LONDON.- Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale achieved a total of £11,312,620/ $14,672,468/ €13,428,080, with sell-through rates of 96% by lot and 98% by value. 96% of lots sold within or above the high estimate. The sale saw strong international buyer participation with 56% from EMEA, 35% from the Americas and 9% from APAC.
Frank Auerbach’s Nude on Bed III led the sale, selling for £1,492,000, followed by Lynn Chadwick’s Sitting Couple on Bench, which realised £1,371,000.
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Sir William Nicholson’s The Lustre Bowl ignited enthusiastic competition among bidders, achieving £1,189,500 against a low estimate of £120,000, the second highest price achieved at auction for the artist. Bowl and Frying Basket by William Scott attracted spirited bidding in the room, selling after almost five minutes for £365,400.
In addition to Lynn Chadwick, the demand for British sculpture was evidenced in the results achieved by Six Foot Leaping Hare on Steel Pyramid by Barry Flanagan, which sold for £693,000, and Dame Barbara Hepworth’s Maquette (Variation on a Theme), fetching £277,200 against an estimate of £120,000-180,000.
Several bidders worked against each other to secure The Bay of Èze by Sir Winston Churchill, one of his most accomplished depictions of the French Riviera, which sold for £945,000. Works by Irish artists performed well: Roderic O’Conor’s Paysage, Pont Aven sold for £378,000, while Sir John Lavery’s The Hall, Argyll House - A Summer Day realised £157,500.
Other notable lots include: Antony Gormley’s MEME CXXX, which sold for £94,500 after competitive bidding in the room, online and via telephone, followed by c. 1925 (Jamaïque) by Ben Nicholson achieving £163,800. Strong interest was recorded for Bridget Riley’s Turquoise, red, blue, yellow with black and white which realised £182,700, against a low estimate of £80,000.
The auction witnessed a solid performance for three rare works by L.S. Lowry: May Day achieved £945,000; Old Church and Steps realised £403,200 and Old Houses, Wick made £478,800.
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