FEATURES ARCHIVE

The Post-War & Contemporary Evening sale on 11 February saw 90% of the 51 lots sold, bringing in a total of £39.1 million – a significant rise since last year’s total from the same sale of £8.4 million.

This February saw the continuing reappraisal of the value of the artists of the European post-War avant-garde, whose prices continue to rise towards the levels achieved by their American contemporaries. Works by the figures such as Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, Richard Hamilton, Yves Klein and Piero Manzoni who were at the forefront of the artistic developments in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s again and again surpassed their estimates. Klein’s Relief éponge sold for £5.9 million – the highest price of the week across all auction houses, and was the highest price for a work of art in the Post-War & Contemporary Art field since October 2008. Meanwhile, his Ant 5 soared almost three times past its £1,500,000 low estimate, finally reaching £4,129,250.

Manzoni’s Achrome vividly demonstrated the growth in this area, selling for £1,273,250 against a pre-sale estimate of £600,000 - 800,000. Meanwhile, a small collage by Richard Hamilton, the British godfather of Pop Art, smashed its estimate of £80,000-120,000 to sell for £301,250. Record prices for European artists were reached for Antoni Tàpies’ Blanc amb signe vermellos, which sold for £993,250, and Alighiero Boetti, whose Ononimo which realized a record £1,049,250.