This week’s record-breaking post-war and contemporary art sales in New York have once again confirmed the buoyancy of the art market. Christie’s made history, raising $750 million in a single evening sale, and $975 million over the course of the week – their best result ever.
The news comes hot on the heels of Sotheby’s landmark sale of the Maiyintang ‘Chicken Cup’ in April, which fetched a dizzying $36,265,898, and Christie’s historic Francis Bacon lots in February and November.
Since January, the auctioneer’s hammer has repeatedly knocked out multi-million dollar sales for both auction house giants, and broken record after record. We asked both Sotheby’s and Christie’s to single out some memorable auction highlights of the year to date. Click on any image to open the slideshow.
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Handle with Care: Chinese ‘Chicken Cup’ fetches $36 million at auction (Maggie Gray)
Flip Charts: Flipping art in contemporary auctions (Henry Little)
Is it a movement? Kinetic art at Christie’s (Camilla Apcar)
Bubbles: are steel balloons the new tulip paintings? (Maggie Gray)
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