A Modern Art Moment

A white glove sale of the David M. Solinger collection plus a record-breaking Mondrian achieve $391 million at Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction

On November 14, 2022 the evening’s offerings of modern works—many from prized collections and unseen on the market in many years—together realized $391.2 million, the third highest total for such an evening of sales in Sotheby’s history.

The evening opened with the white-glove sale of the Collection of David M. Solinger, followed by works from the collection of broadcasting pioneer and former MoMA Chairman, William S. Paley.

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), The Wake, 1964. Tempera on panel, 29¼ by 48¼ in., signed lower right: ‘Andrew Wyeth’. Estimate: $2.5/3.5 million SOLD: $4,648,000

Across the two sales, 88 percent of all lots found buyers with nine works selling in excess of $10 million. The top price of the evening went to a 1930 piece by Piet Mondrian. Composition No. II fetched $51 million, setting a new auction record for the artist.

The freshness of the lots contributed to the evening’s success—all but one work from the Collection of David M. Solinger made its auction debut in the sale while more than half of the lots in the Modern Evening sale had never before been offered at auction. A third of the works had been off the market for more than 30 years.

Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), Fire in the Barnyard, 1944. Tempera and oil on Masonite, 29½ by 45¾in., signed and dated lower left: ‘Benton ‘44’. Estimate: $4/6 million SOLD: $4.9 million

Appetite from collectors in Asia remains strong, taking home works by Piet Mondrian ($51m), Alexander Calder ($8.5m); Joan Miró ($17.8m), Augustine Rodin ($2.3m), and were active bidders on numerous lots including works by Tamara de Lempicka, Andrew Wyeth, Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. American collectors were also out in force, acquiring at least half the value of the Modern Evening sale.

Other standout results include the sale of Alberto Giacometti’s Trois Hommes Qui Marchent (Grand plateau) which sold to a buyer in the room just above the high estimate for $30.2 million after a seven-minute bidding battle. Willem de Kooning’s 1950 Collage achieved $33.6 million, while Joan Miró’s Femme, Étoiles sold for $17.8 million.

Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Sixteen Black with a Loop, 1959. Sheet metal, wire and paint, 45 x 75 in., signed on the largest circular element: artist’s monogram. Estimate: $3/4 million SOLD: $8.5 million

Alexander Calder’s dynamic Sixteen Black with a Loop, picture here, was pursued by eight bidders before selling to an Asian collector for a double high estimate $8.5 million.

The Modern Evening’s sale was highlighted by works from the William S. Paley Collection led by Pablo Picasso’s Guitare Sur Une Table (1919) which, in its first auction appearance in more than seven decades, sold for $37.1 million.

Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989), Charge, 1960. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in., signed lower right: ‘E de K’; numbered on the reverse: 15. Estimate: 400/600,000 SOLD: for $1,071,000

Collectors also vied for rare works by pioneering women artists, among them Elaine de Kooning’s large-scale canvas, Charge, surpassed its high estimate to sell for a record $1.1 million.