Picasso Warhol And Twombly Go Under The Hammer

New York Sales have a modern master edge

Christies will open the season with their Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale on November 1st. The sale boasts an impressive catalogue: the highest-valued lot, Dégas's 'Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans', which was cast after the artist's death, is estimated to fetch between $25m and $35m. And this is by no means the only big-ticket piece on offer at Christies; the vast majority of the catalogue is valued in the millions, with several works by Picasso, Magritte and Matisse amongst the pieces on offer.

Sotheby's will follow with their evening and daytime sales of Impressionist and Modern art on November 2nd and 3rd. Gustav Klimt’s 1915 landscape “Litzlberg am Attersee” leads the sale with a low estimate of $25 million, whilst another high-valued lot attracting interest is Matisse's 'Nu de dos', the first in a series of four bronze sculptures conceived in 1908 and cast in 1959.

Phillips de Pury will kick off  the post-war and contemporary sales on November 7th, hosting the smallest evening auction of the week. Nevertheless, a number of big names appear in the catalogue, including Warhol, Hirst and Koons. The highest-valued lot at Phillips De Pury's sale is an untitled 2006 canvas by Cy Twombly which has a high estimate of $12m.

Christies this season hosts a contemporary sale which features works from the collection of Peter Norton. The November 8th auction holds the highest-valued lot of the season: Roy Lichtenstein’s 'I Can See the Whole Room! ... and Theres Nobody in It' of 1961 is estimated to fetch $45m with the potential to set a new sales record.

As we reported earlier this month, contemporary sales in London by the three leading houses yielded encouraging results for the market, Christies enjoying particular success with a total sale value of over £38m; hopefully New York's November sales can echo these positive results.