The large chandelier signed by French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) sold for $32.8 million on Thursday. (30.4 million euros) auctioned in New York and became his most expensive work. The statue, which is approximately 3 feet high and 5.5 feet wide, was the star of Sotheby’s contemporary art sale and started with an estimated price of $30 to $40 million, but interest stopped once the minimum range at which commission and interest was added was reached. .
The 1996 sculpture is one of the first spiders created by Bourgeois, and after being exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennale (Brazil) that same year, it was quickly acquired by the Itaú Institute of Culture and has survived from it today. finances its cultural activities. There were expectations that it would break records, but this Bourgeois chandelier has decided to become the third most expensive work by a female artist, a list that includes three of her other chandeliers that have sold for between $14 million and $32 million. In 1996 another Bourgeois chandelier was auctioned for 32 million, this figure is a bit behind today and retains its status. “most expensive” sculptor. American modernist painter Georgia O’Keefe record for any work by a female artist Thanks to the sale in 2014 of ‘Jimson Weed/White Flower No.1,’ one of the emblematic flower paintings from 1932. $44.4 million.
Born in Paris and moved to New York at the age of 27, Louise Joséphine Bourgeois is famous for her large-scale sculptures and installations, especially her giant bronze chandeliers exhibited in major museums. While spiders are a source of revulsion to many, Bourgeois reminded them of the memory of his tapestry weaver mother, who died when the artist was 21, and compared the capacities of both the spider and its mother in an interview. to “repair” and “maintain”. There is also an important psychological component behind Bourgeois’ spider, as the sculptor thus faced the trauma of losing his mother and the betrayal of his father, with whom he had a long extramarital affair.
A 28.6 million Basquiat
In the same tender A notable painting in Jean-Michel Basquiat’s career, ‘Now is the time’ sold for 28.6 million this Thursday. dollar. One of the most sought-after artists of recent years and with over 110 million copies, Basquiat’s work was a circular piece of wood painted black with the words ‘Now’s the time’ and ‘PRKR’ recreating a vinyl record of the jazz musician. Charlie Parker from 1945. Regardless, it was the second most expensive work of the afternoon, after Bourgeois’s spider, far beyond the highest expectations, far from optimism, despite breaking the artist’s record. In third place was Gerhard Richter’s ‘4096 Farben’ painting, which, with 21.8 million, evoked a pixelated screen of thousands of color squares and ended the ‘Color Table’ series, but still fell short of his estimate. The maximum range is 25 million. The only other work worth over $10 million was Wayne Thiebaud’s “Candy Counter,” a modern still life painting of candies, marshmallows, and a scale, close to its highest estimate at $14.7 million.
Thirty contemporary artworks from today’s Sotheby’s sale raised 165.6 million Altogether, it’s closer to the expected minimum of 144 million than the maximum of 193 million. The common sense of the buyers was also evident in the previous sale of ultra-contemporary art, with twenty other works sold for a total of 37.2 million – expected between 29 and 42 million – but they have amassed many records. (3.1 million) by Simone Leigh.