Art Auctions 2019

The figures are in for the top auction sales of the year.  There were some remarkable individual results, topped by this Monet:

 

1.  $ 110.7m — Claude Monet:  Meules
2.  $ 91m — Jeff Koons:  Rabbit
3.  $ 88.8m — Robert Rauschenberg:  Buffalo II
4.  $ 59.2m — Cezanne:  Bouilloire et fruits
5.  $ 54.9m — Pablo Picasso:  Femme au chien
6.  $ 53m — Andy Warhol: Double Elvis
7.  $ 52.5m — Ed Ruscha:  Hurting The Word Radio
8.  $ 50.3 — Francis Bacon: Study For A Head
9.  $ 50.1m — Rothko:  untitled (1960)
10.  $ 37.6m — David Hockney: Portait of Henry Gledzahler and Christopher Scott

 

Some readers may recall that when the ridiculous shiny toy called Rabbit made $91m, I stopped reporting on art because I was so distraught at the weakening of values that Koon’s kitsch revealed.

More importantly, the figures show that New York continues to top London as the number one place to sell art. Highest prices 1 through 9 were sold in NY while only the Hockney was from a London sale.

Also noticeable is the continued dominance of male artists.  The highest price for a female artist was the $32m for Louise Bourgeois’s Spider, which clocked in at 15th place.