While many in the art world were distracted by the latest twists and turns in Banksy‘s shredding saga, commerce continued unabated across the English Channel in Paris. The 45th edition of the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) welcomed 195 galleries and an estimated 75,000 visitors under the glass-domed ceiling of the Grand Palais for the fair, which closed yesterday.
FIAC sought to make the most of its spectacular setting before the building closes for renovations in 2020 and the art fair relocates to a temporary space near the Eiffel Tower. For the time being, dealers were keeping busy at FIAC and its neighboring satellite fairs.
Nota bene: Sales reports are notoriously slippery in the art world. Some purchases may have been finalized long before the fair, while others might only be handshake deals, still waiting on paperwork and cash. But prices themselves are more reliably telling, providing a snapshot of where individual artists stand in the matrix of the art market today. Even here, of course, there is room for slippage: Some dealers occasionally offer inflated figures, while others prefer to report ranges or the “asking price” to obscure the actual selling price, or to cover up favorable treatment that one buyer may have received over another.
Here is a (partial) roundup of notable sales at the fair—take it all with a pinch of salt—as compiled by artnet News, sorted by medium and price. Any sums reported in GBP or euros were converted to US dollars for consistency and ease of reading.
Philip Guston, Martyr (1978). © The Estate of Philip Guston. Courtesy of the estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

PAINTINGS

$6 million: Philip Guston‘s Martyr (1978) sold during FIAC’s preview day at Hauser & Wirth
$518,000: Georg Baselitz‘s Abe (1993) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$403,000: Georg Baselitz’s 40 Jahre (2018) depicting his trademarked upside down head, at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$315,000: Rashid Johnson‘s Untitled Anxious Audience (2018) at Hauser & Wirth
$300,000: Daniel Richter‘s Sick Music (2018) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$290,000: Georges Mathieu‘s Composition (Limbe) (1948) at Galerie Applicat-Prazan
$245,000: Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Anxious Audience sold to a French foundation from Hauser & Wirth
$220,000: Zhang Xiaogang‘s Mirror No. 3 (2018) at Pace Gallery
$210,000: Rashid Johnson’s mixed media work Untitled Broken Crowd (2018) at David Kordansky Gallery
$202,000: Günther Förg‘s Untitled painting (1995) at Hauser & Wirth
$200,000: Kehinde Wiley‘s Portrait of Quentin Lee Moore (2018) at Galerie Templon
$150,000: Takesada Matsutani‘s Drop in Time-2-9 (2018) at Hauser & Wirth
$150,000: Harold Ancart‘s Untitled (2018) sold to a prominent European institution at David Zwirner
$138,000: Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Noeud (2018) at Galerie Perrotin
$85,000 each: Three of Mary Weatherford‘s neon-inflected paintings; small sparkling sea, Pismo; ultRAmarine; and forest colors (2012–2018) at David Kordansky
$58,000–580,000 each: Works by Günther Förg and Pierre Alechinsky at Galerie Lelong
$75,000: Walter Swennen’s Josette (2018) at Vienna-based Galerie Nächst St. Stephen
$70,000: One of Jennifer Guidi’s shaped canvases, Sun Soaked (Painted Pink Sand SF#1C, Orange-Yellow Sky, Red Mountain) (2018) at David Kordansky

SCULPTURES & INSTALLATIONS

$595,000: The late Pop artist Robert Indiana‘s LOVE (1966/96) at KasminGallery
$500,000: Carol Bove’s stainless steel Bather (2018) at David Zwirner
$460,000: Antony Gormley‘s STEEP 2017 at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$317,000: A stainless steel work by Tony Cragg, Gate IV (2017), at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$250,000: A new parabolic lens sculpture by Fred Eversley, the most recent addition to David Kordansky’s roster
$185,000: Jack Pierson‘s The Pretty Girl Likes Me (2018) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$110,000: Evan Holloway’s Abstraction (2018) at David Kordansky Gallery
$98,000: Franz West‘s paper and waste composite sculpture, Homemades(1989), at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$60,000: Ricky Swallow’s bronze work Hanging Bow with Pegs (vertical) (2018) at David Kordansky
$50,000: Will Boone’s The Red Door (2018) at David Kordansky
$36,000: Betty Woodman‘s Philip Guston Color Chart (2011) at David Kordansky
$25,000: Ruby Neri’s Untitled (Traditional Pot with Heart) (2018) at David Kordansky
Robert Rauschenberg’s Helm (Spread) (1980) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s Booth at FIAC 2018. Photo: Pierre Tanguy.

MIXED MEDIA, PHOTOGRAPHS, & WORKS ON PAPER

$2.5 million: A 2010 mixed media work on paper by Louise Bourgeoistitled Les matins se Lèvent at Hauser & Wirth
$1.5 million: Robert Rauschenberg‘s Helm (Spread) (1980) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$350,000: An untitled work by Louise Bourgeois on fabric from 2005 at Hauser & Wirth
$350,000: Richard Serra‘s Orchard Street #11 (2018) at David Zwirner
$300,000: Cindy Sherman‘s Untitled #592, (2017/2018) at Sprüth Magers
$240,000: Sherrie Levine’s After Chaim Soutine Color (1-16) (2018) at David Zwirner
$220,000: Zhang Xiaogang’s Mirror No. 3 (2018) at Pace
$213,000: Rosemarie Trockel‘s Untitled screenprint (1994) at Sprüth Magers
$100,000: Louise Bourgeois’s Pregnant Woman (2007) gouache on paper at Hauser & Wirth
$98,000: Song Dong’s Usefulness of Usefulness, Rectangular Window No. 6(2017) at Pace Gallery
$95,000: An untitled Louise Bourgeois work from 1968 at Hauser & Wirth
$95,000: Elizabeth Peyton‘s watercolor The Pianist David Fray (2016–18) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$90,000: A mixed media work by Hu Xiaoyuan at Pace
$86,000: Thomas Demand‘s photograph Patio (2014) at Sprüth Magers
$86,000: Pierre et Gilles‘s La vierge noire (Adut Akech) (2018) at Galerie Templon
$53,000: Philippe Decrauzat’s Maze (2018) at Parra & Romero Gallery
$55,000: Pascale Marthine-Tayou’s Fresque de craies H (2015) at Galleria Continua
$46,000–57,000 each: More than 10 of Katharina Grosse‘s trippy spray-painted works on paper at Gagosian
$45,000: Matthew Brannon’s silkscreen with hand painting, Concerning Vietnam: Bell AH-1S Cobra, Gunner’s Seat (2018), at David Kordansky
$45,000: Ivan Morley’s thread and ink on canvas work, Fandango (2018) at David Kordansky
$30,000: Gordon Matta-Clark’s Study for Office Baroque, 1st. project (c. 1977) at David Zwirner
$28,000 each: Two watercolors by Lesley Vance at David Kordansky
$26,000 each: Two works by Ma Qiusha at Pace
$21,000: A Philippe Vandenberg work from 2009, placed with a private collector in Italy, at Hauser & Wirth
$18,000: Torbjørn Rødland’s photograph Fever (2009–2018) at David Kordansky

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