Sotheby’s London Sales See Drop from 2022

According to official sources, Sotheby’s 2023 auction sales in London brought in $208 million including fees. In total, Sotheby’s auction had two auctions dedicated to contemporary and contemporary art. The London auction took place just a few days after Christie’s held its own auction, also in London. Christie’s made $202 million in royalties.

A total of 57 lots were sold at Sotheby’s auction. Sales success is 92 percent. The level of sales this year is higher than in previous years, which amounted to 89 percent. This is also more than the result achieved by Christie’s at the auction. However, this year’s auction differs from last year’s in several ways.

First, there were 74 lots in last year’s evening sale, which is a lot more than this year’s. Additionally, while the 2023 Sotheby’s auction generated $208 million, last year’s auction generated $297.2 million. We see drop sales of 28 percent this year.

It should also be noted that Jenny Saville and Wassily Kandinsky set nine records. Titled View of Murnau with Church, the painting was sold for $44.9 million.

Relatives of the original owners of the painting, Joanna Margaret Stern and Siegbert Samuel Stern, recently received it back. They decided to sell it at Sotheby’s auction. Bidding started from $33.5 million.

But five items at the latest auction fetched about $18 million, according to Sotheby’s auction, more than any comparable sale in London since 2015.

Among the paintings sold at high prices were works by Gerhard Richter, Lucian Freud, Edvard Munch and Pablo Piccaso, in addition to Kandinsky. Lucian Freud’s portrait of his daughter Isobel (painting by Ib) was sold below its appraised value.

A legal settlement between the descendants of the original owner, a Jewish art critic persecuted during World War II, and a Norwegian collector who bought the painting, resulted in the sale at auction of Edvard Munch’s significant painting Dancing on the Beach (1906). . The estimated cost of the work was $15 million, but it was sold for $17.3 million.

Also, the painting of Mohammed Sami received due attention at the auction. His painting shows an indoor scene with potted plants and a broken cup, which appears to be the result of a family quarrel. Despite the dark subject matter, the bidders did not shy away. It cost more than the estimate of 424,977 dollars.