Francis Bacon sold for $17.6 million at Sotheby’s in London, leading the auction with $63.3 million

After nearly 20 minutes and more than 20 bids between several phone experts and in-person bidders, Sotheby’s scored at least one major victory in Thursday’s contemporary art evening sale. That victory was Francis Bacon’s Dwarf portrait (1975) exceeded box office estimates of between £6 million and £9 million, with costs reaching £13.1 million, or approximately $17.6 million.

While the figure is a far cry from the $142.4 million Bacon auction record set at Christie’s New York in 2013, the result – along with another piece of bacon (the previous lot) selling for just above the low estimate – is a positive outcome in a market that has yet to shake off its panic.

Ahead of Thursday’s sale, Sotheby’s chairman and head of modern art Alex Branczik positioned the evening sale as a “compact, high-quality sale” centered on a small private family collection that includes two Bacon works and two Rodin bronzes.

“It’s unusual for us to have modern works this season,” Blancik said, “but the works by Rodin and Bacon come from the same collection. This is very much part of the strategy of presenting a dialogue between the two artists.”

In fact, the entire auction process went very smoothly, with 27 lots sold in just over an hour. Overall, the sale netted £47.6 million ($63.3 million), with three lots unsold and a sell-through rate of 88.9%. This is a 26.5% increase on the same period last year, when 22 lots generated £37.6 million. Although a total of 42 lots were sold at the auction, the total turnover was almost exactly the same as the October 2023 evening auction result of £45.7 million. (Unless otherwise stated, all prices include buyer’s premium.)

The bacon came out well enough. This was not the case for the Rodins, with two works selling for £889,000 and £762,000 respectively, both with estimates of £600,000 to £900,000. There were very few fireworks before Dwarf portrait Auctioneer Tom Eddison, senior vice president of contemporary art in London, auctioned Lot 11 in an attempt to get more bids for each lot, but mostly failed.

In the first half of the sale, a Serpas work sold for less than its low estimate; a Hernan Bas sold for just above its low estimate, including fees; and an Emma McIntyre sold within the estimate. Even the store sells works by Basquiat—a 1982 painting Untitled (arm)– Estimated at £4.5m-6.5m, sold for £5.53m. So is the story of Andy Warhol Four Pink Marilyns (Reversal Series)1986, estimated at £3 million to £5 million and sold for £4.3 million.

The most intense event of the night took place at Lot 23, Lucy Bull’s 2021 psychedelic painting 9:59. Edison’s starting bid was £180,000, and no less than five experts quickly entered the bidding. The work was well over estimated at £300,000 to £500,000 and Edison moved like a conductor among the eager bidders. Although most of the bidding was divided between Bame Fierro March, Alex Griffiths and Seiun Lee, David Schrader, executive vice president and chairman of global private sales, ultimately emerged as the winning bidder for £1 million. The final result including fees was £1.26 million ($1.68 million), the artist’s sixth-highest result and her best since setting the record at Christie’s Hong Kong in September 2024. 18:50also starting in 2021.

This is a good boost to her recent results at Christie’s Hong Kong, when her 2020 8:50The work set an auction record of $1.46 million at Phillips Hong Kong in 2022, selling for approximately $604,000, just below its high estimate of $643,000.

“The attitude of collectors towards Lucy Bull is very specific,” said Antonia Gardner, head of Sotheby’s London contemporary art evening sales. art news After sales. “It turns out that when someone is passionate about Lucy Bull’s work, they go to great lengths to get it. But the truth is, it’s hard to know what drove those decisions. I can tell you, though, that it was a big surprise.”

Edison completed the auction quickly, completing the final four lots efficiently. Lot 25, Neo Rauch bright (2000), sold for £381,000, well below the £461,000 it fetched at Sotheby’s London in 2015. The last batch of paintings by Richard Serra from 2010 Elevation weight, verticalafter several bids, the buyer in the room settled for £310,000 (including fees). The work was last sold at Sotheby’s in London in 2017 for approximately £730,000.

Both clients seemed pleased with the works. Alas, such are the times.