Warhol was the top-selling artist at auction in 2014, according to New York-based researcher Artnet. His “Triple Elvis,” a 1963 silkscreen of Elvis Presley, sold for $81.9 million while “Four Marlons,” a 1966 canvas of Marlon Brando, fetched $69.6 million. Both works were sold in November at Christie’s in New York.
Not Cheap
While not exactly cheap -- Sotheby’s has 16 works estimated above $1 million -- the sales that begin Jan. 27 won’t come near the record $2.3 billion of Impressionist, modern, postwar and contemporary art sold in November in New York.
This week, Sotheby’s, which is offering 728 lots valued between $74 million and $106 million over five auctions, has 17 paintings from the collection of Jacqui Safra, a member of the billionaire Safra banking family.
Safra, a former producer of Woody Allen’s films, has consigned works that include a 1732 oil painting of the Pantheon in Rome by Giovanni Paolo Panini estimated at $3 million to $5 million. Canaletto’s view of London from St. James Park is estimated at $4 million to $6 million.
A 1596 oil on copper depiction of paradise by Jan Brueghel the elder is valued at $3.5 million to $4.5 million. The detailed work depicts animals flocking to Noah’s ark and was seen in public only once, in a 1998 exhibition in Amsterdam.
Bronzes, Clocks
Christie’s sales are slightly smaller, with 475 lots estimated at $63 million to $95 million. Highlights include 119 bronzes and clocks from the collection of Peter Guggenheim, a descendant of the Guggenheim mining family, and his partner John Abbott.
An early painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio of a young boy peeling fruit, estimated at $3 million to $5 million, was exhibited as early as 1791 in London.
Part of the disconnect between the prices commanded by Old Masters and contemporary art are a result of provenance, or the history of ownership, and a work’s authentication, Naumann said. Very old works of art have scattered sales records, if any at all.