VIENNA.- The history-making high sell-through rate and broad range of high-quality international work sold for exceptional prices combined to make contemporary art the high point of
Dorotheum's auction week from November 24th–27th, 2015. The event, which was held on the evening of 25th November and was characterised by numerous top results, underscored the significance and predominance of the auction house.
Spectacularly high prices for works by Agostino Bonalumi (€442,200), Enrico Castellani (€417,000) and Gino De Dominicis (€222,600) punctuated Dorotheum's strong position, particularly in the field of 1960s-era Italian and German avant-garde art. Paolo Scheggi‘s "Intersuperficie curva rossa" went for an outstanding €393,400. Pieces by Gerhard Richter met with great success, amongst them his paintings "Abstraktes Bild" (€491,000) and "Grün-Blau-Rot" (€369,000) as well as "Ifrit" (€143,300), his 2010 small-format optical disc. Austrian contemporary art was a resounding success: Maria Lassnig’s "Selbstporträt als Auto" and "Zwei Figuren" sold for €344,600 and €341,202, respectively.
Dorotheum made a turnover of some €13.7 million on contemporary art alone over the week.
All the other auctions were also marked by escalated prices and a high sell-through rate. Frantisek Kupka’s “Badende” yielded an impressive €295,800.
Gino Severini’s “Sortie Nord – Sud” was a favourite of art lovers amongst the auction’s Futurist selection. A collector paid €369,000 for the dynamic painting. Wols’s “Bateau Ivre” was bid on aggressively, culminating a sum of €131,100. Three of the 10 highest-selling works were by Giorgio de Chirico, including his “Battaglia,” which garnered a spectacular price of €125,000, and “Il guado,” which sold for €118,750.
Dorotheum's global also put down top dollar for the items in the silver and jewellery auctions. The highest obtained price in the jewellery auction was €222,600, paid for a ring beset with an untreated 14.57-carat Burmese sapphire.
The auction week was one of the most successful in Dorotheum’s history.
