AMSTERDAM.- Following the Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions in Paris on 5 & 6 December, Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary auctions 2017 were concluded in Amsterdam with continued success. The 12 & 13 December evening and day auctions, which took place at Amsterdam’s famous Westergasfabriek in the magnificent Zuiveringshal West, saw bidders from 42 countries and realised a combined total of €9,186,625 / $10,805,767 / £8,080,739, selling 86% by lot and 94% by value. The 12 & 13 December auctions continue the success of the Amsterdam Post-War sales since the inauguration in 2009, with average sell-through rates of 90% and an increase of 20% year on year, from totaling €13,980,838 in 2016 to €16,887,238 in 2017.

The evening auction was led by Sigmar Polke’s (1941-2010) Untitled (2005), which featured the motif of raster dots and scattered hand-painted spots that has defined Polke’s work. The large scale painting sold at its high estimate for €439,500. The top lot of the day sale was George Condo’s Armored Love (1984), which sold for €259,500, ten times its low estimate (€25,000-35,000). Artist records were achieved for the Austrian artist Erwin Wurm (Fat Car, 2001-2004, sold for €150,000), for the German artists Almut Heise (Ladies' Powder Room, 2006, sold for €52,500) and Meuser (Untitled, 1988, sold for €11,875) as well as for a work on paper by Günther Förg (Hommage à Le Corbusier, 2000, sold for €283,500).

Arno Verkade, Managing Director The Netherlands & Germany: “With fantastic sell-through rates of 86% by lot and 94% by value, Christie’s is pleased to demonstrate the strength of the Post-War and Contemporary category in Amsterdam. Our new sale location in the grand space of the Westergasfabriek has been the perfect showcase for the scale and ambition of the works in the sale, and we look forward to many more sales being held at this location. We are particularly happy to see the strong prices achieved for German artists, a key category for Christie’s Amsterdam, with both established names such as Günther Förg, Sigmar Polke and Otto Piene, and artists on the rise such Almut Heise drawing competitive bidding. Ahead of the 70th anniversary of Cobra next year, we are proud to have achieved strong results for Karel Appel, with all three works in the Evening Sale achieving excellent results above their high estimate. We look forward to our next sale in April 2018.”

From January Christie’s Amsterdam will operate from new offices at Vondelstraat 73, built by and formerly the home of the architect of the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Central station, P.J.H. Cuypers (1827-1921). Headed by Arno Verkade, Managing Director, Auctioneer & Specialist for Post-War and Contemporary Art, and Jetske Homan van der Heide, Chairman & Senior Specialist Impressionist and Modern Art, the Amsterdam team will be best placed to meet the needs of collectors across the region. Christie’s Amsterdam’s team of specialists of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, Old Masters and 19th Century Art, Jewellery, Watches, as well as Wine, will assist clients across the Netherlands with buying and selling at Christie’s international auctions and online only sales as well as providing appraisals of artworks or precious objects. Twice a year, in April and December, Christie’s Amsterdam will hold its exceptionally successful sales of Post-War and Contemporary Art at De Westergasfabriek.