ArtPro has been entering 2020 together with collectors after brilliant and exciting art auctions in 2019 ended. A new year officially begins only after the Spring Festival. This well-established and ritual occasion is called “the beginning of a year”. In 2020, art auction markets started trading first in the London area!

Art auctions in London are in progress

Since the beginning of the year, 12 auctions have been held at three great auction houses, namely Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips.

Sotheby’s Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art Evening Sale in London realized £49,903,100 on February 4th, with a total of 33 lots. On the following day, Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale and The Art Of The Surreal Evening Sale totaled more than £100 million. Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale took place on the heels of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale which achieved £93,851,300 on the 11th.

ArtPro will take you to the auctions ended in the London area in 2020 and appreciate the masterpieces of artists competed by collectors.

A pointillist masterpiece by Camille Pissarro kicks off Sotheby’s new auction season in London

Sotheby’s Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art Evening Sale held in London on February 4th. A pointillist masterpiece by Camille Pissarro, Gelée Blanche, Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu fetched £13,296,500! Its debut made it become the artist’s second most valuable work in the world, achieving the top price at auction of the night.

Paul Signac’s La Corne D’or. Matin, a landscape masterpiece, became the second highest lot at auction when it fetched £7,601,500.

Jean Metzinger’s and González Julio’s work set a record price for the artists at auction. Jean Metzinger’s work ranked the Top 4 of the night. During the entire auction, about half of the lots were sold past the high estimates. Under the fierce bidding between private collectors and agencies from all over the world, the auction season in 2020 raised the curtain. For more details of the lots, please check this auction.

Tamara De Lempicka’s Portrait De Marjorie Ferry takes top billing in Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale

Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale lift the curtain on London 20th Century Art Week on February 5th. In the fierce bidding of collectors, the top price of the night was achieved by Tamara De Lempicka’ s Portrait De Marjorie Ferry, which sold for more than £16 million, setting a record price for the artist at auction.

The second highest price of the sale came for the sculpture by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti.

George Grosz’s work ranked the Top 3, setting a record price for the artist at auction. Several art treasures of Pablo Picasso presented at auction and achieved great results. For more details of the lots, please check this auction.

René Magritte takes top billing in Christie’s The Art Of The Surreal Evening Sale

Belgian surrealist René Magritte’s A La Rencontre Du Plaisir created in 1962 achieved the top price when it fetched nearly £19 million on the evening of February 5th.

A La Rencontre Du Plaisir also became Magritte’s second highest-priced work. 7 works from Magritte created from 1928 to 1962 went under the hammer and all clinched a deal.

Magritte’s Perspective: Le Balcon De Manet became the second most valuable work in the Surrealist Sale. Moreover, the works of masters such as Max Ernst and Francis Picabia fetched a good price. For more details of the lots, please check this auction.

David Hockney’s the Splash takes top billing in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale totaled more than £90 million with 46 works under the hammer, which sold 93.5 per cent by lot on February 11th. David Hockney’s the Splash, which estimated at £ 20 million to £ 30 million, sold for the top price of £24.117 million as his iconic work.

The Splash, sold only £2.92 million in 2006, leaped to Hockney’s third highest-priced work after 14 years. Jean Michel Basquiat’s Rubber was the second highest-priced lot at auction when it sold for £7,487,600.

Empirical Mind State, the work of emerging artist Eddie Martinez who became an instant hit in 2019, sold at 6.15 times of the low estimate as his second highest-priced work after High Flying Bird. His major market was in Hong Kong last year. It also became his most valuable work in the London area.

The auction also featured great works from Francis Bacon, Christopher Wool, Yves Klein, and more. A. R. Penck set a record price at auction. For more details of the lots, please check this auction.

Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale realized £56,180,434, presenting masterpieces by masters including Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat and David Hockney on February 12th.The highest price was achieved by Andy Warhol’s Mohammed Ali.

The second and third highest prices of the sale came for works by Basquiat and Hockney. Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale took place in London on February 13th, featuring the best works from Ed Ruscha, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, and more.

London led the way on art auctions in 2020 while the New York area will usher in a new season of auctions. Despite the influence of force majeure, the financial attributes of artworks are not depressed but more prominent. As challenges and opportunities co-existing, what climaxes will come in auction houses? ArtPro will wait and see with you.