NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s continued its Spring 2022 Marquee Week with the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale featuring The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann on Friday, May 13 at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. The sale totaled $97 million, bringing the week’s running total to $1.36 billion. The sale consisted of an incredible selection of works spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, and raised a total of $11.3 million for philanthropic initiatives, including an additional $7.3 million for The Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, bringing the week’s cumulative total raised for the Foundation to $325.1 million.
The sale was 96% sold by value and 93% sold by lot, selling 151% hammer above low estimate with 17 works selling above $1 million. Bidders and buyers were drawn globally, coming from 41 different countries. The sale was led by two outstanding works by icons painted in the 1960s—Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn) (estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000), and Wayne Thiebaud’s Three Ice Cream Cones (estimate: $2,500,000-3,500,000), from the Family of Nina Van Rensselaer. Both works achieved $4,980,000.
Strong performances came from a range of diverse artists, from established icons of the post-war era to contemporary market stars. Highlights included Helen Frankenthaler’s Crete which sold for $1,620,000 and Frank Stella’s Hagmatana I from the Estate of Sondra Gilman which achieved $2,220,000, over triple its low estimate. Weeping Blur by Shara Hughes doubled its high estimate of $600,000 to sell for $1,134,000 and Ernie Barnes’ Storm Dance sold for $2,340,000, 15 times its high estimate of $150,000.
Christie’s was pleased to partner with a number of charitable organizations to benefit from this sale:
• Artists for Ukraine: Property to Benefit Doctors Without Borders
• Art for Vaccines: Property Sold to Benefit CARE’s Global COVID-19 Response
• From the Studio to Benefit amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
• Helping Children Heal: Artwork Donated To Benefit Rxart
• Property to Benefit CORE: Community Organized Relief Effort
• Property to Benefit the Bronx Museum of the Arts, on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary
• Farnsworth Art Museum with Proceeds Dedicated to the Acquisitions Fund
ARTIST RECORDS:
• Rosalyn Drexler
• Janet Cooling
• Michael Mogavero
• Milo Reice
• Alessandro Twombly
• Rainer Fetting
• Tim Rollins & K.O.S.
• Tom of Finland
• Lois Lane
• Deborah Kass
• Klaudia Schifferle
• Lynne Drexler
• Godwin Champs Namuyimba
• Louis Fratino
• En Iwamura
• Andy Warhol Marilyn print set
