By Uma Nair
London, (IANS) As back-to-back sales by Christie’s and Sotheby’s this month show, contemporary art at high-profile auctions is changing the complexion of interest in art.
“Contemporary art is becoming a global language; the interest is massive,” Francis Outred, head of evening auctions and private sales at Sotheby’s, told IANS.
“We’ve seen a generational change that is certainly here to stay,” Outred said, adding that new “masterpieces are created all the time.
“We’ve seen a big rise in global biddings in the last two years, with buyers from China, Russia and the Middle East that are not the classic buyers,” he adds.
Other than the February and June sales of contemporary and impressionist art, the fact that the competing London auction houses have included a small set of contemporary art sales this month to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair at Regent’s Park here until Oct 14 is indeed a high point for art.
According to Outred, precisely eight years ago, the October sales generated between one million and two million pounds.
By comparison, the auctions organised by Sotheby’s in London Monday and last Friday were expected to fetch between 48 million and 68 million pounds – a record – according to presale estimates, though total sales may well exceed those figures.
Francis Bacon’s “Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne” from 1983, which has been described as an “exceptional work”, is among the more eagerly anticipated paintings and is expected to sell for between 1.5 million and 2 million pounds.
Of interest also are Andy Warhol’s “Jackie” (1964) and “Coca-Cola” (1962) – the former is of Jackie Kennedy smiling, just before her husband’s assassination, while the latter, which was drafted in crayon for an advertisement, is a “piece of history because it’s the start of pop art.”
At Christie’s, Pilar Ordovas, the auction house’s head of post war and contemporary art, described this week as “incredibly exciting” with sales expected to generate between 55 million and 77 million pounds.
Bacon’s “Study” of the human body, man turning on the light, is expected to fetch between seven million and nine million pounds.
Christie’s is also selling a private collection of 30 works, estimated to be worth more than eight million pounds, assembled by a couple of European amateur art collectors who focused on works by the newest generation of artists.
In addition, a Chinese presence – artists Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fanzhi and Yue Minjun – is evoking interest.
Yue, one of the most important Chinese avant-garde artists, has since June held the record for sale of work by a contemporary Chinese artist at an auction, when “The Pope” fetched 2.15 million pounds.
“Execution”, estimated at between 1.5 million and two million pounds, was inspired by “The Execution of Emperor Maximilian” by Edouard Manet, which itself was inspired by “The Third of May 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid” by Francisco Goya. Yue, however, transposed the theme on to the background of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, referring to protests there in 1989.