A group of 43 masterworks from the estate of Rachel Lambert Mellon, better known as Bunny, and other lots sold above expectations at Sotheby's on November 10, 2014 with high prices fetched by works by Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns and Gerhard Richter.
Rachel Lambert Mellon who died in March at 103 spent her lifetime collecting whatever pleased her, from antique porcelains and shaker baskets to abstract paintings. She and her husband, the son of the financier Andrew W. Mellon, were celebrated philanthropists. The couple had also often donated or bequeathed world-class artworks to many museums such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, which was given more than 900 works, including Cézanne's "Boy in a Red Waistcoat."
The sale of the Mellon artworks brought 158.7 million USD, topping a high estimate of 121 million USD with all 43 works sold. Richard Diebenkorn, "Ocean Park No. 89," went for 9.68 million USD, however below its high estimate of 12 million.
Rothko's "Untitled 1955 (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange)" which had been estimated to bring 20 million to 30 million sold to the Nahmad Gallery for 36.5 million USD.
Lucio Fontana's "Concetto Spaziale (Blu)" from 1968 estimated at 300,000 to 400,000 went to a telephone bidder for 965,000 USD. It had hung in the bedroom of Mrs. Mellon's 70th Street townhouse in Manhattan.
A spare painting of a barn painted by Georgia O'Keeffe during a 1932 visit to Canada which adorned Mrs. Mellon's Virginia dining room was bought by another telephone bidder for 3.1 million USD, above its high 2.5 million estimate.
A small still life of flowers by the 17th Century Dutch painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder sold for 4.6 million USD, above its high 4 million estimate.
Two coffee tables by Diego Giacometti featuring birds went respectively for 1,7 million USD and 1,4 million against high estimates of 300,000 and 200,000.
Rothko's abstract canvas"No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange) " executed in 1951 sold to a telephone bidder for 45 million USD though under its high estimate of 50 million.
Of the other works offered in the auction, 11 failed to sell. The auction totaled 343.6 million USD, just above its low 323.1 million USD estimate, but far away from its 418.6 million high.
Johns "Flag" paintings, from 1983 went for 36 million USD, way above its high 20 million estimate.
Andy Warhol's "Liz #3 (Early Colored Liz)," went for 31.5 million USD, while "Self-Portrait (Fright Wig)" from 1986, estimated between 12 million and 18 million fetched 11.3 million USD.
Gerhard Richter's "Abstraktes Bild," a vibrant red 1991 painting estimated between 15 million and 20 million, sold to an unidentified buyer for 21.4 million US.
Cy Twombly's blackboard drawing from 1967 sold for 5.2 million USD while Jeff Koons' "Bear and Policeman,",a 1988 work, reached the low 7 million USD estimate but the artist's "Moon (Yellow)" — a giant round stainless steel sculpture that belonged to the British artist Damien Hirst, remained unsold.
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