven minutes, before being sold for $15 million.  Similarly, the work, Love is in the Banksy was the subject of debate for 14 minutes before being sold for $12 million. 

Monet steals the show with Water Lilies worth $70.4 million

Finally, the evening sales of Impressionist and Modern Art topped the auction with a total of $221.3 million. One work that accounted for much of this amount was Monet's famous Bassin aux Nymphéas, which sold for $70 million after five minutes of debate between five bidders. That night, Monet's work became one of his five most expensive works. Other works that stood out during these sales were Paul Cézanne's Nature Morte at $19.9 million. Also, Leonor Fini's Self-Portrait with Scorpion sold for $2,319,000.

To read more, click here.