New York – Christie’s is pleased to announce the results of Andy Warhol at Christie’s, the three single-artist sales of Photographs, Prints, and Paintings and Works on Paper held at Christie’s New York on November 12, 2012, to benefit The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Proceeds from this first auction in a multi-year, multi-platform partnership between the Foundation and Christie’s realized a total of $17,017,050 for the Foundation’s endowment, enabling the institution to ensure and expand its long-term support of the visual arts. The sale achieved sell-through rates of 91% by lot and 82% by value.
Amy Cappellazzo, Chairman, Post-War & Contemporary Development at Christie’s, stated: “Today’s vigorous launch of the Warhol Foundation sales was met with enthusiasm by established and new collectors globally, including successful bidders from mainland China, Russia, the European Union, the Middle East and the Americas. Warhol’s enduring appeal was underscored by a 91% sell-through rate by lot, with Photographs and Prints performing exceedingly well. Today’s sales have set the stage beautifully for the next offering of works from the Collection of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, which includes a selling exhibition in Hong Kong and the debut of online-only sales in February. The sales today were in our traditional auction channel and proved that our global collector network is the strongest in the art world and we are honored to leverage our standing on behalf of the Warhol Foundation in support of its noble mission.”
Leading the sale of 354 works by Andy Warhol were Endangered Species: San Francisco Silverspot which had an estimate of $1,000,000 - $1,500,000 and sold for $1,258,500, followed by Endangered Species: Bighorn Ram, estimated at $700,000 - $1,000,000 which achieved $842,500, and Jackie, which more than doubled its high estimate of $300,000, realizing $626,500. Among the diverse expanse of works offered in today’s sale we saw a strong demand for unique photographs and prints with many exceeding high estimates, including Self-Portrait in Fright Wig, estimated at $12,000 - $18,000, which achieved $50,000; Enna Jetticks, estimated at $50,000 - $70,000 which reached $206,500 and Dove, estimated at $60,000-$80,000 and selling for $266,500.
Michael Straus, Chairman of the Board of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, stated: “We warmly welcome the results of this first auction. It has allowed us to increase our grant-making capacity at a time when the arts community needs support and has engaged an ever-expanding audience with the art of Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol at Christie’s has advanced both our philanthropic programs and our work in keeping Andy’s legacy alive.”
Joel Wachs, President of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, stated: “This first sale has proved to be a fitting marker for the Foundation’s 25th anniversary year. The new level of global access to Andy Warhol’s work that this series of sales makes possible, along with the bolstering of our philanthropic base, makes this an important moment for the Foundation and indeed for the world of art.”
The November 12 auction was the first of a number of phased sales by Christie’s of works from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ collection. Future sales in the series will include online auctions beginning in February 2013 and private sales conducted on an ongoing basis. For more information please see www.christies.com/warhol.
About The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was established in 1987. In accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, its mission is the advancement of the visual arts.
The primary focus of the Foundation’s grant-making activity has been to support the creation, presentation and documentation of contemporary visual arts, particularly work that is experimental, under-recognized or challenging in nature. The program has been both pro-active in its approach to the field of cultural philanthropy and responsive to the changing needs of artists. A strong commitment to freedom of artistic expression continues to inform the Foundation’s support of organizations that fight censorship, protect artists’ rights and defend their access to evolving technologies in the digital age.
Through cooperative exhibitions, loans and permanent placement of work in museums nationwide, the Foundation has ensured that the many facets of Warhol’s complex oeuvre are both widely accessible and properly cared for. In helping to establish the comprehensive collection and study center of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the Foundation paved the way for new Warhol scholarship and curatorial innovation. The Foundation’s sustained support and oversight of thoroughly researched, extensively illustrated catalogues raisonnés of Warhol’s entire artistic output continues to expand the possibilities for scholarship about his work.
The Foundation has also used its ownership of the copyrights to Warhol images and trademarks to his name and signature as an opportunity to craft creative and responsible licensing policies that are both friendly to scholars and artists wishing to use Warhol images for educational and creative purposes and profitable to the Foundation when the images are used for commercial purposes. Revenues from licensing agreements add significantly to those earned through the continued sale of work from the Foundation’s art collection, enabling the Foundation to build the endowment from which it makes cash grants to arts organizations around the country. Visit the Foundation’s website at www.warholfoundation.org.
About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s has achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019).
Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.
Recent innovations at Christie’s include the groundbreaking sale of the first NFT for a digital work of art ever offered at a major auction house (Beeple’s Everydays, March 2021), with the unprecedented acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability by reducing our carbon emissions by 50% and pledging to be net zero by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change.
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