Not a Great Time to Be an Artist

Hockney breaks record as auction house sells $93.7M

(NEWSER) - Christie's contemporary auction in New York last night went better than expected, selling $93.7 million worth of postwar art—double the result of its rival Sotheby's the night before. The top lot was a 12-foot panorama by British painter David Hockney, which sold for $7.9 million, a record for the artist. But while the art world was cheered by last night's result, a recovery is still far away; at last year's spring sale, Christie's sold more than three times as much. More»

(NEWSER) - Art prices went into freefall in the first quarter, as cash-strapped collectors unloaded their masterpieces, the Financial Times reports. Prices dropped 35%, after falling just 4.8% for all of 2008. Postwar and contemporary artists, favorites of the Wall Street elite, have been hit especially hard, with even the best performing postwar artist, Andy Warhol, seeing a decline. More»

Dismal auction season continues as Bacon fails to find buyer

(NEWSER) - The art world bust continued last night at the Christie's contemporary auction in New York, where almost a third of the 75 works on the block went unsold. Not a single collector bid for the highlight of the sale, a self-portrait by Francis Bacon estimated to sell for around $40 million, Bloomberg reports. And in a sign of the times, a collection of 16 drawings put up by the CEO of bankrupt Lehman Brothers sold for just $13.5 million, below the low estimate. More»

Lot after lot goes unsold at New York auction

(NEWSER) - Collectors from Steve Martin to Valentino packed the Sotheby's saleroom in New York last night, but its contemporary art auction barely pulled in $125 million—far below the low estimate of $202 million. For those who could afford it, works were going at bargain-basement prices. "It was a half-price sale," said Eli Broad, the Los Angeles financier collector, who spent $8 million on American modern art in just 90 minutes. More»

Painting that graced classic Daydream Nation cover goes up for auction

(NEWSER) - Music fans for whom Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation is an all-time classic will get a chance next week to bid on the painting that served as album-cover art, the Independent reports. Kerze (Candle), a 1983 work by German Gerhard Richter, is one in a series of still lifes based on photographs, and could fetch more than $5 million at auction Wednesday. More»