Even in times of crisis, the global art market has long been a reliable source of investment, and the appetite for art continues to endure despite a challenging landscape that has seen the market stutter this year.
Works of strong provenance still command top dollar, even when the art market is in a period of adjustment and works by major artists continue to be a wise investment, not least because the enduring appeal of collecting art lies not just in the returns.
For UHNWs seeking to grow their collection or those looking to diversify their portfolio of assets, New York’s big November sales are a must. Electric evening sales promise to be nights of high drama as extensive collections that include blue-chip works, modern masterpieces and rare works fresh to the market go under the hammer.
When it comes to buying art, Luke Dugdale, partner at Quartet Family Office urges UHNWs to ‘take advice’.
‘Pick what you want to buy and then buy the very best example of it you can afford. Hopefully, you will like the piece so you can enjoy it while it is going up in value. Don’t buy an investment piece just because you think it is amazing. You may find you are the only person who thinks that way.’
Once armed with advice, here are unmissable lots tipped to draw international attention, from abstract master Mark Rothko to a never-seen-before Monet.
Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange), 1955, Mark Rothko
Estimate on request, in the region of $45 million
Sale: Rockefeller Center, New York, 9 November
Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange), 1955, widely considered to be the artist’s most successful work, will be one of several highlights of the 20th-century sale at Rockefeller Center on 9 November during Christie’s New York’s marquee week of sales.
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The near-seven-foot tall painting was in the artist’s personal collection until he died, at which point it passed into the hands of legendary 20th century collectors and art patrons, Paul and Bunny Mellon. It is now up for sale for the first time in half a century and is estimated to reach in the region of $45 million.
Filled with rich, dynamic fields of colour that casts a spellbinding glow over the viewer, Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) exemplifies the boldness and complexity of Rothko’s finest work.
Alex Rotter, chairman of 20th and 21st century art at Christie’s, said: ‘Rothko stands among the giants of 20th-century art. He was deliberate in his process, with a singular intention of taking the practice of painting to new heights—achieving a psychological impact with his work that no other artist had previously.
‘His work continues to awe viewers of all generations, creating a deep emotional impact—a religious-like experience for those who stand before it. The painting we are offering is a best-in-class example, it is all-encompassing, radiating with an indescribable heat and intensity.’
Femme endormie, Pablo Picasso, 1934
Estimate: $25 – 35 million
Sale: Christie’s New York evening sale, 9 November
Picasso’s vibrant portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter, Femme endormie, comes to Christie’s New York from the California home of Ivan Reitman, the filmmaker behind movies including Ghostbusters, Dave and Kindergarten Cop.
This colourful portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter was in the possession of the Picasso family for nearly 60 years before its acquisition in 1993.
It is presented as part of the Ivan & Genevieve Reitman: A Life in Pictures sale, alongside works by Willem de Kooning, Jean Dubuffet, Loie Hollowell, Brice Marden, Richard Diebenkorn, Agnes Martin, Joan Snyder, and Saul Steinberg.
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Femme endormie was created during what Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art, describes as ‘among the most fraught years of Picasso’s life’.
‘His wife, Olga, refused to divorce him; the Great Depression was in its fifth year; political turmoil engulfed France; and his native Spain, which he would visit for the final time that August, teetered on the brink of civil war,’ Carter said.
‘Picasso painted less—there are fewer than 45 recorded oils from 1934 and in 1935 he gave up painting altogether—and his imagery was dark and brooding. But on one glorious day in July, he produced three radiant visions of Marie-Thérèse Walter.’
Picasso’s works are a major draw in auctions. Over the past decade alone, Picasso artworks have generated over $2 billion in sales, more than any other artist.
Figure in Movement, Francis Bacon, 1976
Estimate $50 million
Sale: Christie’s New York, 20th century evening sale, 9 November
This meditation on love, loss and the transience of the human condition, part of a celebrated triptych, is another leading highlight in the 20th-century evening sale at New York’s Rockefeller Center.
Francis Bacon’s 1976 masterwork was painted in the aftermath of his muse and great love George Dyer’s tragic death in 1971, and is shot through with the traces of his life and the force of the artist’s grief.
Never before seen at auction, the painting has remained in the collection of a single private family for nearly half a century. It is expected to sell for in the region of $50 million.
Le bassin aux nymphéas, Claude Monet, circa 1917-1919
Estimate $65 million
Sale: Christie’s New York, 20th century evening sale on 9 November
Monet’s never-before-seen at auction masterpiece Le bassin aux nymphéas, explores the ephemeral atmosphere, seasonal blooms and glimmering reflections of light of the French impressionist’s beloved lily pond in Giverny.
This superb example of Monet’s water lily series, one of four renderings, has been held in the same family collection for over 50 years.
A Monet Nymphéas of this scale and quality has not come to auction since a canvas in the historic May 2018 sale of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller achieved a price of $84.7 million.
Fruits et pot de gingembre, Paul Cézanne, circa 1890-93
Estimate: $35 million – $55 million
Sale: Christie’s New York, 20th century evening sale, 9 November
A veritable Cézanne feast is up for sale this November in New York for the first time in half a century, with Fruits et pot de gingembre a highlight of an exceptional trio by the French impressionist alongside Quatre pommes et un couteau and La mer à L’Estaque.
Fruits et pot de gingembre hails from his series of Cézanne’s still-life compositions now celebrated as his signature artistic achievement and is part of a select group of canvases Cézanne painted in the late 1880s and early 1890s.
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This work was most likely painted in the studio Cézanne kept at his parents’ estate on the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence – the same site where he painted his highly celebrated Card Players series.
Cartern described Fruits et pot de gingembre, as ‘one of the most important and exquisite Cezanne still lifes ever to be sold at auction.’
Femme à la montre, 1932, Pablo Picasso
Oil on canvas
Sold for £132m
Sale: Sotheby’s New York evening auction 8 November
Picasso’s Femme à la montre, a vivid portrait of his muse and lover Marie-Thérèse Walter, was the top lot in an exciting white-glove evening sale at Sotheby’s New York, where the painting beat estimates, fetching $139 million.
Hailed as a ‘masterpiece’ and a ‘trophy’ acquisition, the portrait defined the collection of the late, great American art patron and collector Emily Fisher Landau, who died earlier this year. It was painted in 1932 – a key period in Picasso’s personal and professional life. (Indeed, the year was so influential that in 2017-18 the Tate Modern and Musée national Picasso-Paris collaborated on the twin exhibitions ‘Picasso 1932’.)
The combination of the piece, time period and provenance is a ‘dream combination’ from a value perspective, explained Julia Bell, the founding director of Parapluie. Femme à la montre.
It was one of several pieces from Landau’s collection auctioned in what was, at $406.4 million, one of the highest totalling sales ever staged and the most valuable sale devoted to a female collector in auction history.
/ All images: provided courtesy of Sotheby’s
Abstraktes Bild, Gerhard Richter, 1987
Oil on canvas
Estimate: $30 million
Sale: Phillips 20th century & contemporary art evening sale, New York auction, 14 November 2023
The auction power of German painter Gerhard Richter has continued to grow over the years; his auction record stands at $46.3 million for a 1986 Abstraktes Bild sold in 2015 by Sotheby’s in London, while within the last 10 years, seven abstract paintings by Richter have sold for over $30 million, Phillips’ deputy chairman for the Americas and senior international specialist of 20th-century and contemporary art, Jeremiah Evarts says.
While Abstraktes Bild 1987 is not estimated to reach quite that (it has an estimate of $30 million) it is still a star lot of Phillips’s international fall auction season.
The sheer size of this work makes it a standout in a marquee season with many highlights. Comprising of two distinct panels fixed to one another, the painting as a whole measures over eight feet in height and spans over 13 feet in width, Abstraktes Bild, 1987, is one of the largest works from Richter’s oeuvre to ever be offered at auction, according to Phillips.
While Richter painted several works as part of the Abstrakte Bilder series between 1986-1989, the only one on a similar scale hangs in Lisbon’s Museu Coleção Berardo.
Le 14 juillet ou la maison sous les arbres, Fernand Léger, 1912-13
Estimate $15-20 million
Sale: Living the Avant-Garde: The Triton Collection Foundation, Phillips, New York auction, 14 November
Phillips is offering 30 works of art from the Triton Collection Foundation in a dedicated evening sale this November.
The Triton Collection Foundation has committed itself to assembling an outstanding collection of avant-garde works that span the century and feature movement-defining examples of impressionist, modern, and post-war art.
Sharing top billing with Pablo Picasso’s Femme en corset lisant un livre, 1914-1917, Fernand Léger’s Le 14 juillet, 1912-1913 forms part of a sale Phillips say could fetch $70 million that also includes Georges Braque’s La bouteille de Bass, c.1911-1912; and Joan Mitchell’s Untitled, 1954.
Originally acquired by the Dutch shipping and oil magnate Willem Cordia and his wife, Marijke van der Laan, the collection moved to a foundation overseen by Cordia’s children when he died in 2011. Of the 30 works offered at this sale, 24 are coming under the hammer for the first time.
Keesjan Cordia of the Triton Collection Foundation, said: ‘Our parents dedicated themselves to sharing that collection with the wider public. They took great care and pride in the works that they have chosen to acquire; never adding works that do not fit the quality or standard of the collection and always patiently waiting for those unique pieces they knew were out there. Ultimately, our role is to serve as temporary hosts for the incredible works in an ever-evolving collection.
‘Our hope is that the treasures find homes that allow them to continue to contribute to the public understanding and appreciation of art.’
