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Christie4s sale of Contemporary art held on June 25 in London realized 45.2 million GBP with five records broken and  only two lots left undold

Dana Schutz's monumental « Black Stork » ((2012) went for 467,250 GBP while bidders fought for Tschabalala Self's  six foot fabric collage « Out of Body » (2015) rose to 371,250 GBP against a high estimate of 60,000. A 1954 work by Francis Bacon who kept it until his death fetched 5.1 million GBP while a KAWS painting sold within estimate for 1.8 million followed by a 14 inch Warhol's Flowers work from 1964, which was hammered down at 671,250 GBP..

But people went crazy for the picture by Tschabalala Self. The artist is currently showing at MoMA PS1 and is lined up with solo exhibitions at the ICA Boston and the Baltimore Museum of Art next year. Her London dealer, Pilar Corrias, says that after her first auction appearance at Phillips, collectors were lining up to sell and make profits.

A record 1 million GBP was paid for a tapestry by Gerhard Richter while Jean Dubuffet's « Paris Circus » went for a mid-estimate 8.7 million GBP. George Condo's « Diagonal portrait » (2013) sold for 2 million and Cecily Brown's « Blonde Eating Birds » (2011-12) fetched 1.6 million.

Gerald Laing's 1964 painting of a skydiver sold near the high estimate for £587,250 ($745,000) and Derek Boshier's 1963 painting titled « Man Versus Look, Versus Life, Versus Time, Versus Man about » went for 237,500 GBP, smashing his previous record of 12,500

A record of 419,500 GBP  was also set for a work by Jonas Burgert, a 50 year-old German painter, for his  22 foot wide painting, Suchtpuls/Addicted to Pulse (2011), well above his previous score of 150,000 GBP while a Mona Lisa by Banksy sold for 731,250, within estimate.

Frank Auerbach's Seated Model IV from 1963 sold for 457,500 GBP in 2012, rose this time to 911,250 GBP while a work by Sean Scully fetched 750,000 GBP, well under its 1 million estimate while a 1966 black painting by Pierre Soulages went for 850,000 against a  1 million estimate and  Concetto Spaziale by Fontana rose only at 400,000 against an estimate of 700,000.

Meanwhile, Sotheby's sale of Contemporary art held in London on June 27 yielded 69.6 million GBP with a Francis Bacon portrait from 1975 selling at 16.5 million while four lots were left unsold.

Five auction records were broken, with particularly fine performances for work by Cameroon-born Pascale Marthine Tayou and Nigerian-born American painter Toyin Ojih Odutola. 

Cluster (2015) by the German abstract artist Charline von Heyl started the sale for 150,000 GBP, three times the low estimate, while Albert Oehler's 1998 self portrait rose to a record 6.2 million GBP, much more than a 2006 abstract which fetched 1.8 million.

Pascale Marthine Tayou's large sculpture made from crystal, found objects, and colorful textiles,  Poupées Pascale, Les Sauveteurs (2007) went for a record 312,500 GBP followed by Toyin Ojih Odutola's, Compound Leaf (2017) which sold for 471,500 GBP against a high estimate of 150,000

Sold for a record 132,000 GBP at auction in 1984, a rare 1946 abstract on canvas by the influential German artist Otto Wols, , Green Stripe Black Red, rose this time for 4.5 million GBP, smashing his 11-year-old auction record of 2.6 million.

A Mark Grotjahn butterfly work on paper sold within estimate for 555,000 GBP while a 1992 Christopher Wool word painting that spelled, "I WANT TO BE YOUR DOG. which was estimated between 3 and 5 million did not sell. However, another Wool work from his abstract series went for " 4.2 million.

Acquired for 2.3 million GBP by a European buyer in 2017, a Rudolf Stingel carpet pattern painting only sold for 1.3 million while a Lucio Fontana slashed canvas, bought in 1983 for 10,000 GBP went this time for 795,000.