La Quiétude, an oil on canvas by Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) from 1918, £9.1m at Christie’s.
The sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips made a combined £144m (premium inclusive) which was down from £232.3m for October 2022.
Leaving aside the Covid-hit years of 2020 and 2021, this was the lowest figure for a Frieze week series since October 2013.
Outside of the main Modern and Contemporary art sales, 38 lots from the Sam Josefowitz collection were offered at a dedicated Christie’s sale on October 13 (the same day as its other major evening auction). It raised a £51.8m total (a figure not included the above total for the Frieze week auctions).
The collection included La Quiétude, an oil on canvas by Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) from 1918 that drew one of the best competitions of the week, selling at £9.1m (or £10.8m including premium) against a guide of £3m-5m.
Assyrian gypsum relief dated to the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, c.883-859BC, £3.2m at Christie’s.
Also bringing competition was an Assyrian gypsum relief dated to the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, c.883-859BC. Finely carved with the figure of a bearded, winged Genius (Apkallu), it measured 2ft 3in x 2ft 6in (68 x 75cm) and was estimated at £2.5m-4m. It sold at £3.2m (or £3.91m including premium).
Christie’s 20th/21st Century sale on the same day was led by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s (1960-88) Future Sciences Versus the Man from 1982 that fetched a hammer price of £8.8m (or £10.4m including premium).
At Sotheby’s, on the previous day (October 12), the top lot of its Contemporary art evening auction was a small-scale Francis Bacon single portrait head of John Edwards from 1979 that sold for £3.5m (£4.28m including fees).
Among the unsold works was a Gerhard Richter (b.1932) abstract from 1986 at Sotheby’s, which was estimated at £16m-24m.
