PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ARTSET EVENT
Starting February 7th, Christie’s Auction House will host two weeks of exciting sales. Alongside rival Sotheby’s, the auction houses expect to raise more than £500 million in sales overall.
On January 19th, contemporary arts members circle, ArtSet International hosted a private brunch and tour of the upcoming auction lots for Christie’s February sale held at the Museum of Man Kind (previously the Haunch of Venison location).
The first collection of works was an exhibition titled ‘Generation Y Collectors.’ The exhibition featured works from a select group of young collectors who each loaned one of their prized pieces to Christie’s. Works included Antony Gormley, Le Gun, and Richard Prince. It was a mix of international collectors, some as young as 26 years old. None of the works were actually for sale but it was an opportunity for these young, budding collectors to showcase their taste.
A Christie’s specialist led the ArtSet party through ‘The Printer’s Proof: Etchings by Lucian Freud from the Studio Prints Archive,’ where the viewer was able to see the artist’s development of figures and subject expressions through the exquisite detailing of cross hatching and shading. The late artist’s collection was assembled by Magar Balakjian, the master printer with whom the artist worked with for more than a quarter century. The 45 piece collection will be auctioned February 15th with each of the works estimated to sell at up to £70,000.
The next stop on the tour was the collection , ‘Living With Art – A Private European Collection’ was an astounding group of works collected by one family that included pieces by Picasso, Murakami, Hirst, Miro, Magritte, just to name a few. The collection, which gives living proof that collecting is in itself an art, was curated to replicate the private collector’s home interior with, for example, fresh flowers placed furniture lots and reproductions of the residence wallpaper. It was hard to believe that the remarkable collection is entirely for sale with little rumor or explanation as to why.
Jeff Wall’s light boxes were also displayed in the museum along side Christopher Wool’s untitled work that reads “FOOL”, which is estimated to sell at £3,500,000. Other star lots in the Contemporary Evening sale include a Francis Bacon, Portrait of Henrietta Moraes, (price is upon request), the £7,000,000 estimated Abstraktes Bild by Gerhard Richter and another price upon request lot by Mark Rothko.
It will be interesting and exciting to see the first sale results of 2012 to get a sense of the financial stability and art market liquidity for the New Year.
Christie’s auction week will begin February 7th at both South Kensington and King Street locations in London.
For information about joining ArtSet international, contact info@artsetinternational.com
Article by Daria McWilliams for XXXX Magazine
