Jeff Koons, Franz Kline Set Records at Christie’s Sale
A giant tulip sculpture by Jeff Koons and a 1957 painting by Franz Kline sold for new auction records at Christie’s in New York tonight.
The Kline work sold for $40.4 million nearly quadrupling his previous auction record of $9.3 million -- achieved yesterday at Sotheby’s (BID) with a smaller, 1956 canvas from the collection of Sidney Kohl, co-founder of closely held finance firm Alliant Co., and his wife, Dorothy.
The Koons work sold for $33.7 million, including fees, breaking a previous record of $25.8 million
In the record-breaking Christie’s Kline, an untitled work, black brush strokes collide on a white background. Measuring more than 6 feet high and 9 feet wide, it was expected to bring $20 million to $30 million.
It had belonged to Robert Mnuchin, a partner at L&M Arts gallery and formerly an equity-trading chief at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Entertainment mogul David Geffen also at one time owned the work, which has been exhibited at the Menil Collection in Houston and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
“It’s one of the greatest paintings Kline ever made and particularly impressive given its scale,” said Matthew Armstrong, curator of Donald Marron’s collection at Lightyear Capital LLC in New York. “It’s like a great culminating musical phrase in which each note is soaring, intense and pitch- perfect.”
Kline’s Importance
Until this season, Kline’s top price at auction was $6.4 million, achieved in a 2005 Christie’s sale. Privately, four paintings by the artist sold for more than $20 million each, according to Koji Inoue, a Christie’s vice president in New York.
“People arrive into that category one by one,” said art dealer Asher Edelman, referring to artists whose work sells for more than $20 million, including Kline’s peers Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still and Willem de Kooning. “Kline is a major Abstract Expressionist painter. He’s just as important as the rest of them.”
Christie’s guaranteed the seller of the Kline an undisclosed minimum price.
Muse highlights include Joe Mysak on books, Philip Boroff on theater.
To contact the reporter on this story: Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net
Andy Warhol’s 1962 “Statue of Liberty'' is expected to fetch more than $35 million at Christie's next month. The work is the top lot by estimate of the evening postwar and contemporary sale on Nov. 14. Source: Christie's via Bloomberg
Franz Kline 'Untitled'
Christie's via Bloomberg
"Untitled" (1957) by Franz Kline. The oil on canvas painting is estimated at $20 million to $30 million.
"Untitled" (1957) by Franz Kline. The oil on canvas painting is estimated at $20 million to $30 million. Source: Christie's via Bloomberg
'Marlon'
Christie's Images LTD via Bloomberg
"Marlon" (1966) by Andy Warhol. The famous Warhol portrait shows actor Marlon Brando resting on his Triumph Thunderbird motorbike.
"Marlon" (1966) by Andy Warhol. The famous Warhol portrait shows actor Marlon Brando resting on his Triumph Thunderbird motorbike. Source: Christie's Images LTD via Bloomberg
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