"Tonight was the perfect storm: a strong market, and sales that spoke exactly to what collectors wanted." 

David Galperin, Sotheby's Head of Contemporary Art, Americas (@dgalp)

NOVEMBER, 18 NOVEMBER 2021: Tonight, in the first iteration of two newly-conceived sales, the ‘Contemporary’ and ‘The Now’ Evening auctions, collectors came out in full force, both for the masters of today and for those of tomorrow, with both sales outstripping their estimates, and with deep, vigorous competition for the vast majority of works offered. 

Punctuating the two sales was that of one of the rarest and most prized pieces of American history: a first printing of the United States Constitution, dating to 1787. Two bidders chased the final price to $43.2 million – more than double the $20 million high estimate, setting a new world auction record for any book, manuscript, historical document, or printed text*. Further details can be found here.

Summary results from The New and The Contemporary Auctions combined: 
•    Sales together totaled: $191.1 million (est. $125.8-179.8 million), with the vast majority of lots (57) finding buyers (96%) 
•    No fewer than 9 records were set, with exceptional prices for younger artists in ‘The Now’ sale, many of whose previous records were pulverized this evening, among them:

• Lisa Brice (10x high estimate, and over 91x her previous record), Toyin Ojih Odutola (3x high estimate and over 2x her previous auction record), Hernan Bas (3x high estimate and over 2x the artist’s previous record), Stanley Whitney (11x high estimate), Christina Quarles (3x high estimate), Jordan Casteel (2x low estimate), Lukas Duwenhögger (5x high estimate and over 3x the artist’s previous record), Adam Pendelton (3x high estimate)

•    Sales drew participants from further afield than ever before, with participants from a record 48 countries, and six continents, both traditional and crypto collectors, with strong in-room bidding, 25% online participants, and 1.5m views across online and social channels

•    In particular, sales saw strong competition from participants in Asia, for works by Maria Berrío (Lot 2); Matthew Wong (Lot 5); Hernan Bas (Lot 6), Flora Yukhnovich (Lot 7), Lukas Duwenhögger (Lot 22), Romare Bearden (Lot 101), Roy Lichtenstein (Lot 107 & 115) and Cecily Brown (Lot 112). Works by Alexander Calder (Lot 114) and Ellsworth Kelly (Lot 119) sold to collectors in Asia, in addition to Yoshitomo Nara whose canvas was pursued by no fewer than eight bidders - all from the region. 

•    The newly-conceived ‘The Now’ auction provided a new platform and elevated context for younger artists, six of whom made their first appearance in an Evening auction tonight: Romare Beardon, Lisa Brice, Hernan Bas, Stanley Whitney, Christina Quarles and Lukas Duwenhögger. María Berrío made her auction debut tonight.

•    A significant proportion of the property offered tonight was fresh to market, with almost 90% overall appearing at auction for the very first time: 99% in the ‘The Now’ auction and 82% in the Contemporary auction, that stat is high at 82%. 

•    Paddles raised high for women artists:

• Cecily Brown and Agnes Martin reaffirmed their status in the Contemporary auction tonight, leading the way for a host of women artists in ‘The Now’ auction, whose works pulverized their estimates and previous records:
   
• Agnes Martin’s Innocent Love achieved $770,200 (est. $300,000-400,000), once again reaffirming her status as a leader among the big names of the week, following the standout result achieved for her Untitled #44, which sold for $17.7 million as part of The Macklowe Collection evening auction.
   
• Cecily Brown’s Bend Sinister was one of the most hotly contested works of the night, pursued by 10 bidders and selling for $6.4 million - five times its high estimate. The artist’s Spree also sold for 2x its low estimate at $6.6 million. 

•    ‘The Now’ auction saw no fewer than eight (25%) works in this evening’s sale by women. 71% of female artists in this sale exceeded their high estimate by a factor of three or more, with certain works going beyond their estimates by as much as 10x, among them:

• María Berrío’s Flor: nine bidders; made $927,500 in auction debut ($80,000-120,000)
• Lisa Brice’s No Bare Back, after Embah: nine bidders; made a record $3.2 million - over 10x the painting’s high estimate in evening auction debut (est. $200,000-300,000)
• Toyin Ojih Odutola’s Through Line: seven bidders; made a record $2.2 million - more than doubling the previous record set at Sotheby’s HK in April this year (est. $500,000-700,000)
• Christina Quarles’ Common Ground (Worlds Apart, Miles Away): four bidders; made a record $685,500 (est. $120,000-180,000)
• Flora Yukhnovich’s It's Better Down Where It's Wetter: seven bidders; made $1.8 million (est. $150,000-200,000). Tonight’s result comes just weeks after Sotheby’s set the artist’s record in London ($3.1 million)

Turning to the two sales individually… 

‘THE NOW’ WHITE GLOVE EVENING AUCTION: 
•    The 100% sold auction totaled $71.9 million, double its low estimate ($36.6-53.2 million) 
•    An average of five bidders pursued each of the 23 works offered
•    Sale saw an average lot value of $3.1 million, against a pre-sale average estimate of $2 million 
•    83% of lots sold for prices in excess of their high estimates, while almost half the lots sold for prices more than 3x their high estimates or even higher 
 

STANDOUT RESULTS 
•    Tonight, the Ether cryptocurrency was added to Sotheby’s converter boards for the first time for the sale of two works by Banksy. Fielding bids in Ether and USD, the artist’s Love is in the Air sold to applause in a buzzy saleroom for a double-estimate $8.1million after a 12-minute bidding battle (est. $4-6 million). Banksy’s Trolley Hunters, a satirical critique of consumer culture, realised $6.7 million (est. $5-7 million)
 

•    Yoshitomo Nara’s monumental Nice to See You Again surpassed its high estimate, selling to a collector in Asia for $15.4 million (est. $8-12 million). The top 10 prices for Nara have all been set since Sotheby’s Hong Kong set the artist’s auction record in 2019. (current record: $25 million). 
 

•    Matthew Wong’s luminous Night Crossing was pursued by eight bidders in the room and via telephone before selling to a participant online for $4.9 million, more than 3x its high estimate ($1-1.5 million). The second highest price for the artist at auction. 
 

CONTEMPORARY EVENING AUCTION:  
•    The sale totaled $119.2 million, nearing its top estimate ($87.7-124.6 million)
•    94% of works sold 
•    Half of the offerings sold for prices in excess of their high estimates 
 

STANDOUT RESULTS 
•    From the collection of art collector and acclaimed producer Douglas Cramer, Roy Lichtenstein’s Two Paintings: Craig… achieved $20.4 million after being pursued by six participants (est. $12-18 million). Created in 1983, the canvas is the final painting in Lichtenstein’s oeuvre to feature his abstracted archetypal blonde. Two further works by Lichtenstein found new homes, both exceeding their high estimates to sell for a combined $8.9 million (est. $2.7-3.7 million). 11 works from The Collection of Douglas Cramer were 100% sold, together bringing a total of $49.4 million, almost double the pre-sale combined estimate of $27-37.5 million.
 

•    Six bidders competed for an Untitled canvas by Christopher Wool, bringing the final price to $13.2 million - more than double the estimate of $6-8 million. 
 

•    Ominous Land by Philip Guston sold for $9.5 million, exceeding its estimate of $6-8 million. This follow’s the strong result for Strong Light, which doubled its high estimate to sell for $24.4 million (est. $8-13 million) in Monday’s sale of works from The Macklowe Collection.
 

•    Eight participants locked horns for Ed Ruscha’s Face It, which sold for $3.3 million (est. $400,000-600,000). When it last appeared at auction in 1996, the canvas sold for $14,950.