Watch two phone bidders battle it out for Pauline Boty's powerful tribute to Marilyn Monroe, Epitaph to Something’s Gotta Give, which realised a world auction record for the artist (£1,310,500) in the Christie's Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale.
The sale realised a total of £23,781,300 / $30,226,032 / €27,776,558, a 23% increase year on year.
Registered bidders from 15 countries highlight the global appeal of Modern British and Irish artists. The sale was led by L.S. Lowry’s masterpiece Sunday Afternoon, which sold for £6,290,000, the second highest price achieved for a work by Lowry at auction. The painting was presented from the Collection of Sir Keith and Lady Showering and had not been exhibited publicly for 57 years.
The demand for sculpture was evidenced in the result for Henry Moore’s Head (circa 1930), offered for the first time in over 50 years, which achieved £5,122,000 (estimate: £800,000-1,200,000), a record for a unique work by the artist. Lynn Chadwick’s Sitting Couple on Bench sold for £1,613,000, while Moore’s Helmet Head No. 1 realised £302,400 after bidding in the room, online and via telephone.
The appeal of female artists continued as Women’s History Month is celebrated. As well as Pauline Boty’s Epitaph to Something’s Gotta Give, Barbara Hepworth’s Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red, a unique hand-carved work that fuses the constructivist principles Hepworth had pioneered in the late-1930s and a newly awakened sensibility towards her local landscape in Cornwall, achieved £3,549,000.
Find out more about Pauline Boty's painting here: [ Ссылка ]
