RECORD-BREAKING AUCTIONS AND TOP SALES FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
2015 was an outstanding year for Dorotheum, central Europe’s largest auction house. Two of its contemporary art auctions yielded record results and were among the most successful in Dorotheum’s history. In particular, the record-breaking contemporary art auctions attracted international attention. These auctions were characterized by outstanding sell-through rates and numerous world-record-setting results.
Pittura Oggetto and ZERO: world records and outstanding prices
Works originating in nineteen-sixties Germany and Italy proved to be particularly popular. “Superficie“ (Surface) by Enrico Castellani, for example, far exceeded expectations: €965,000 represent a new international record for a work from the initial phase of this Italian artist’s career. Other artists of the Milan avant-garde of the nineteen-sixties also sold exceptionally well, including Agostino Bonalumi (€442,200), Giuseppe Uncini (€253,100), Gino De Dominicis (€222,600), or Dadamaino (€204,300). Paolo Scheggi’s “Intersuperficie curva rossa” garnered an excellent €393.400, while the €204,300 paid for Mauro Staccioli’s steel sculpture “Ellisse” mark a new world record set by Dorotheum.
(born in Volterra in 1937), Ellisse, 2008, Corten steel, 195 cm x 252 cm x 48 cm, winning bid €204,300
2015 featured a particularly strong selection of Fontana’s sculpture, including several early sculptures, amongst them “Bust of a Woman” (1949), which the winning bidder acquired for €588,533. A smaller-sized “Concetto spaziale” dating to 1963–1964 received a final bid of €405,600. Fausto Melotti’s sculpture “Linee” sold for €369,000, more than twice the estimated price.
Gerhard Richter: small formats in big demand
Two small-format works by Gerhard Richter made a big splash: “Green-Blue-Red” sold for €369,000, the 2010 pictorial plate “Ifrit” for €143,300. Richter’s “Abstract” saw bidding rise to €491,000 while “Landscape with pioneer camp 1973” an allusive work by Ilya Kabakov, sold for the same amount. A German buyer shelled out €295,800 for Heinz Mack’s polychrome Plexiglas relief.
Landscape with pionier camp 1973, 2002, oil on canvas, 160 x 250 cm, winning bid €491,000
Austrian art saw some works gain significant appreciation: Max Weiler’s “World of Growth” set a new world record at €393,400. Maria Lassnig’s “Self portrait as a car” and “Two figures” left the auction block for €344,600 and €341,202, respectively. The €491,000 paid at Dorotheum last year for one of Lassnig’s paintings is the highest amount ever paid for a work by this artist.
Shelby Cobra puts the pedal to the metal
The jaw-dropping sum of €1,012,000 that was paid for the 1963 Shelby Cobra Mk I., an icon of automobile history, was the highest winning bid of the year at Dorotheum. The vintage cars and automobilia category enjoyed its most successful auction to date, charting a sales rate of 95%. A 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Coupé rolled off the auction block for a rousing €572,000.
Old Masters see renewed popularity
Frans Pourbus II.’s “Portrait of Prince Philipp Wilhelm of Orange, wearing the breastplate of the Order of the Golden Fleece” sold for €575,516 – more than ten times the expected price – at the April auction of old master paintings. Pieter Brueghel II.’s tondo “A Couple Fishing” went for €552,000, while Jan Brueghel’s “Rest by the Windmill” achieved an impressive €523,446. “Our Lady of the Carnations” by Giovan Battista Salvi, known as Il Sassoferrato, also earned more than double the estimated amount (€417,800).
Learned apes in the 19th century
The top price in the “19th century paintings” category went to the Polish historical and portrait painter Jan Matejko for his 1872 portrait of Carol Gilewski, professor of anatomy at Cracow – with a final bid of €344,600, over three times higher than expected. The €149,400 paid for Gabriel Ritter von Max’s “The Scholars,” which depicts its subjects as two monkeys, set a world record.
Modern art on the move
Modern art saw the successful sale of Alfons Walde’s painting “Alpine Pastures in the Snow“ for €393,400. Frantisek Kupka’s “Bather” earned an excellent €295,800. Amongst the many works by Futurist artists featued in the auction, Gino Severini’s “Sortie Nord – Sud” resonated especially well with collectors; the winning bidder paid €369,000 for the highly dynamic painting. “Bateau Ivre” by Wols saw bidding reach €131,100.
The best jewellery auctions
Jewellery and watch auctions performed particularly well this year; the June auction was the most successful of its kind in Dorotheum history. Among the highlights were a rare Kashmir sapphire ring (€515,400), a ring set with an untreated 14.57 ct. Burma sapphire (€222,600), and a “Fancy Yellow Natural Colour” solitaire brilliant ring (16.98 ct), which found a new owner for €320,200. Dorotheum’s June jewellery auction was the most successful in the auction house’s history.
The standouts in the watch category were two Cosmograph Daytona “Paul Newman” watches dating to the 1970s (€87,500 and €81,250).
Record-setting prices
A 1922/25 silver cutlery set by Hoffmann and Julius Zimpel sold for more than triple the estimate at the art nouveau auction in May; its proud new owner paid €344,600 for the 168-part set. A “Cupboard on Table” mod. no. BL 0810, designed by Otto Prutscher, sold for €244,414 – more than six times the estimated price – at the May design auction.
The highest price ever paid for a written document at Dorotheum is the €356,800 for which “Rituals,” an 11th century autograph, sold at the autograph auction in June.
Stamps, too, brought record prices at Dorotheum in 2015. The only known “Drittelungsfrankatur” of a 9-kreutzer stamp, Austria 1850, on a folding letter cover, became the single most expensive object sold at a Dorotheum stamp auction (€145,000).
In addition, May 2015 saw the successful sale of a single owner collection: bicycle enthusiasts from all over the world vied for vintage bicycles dating from the nineteen-twenties to the present at the “Bicycles from the Embacher Collection” auction.
Video: “2015 in Review”:
Illustrations above:
1963 Shelby Cobra 289 Mk. I, €1,012,000
Lucio Fontana, Bust of a Woman, 1949, €588,533
Alfons Walde, Alpine Pastures in the Snow, circa 1935, €393,400
Ring with untreated Burma sapphire 14.57 ct, €222,600
Pieter Brueghel II., A Couple Fishing, €552,000
Gabriel Ritter von Max, The Scholars, €149,400
Fausto Melotti, Linee, 1961, €369,000
Heinz Mack, polychrome plexiglas relief, 1971, €295,800
