$1.4 Million raised to benefit flourish: Art For The Future – supporting STXBP1 disorders.
Post-War to Present kicked off the fall season of contemporary art sales at Christie’s New York, with lively and engaged bidders participating online, on the phones, and in-person in the Rockefeller Center saleroom. The auction totaled $25,755,534, 89% sold by value, selling 107% hammer above low estimate.
The Post-War to Present sale foregrounded a group of seventeen contemporary artworks donated by artists and galleries and sold to benefit FLOURISH: Art for the Future, an initiative by Bridget Finn of Reyes | Finn Gallery. The group was 100% sold, totaling $1,430,730, achieving 179% against the low estimate, with proceeds funding research to cure STXBP1 disorders. Leading the group was Three Ghee Sunrise by Derek Fordjour, which realized $302,400 against an estimate of $120,000-180,000.
Strong results were also seen by Laura Owens’ Untitled, which sold for $252,000, Bufly No. 8 (Mello Yello) by Eddie Martinez, and Robot Living Stone by Jonas Wood—each painting surpassing its high estimate of $200,000 to sell for $239,400.
The top lot of the Post-War to Present sale was Violet Sunset, a 1962 canvas by Lynne Drexler, which sold for $781,200—well over its estimate of $300,000-500,000.
Additional highlights included a fantastic group of abstract works, including Idylls I by Sam Gilliam and Untitled (Moon Surface #1) by Vija Celmins both of which achieved $756,000. Christina Quarles’s 2017 painting A Shaddow of Whut I Once Was also realized a strong price, selling for $693,000.
JONAS WOOD (B. 1977)
Robot Living Stone
Oil and acrylic on canvas
20 x 16⅛ in. (50.8 x 41 cm.)
Painted in 2021.
Price realized: $239,400
DEREK FORDJOUR (B. 1974)
Three Ghee Sunrise
signed and dated ‘FORDJOUR ’22’ (on the reverse)
triptych: acrylic, charcoal, cardboard and oil pastel on newspaper mounted on canvas, in artist-appointed frame
22 1/2 x 80 1/4 in. (57.2 x 203.8 cm.)
Executed in 2022.
Price realized: $302,400
LAURA OWENS (B. 1970)
Untitled
dated ‘2022’ (on the overlap)
oil, pastel and resin on linen
26 x 26 in. (66 x 66 cm.)
Executed in 2022.
Price realized: $252,000
Idylls I
signed and dated ‘Sam Gilliam 70’ (on the reverse); titled ‘IDYLLS I’ (on a label affixed to the reverse)
acrylic, metallic paint, crayon and synthetic cable on unstretched canvas
installation dimensions variable: 76 x 61 in. (193 x 154.9 cm.)
Executed in 1970.
Price realized: $756,000
Violet Sunlight
signed, titled, and dated ‘LYNNE DREXLER VIOLET SUNLIGHT 1962’ (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
32 x 49 3/8 in. (81.3 x 125.4 cm.)
Painted in 1962.
Price realized: $781,200
A Shaddow of Whut I Once Was
signed, titled, and dated ‘Christina Quarles 2017 A SHADDOW OF WHUT I ONCE WAS’ (on the reverse)
acrylic on canvas
48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm.)
Painted in 2017.
Price realized: $693,000
