Art Fairs
Price Check! Here’s What Sold—and for How Much—at Art Basel in Miami Beach 2019
Here's what art dealers say they sold at the beachside bonanza (though watch out for number-fudging and other kinds of general sneakiness).
Art Basel in Miami Beach was… bananas. The story of the week, for better or worse, was Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, the banana duck-taped to the wall that sold for $120,000 (twice) and eventually became so popular it had to be prematurely removed.
Beyond the antics, sales at Basel were relatively fast-paced, despite the fact that some big international collectors stayed home. The fair reported an overall attendance of 81,000—2,000 fewer than in 2018. Even in a less frantic atmosphere, however, business began in earnest on the VIP preview day and continued through the weekend.
To capture a snapshot of all this commerce, we combed through reported sales from the participating galleries to pull together some highlights. 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. (We did not include reported sales unaccompanied by a price or price range in our list, so the galleries that tend to disclose figures are disproportionately represented here.)
All prices have been sorted by medium and price and converted to USD for ease of reading.
PAINTINGS
Alex Katz, Yvonne in Green (1995) at Marlborough. Courtesy of Art Basel.
Over $2 million: A painting by Marc Chagall at Hammer Galleries
$1.65 million: Helen Frankenthaler, White Joy (1981) at Mnuchin Gallery
$1.5 million: A Bridget Riley painting at David Zwirner
$1.5 million: A painting by Agnes Martin at Pace
$1.25 million: Alma Thomas, Azaleas (1969), at Mnuchin Gallery
$1.1 million: Georg Baselitz, Herdoktorfreud Grüßgott Herbootsmann (2011), at Thaddaeus Ropac
$1 million–2 million each: Multiple works by Alex Katz at Marlborough
$900,000: A small still life by Wayne Thiebaud at Acquavella Galleries
$750,000: Mark Grotjahn’s Untitled (Capri 51.75) (2019) at Blum & Poe
$750,000: Jonas Wood’s Yellow Orchid with Baby Snake (2019) at David Kordansky
$650,000: Helen Frankenthaler, Storm (1963), at Mnuchin Gallery
$600,000: Sterling Ruby, Spray Painting, at Xavier Hufkens
$575,000: Lee Ufan’s Dialogue (2019) at Pace
$475,000: Ed Clark’s Untitled (2011) at Hauser & Wirth
$460,000: Painting by Tracey Emin, at Xavier Hufkens
$450,000: Mary Corse, Untitled (Blue Inverted Arch) (ca. 2001), at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$450,000: Milton Avery’s Eight Birds Resting (1962) at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
$450,000 each: Two new works by Turner Prize winner Oscar Murillo at David Zwirner
$425,000: A new work by Dana Schutz at Petzel
$400,000: Jenny Holzer’s Call me (2019) at Hauser & Wirth
$385,000: Nicolas Party, Trees (2019), at Hauser & Wirth
$375,000: Ed Clark, Untitled (Paris Series) (1991), at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$375,000: Roberto Matta’s Untitled (1988) at Pace
$325,000: Robert Mangold, Double Line Column 7A (2005), at Pace
$300,000: Ed Clark, Untitled (1962), at Mnuchin
$300,000: A painting by Peter Saul at David Nolan Gallery
$275,000: Kenneth Noland, Begin and End (1981), at Pace
$250,000–750,000 each: Multiple works by Fairfield Porter at Marlborough
$250,000: Loie Hollowell, Standing in Water (2019), sold as a promised gift to LACMA from Pace
$250,000: Michael Goldberg, Snow Walk (1959), at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
$250,000: Ghada Amer’s An RFGA Grid of 2019 (2019) at Marianne Boesky
$250,000: Kehinde Wiley’s Portrait of Jordan Phillips (2019) at Galerie Templon
$225,000–275,000: Kehinde Wiley’s Portrait of Nelly Moudime (2019) at Stephen Friedman Gallery
$225,000: Adam Pendleton’s new work Untitled (WE ARE NOT) (2019) at Pace
$225,000 each: Two paintings by Fred Tomaselli at James Cohan
$200,000: Painting by Josh Smith, at Xavier Hufkens
$200,000: Rosemarie Castoro’s Rose Red (1964) at Thaddaeus Ropac
$200,000: Henry Taylor’s Selfies (2019) at Blum & Poe
$195,000: Rita Ackermann, Mama Safe Crossing (2019), at Hauser & Wirth
$185,000: Tomoo Gokita’s Spanish Harlem (2019) at Blum & Poe
$175,000: Mary Heilmann, Trip’s Left (2019), at Hauser & Wirth
$165,000: Luchita Hurtado, La Familia (2019), at Hauser & Wirth
$165,000: Alma Thomas, Untitled (ca. 1970) at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
$165,000: Nicole Eisenman, Sun In My Eye On The Beach (2019), at Hauser & Wirth
$150,000: A painting by Raoul Dufy at Hammer Galleries
$150,000: Kim Tschang-Yeul’s Composition (1970) at Tina Kim Gallery
$150,000–175,000 each: Four works by Ed Clark at Mnuchin Gallery
$130,000–190,000: Ged Quinn’s Burnt Village With Northern Lights (2019) at Stephen Friedman Gallery
$130,000: Neil Beloufa, The Moral of the Story (2019), at François Ghebaly
$120,000–150,000: Peter Halley’s Close (2019) at Almine Rech
$100,000–150,000: Shirley Jaffe, Criss Cross (1969), at Galerie Nathalie Obadia
$100,000: Fiona Rae’s Abstract I (2019) at Galerie Nathalie Obadia
Below $100,000:
$85,000: Painting by Katherine Bernhardt, at Xavier Hufkens
$85,000: Tara Donovan’s Composition (Cards) (2019) at Pace
$85,000: Lesley Vance, Untitled (2019), at David Kordansky Gallery
$80,000: A painting by Jonathan Meese at David Nolan
$80,000: Jules de Balincourt, Darwin’s Nightmare (2016), at Thaddaeus Ropac
$80,000: A painting by Derek Fordjour at Petzel
$75,000: Lita Albuquerque, Auric Field_Diamond Crystal Heart (2019), at Kohn Galley
$75,000: A painting by Jessica Dickinson at Altman Siegel
$75,000: Martin Wong’s Portrait of Roberto Duran (1984) at P.P.O.W.
$65,000: A painting by Hilary Harkness at P.P.O.W.
$65,000 each: Works by Ebony G. Patterson at monique meloche; another is on hold for the City of Miami Beach’s Legacy Purchase Program
$60,000: Peter Buggenhout’s Mont Ventoz #34 (2016) at Konrad Fischer Galerie
$60,000: Merrill Wagner’s Untitled (1964) at Konrad Fischer Galerie
$60,000: Benoît Maire, Peinture de nuages (2019), at Galerie Nathalie Obadia
$50,000–85,000 each: Four paintings by Elizabeth Neel at Salon 94
$50,000: Jonathan Wateridge’s Lilo (2018) at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$50,000: Jason Fox, Untitled (2019), at David Kordansky
$50,000: Katherine Bradford’s Queen Mary at Canada
$50,000: Matt Connor, Pieta III (2019), at Canada
$48,000: Lita Albuquerque, Auric Field_Particle Shift (2019), at Kohn Gallery
$48,000: Alan Charlton, Slot Painting (4) (1971), at Konrad Fischer Galerie
$46,000: A painting by Federico Herrero at James Cohan Gallery
$45,000: Vaughn Spann’s Messiah (2019) at David Castillo Gallery
$45,000: A work by Liam Everett at Altman Siegel
$38,000: John McAllister, clouds embracing autumns sustain (2019), at Wentrup
$36,000: David Renggli’s Desire Painting: Signaturea Go Out Primo (2019), at Wentrup
$35,000–50,000: Chloe Wise’s Dispassionate as passionate circumstances will permit,(2019) at Almine Rech
$35,000: Lita Albuquerque’s Solar Signature Radiance (2019) at Kohn Gallery
$30,000: RJ Messineo, Building Sky (2019), at Canada
$20,000–40,000: Marcus Jahmal’s Eternal Reflection (2019) at Almine Rech
$20,000: Tatjana Valsang’s Krone (2016) at Konrad Fischer Galerie
$15,000–45,000: All of Amoako Boafo’s works at Mariane Ibrahim
$7,500–55,000: All of Cinga Samson’s works at blank projects’ booth
$4,500: Octavio Abúndez’s Man with black eye patch – Sam – Adam – Spartacus – Erik Lehnsherr “Magneto” – James McCord, (2017) at Kohn Gallery
MIXED MEDIA/ SCULPTURE
Fairgoers take pictures of Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, for sale from Perrotin at Art Basel Miami Beach. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
$3.8 million: Georg Baselitz, Sing Sang Zero (2011) at Thaddaeus Ropac
$2.4 million: David Hammons’s mixed media work, Untitled (Silver Tapestry) (2008), at Hauser & Wirth
$1.65 million: David Hammons, African American Flag (1990), at Mnuchin Gallery
$900,000: Donald Judd’s Untitled (1991) at Thaddaeus Ropac
Approximately $700,000: A series of chromogenic prints by Cory Arcangel at Lisson, sold to a German institution
$750,000: Donald Judd, Untitled (LASCAUX 89-25), at Thaddaeus Ropac
$700,000–800,000: Marcel Broodthaers, Poêle de moules (1965) at Bergamin & Gomide
$700,000: James Turrell’s Firestone at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$650,000: Thomas Houseago’s Lying Figure (Mother Father) at Xavier Hufkens.
$595,000: Rashid Johnson, Untitled Escape Collage (2019), at Hauser & Wirth
$400,000: Ghada Amer’s The Words I love the Most (2012) at Marianne Boesky
$250,000–300,000: Elmgreen & Dragset, Kissing Heads (2019), at Perrotin
$200,000: Kohei Nawa’s PixCell-Bambi#21 (2019) at Pace
$175,000 each: Three sculptures by Woody De Othello at Jessica Silverman Gallery
$150,000–200,000: Jiro Takamatsu, Oneness of Brick (1971) at Stephen Friedman Gallery
$120,000 each: Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian (2019), at Perrotin
$115,000 each: Tracey Emin neons, edition of 3, at Xavier Hufkens
$100,000: A work by Trenton Doyle Hancock at James Cohan Gallery
$85,000: A steel wall hanging by Pae White at kaufmann repetto
$80,000: Sanford Biggers, Giuco Piano (2019), at David Castillo Gallery
$75,000: Lyle Ashton Harris, The Gold Standard I (2019) at David Castillo Gallery
$75,000 each: Bronze mask at Thomas Houseago , edition of 3, sold out at Xavier Hufkens
$70,000: Shinique Smith, Bale Variant No. 0025 (Good & Plenty) (2019), at David Castillo Gallery
$70,000: Arlene Shechet’s Pretty Please (2019) at Pace
$60,000: Mika Tajima’s Negative Entropy (Bioweaving Mill Brain Aneurysm Stent, Full Width, Red, Hex) (2019) at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$60,000–100,000: A ceramic by Yoshitomo Nara, Ears (2018), at Blum & Poe
$50,000 each: Three ceramics by Sterling Ruby, Xavier Hufkens
$50,000: Sam Moyer’s Pigeon’s Rock (2019) at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$49,000: Nevin Aladağ, Pattern Kinship, Screen, Moonlight (Musterverwandtschaft, Screen, Moonlight) (2019), at Wentrup
$43,000: Gregor Hildebrandt, Sonntage waren schon lang lang, das was ich am Besten kann (Anne) (2019), at Wentrup
$40,000: Sam Moyer, Red Wall (2019), at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$40,000 each: Four works by Mika Tajima at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$40,000–550,000 each: A number of works by Sheila Hicks at Alison Jacques Gallery
$36,000: Nevin Aladağ, Pattern Kinship daisy (2019) at Wentrup
$35,000: Pepe Mar’s Elephant Ear (2019) at David Castillo Gallery
$28,000: Sophie von Hellermann’s Bank Holiday Monday (2019) at Wentrup
$26,000–45,000: Jonathan Baldock, Untitled (2019), at Stephen Friedman Gallery
$22,000: Sophie von Hellermann’s Snap (2019) at Wentrup
$15,000: A video work by Zheng Bo at Edouard Malingue Gallery
$10,000–20,000 each: Four works by Suki Seokyeong Kang at Tina Kim Gallery
WORKS ON PAPER & PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS
Lauren Halsey, ma foreva thang (2019) at David Kordansky. Courtesy of Art Basel.
$750,000: Robert Longo, Untitled (Gothic Tree) (2018), at Thaddaeus Ropac
$220,000: Donald Judd’s Untitled (1993) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$180,000 each: Two works by recent gallery addition Sam Gilliam, both titled Untitled (2019), sold to Washington DC-based collectors at Pace
$120,000: Hank Willis Thomas, Society of the Spectacle (Spectrum V) (2019), at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
$100,000: A work on paper by Jorinde Voigt at David Nolan
$90,000: Robert Longo, Study of Swimmer with Black Bar (2019), at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
$83,000: Georg Baselitz, Ohne Titel (2015), at Thaddaeus Ropac
$75,000:Deborah Roberts, We are Soldiers (2019), at Stephen Friedman Gallery
$72,000: Georg Baselitz, Ohne Titel (2019), at Thaddaeus Ropac
$50,000: Thomas Ruff’s flower.s_01 (2018) at Konrad Fischer Galerie
$50,000: A work on paper by Rachel Whiteread at David Nolan Gallery
$50,000 each: Three collagraphs by Belkis Ayon Manso at David Castillo Gallery
$40,000: A work on paper by Franz West at David Nolan Gallery
$22,600: Tracey Moffatt’s The Departure/Arrival (2019) at Tyler Rollins Fine Art
$22,500: Gordon Parks’s Store Front, Mobile, Alabama (1956) at Alison Jacques Gallery
$20,000: Lauren Halsey, ma foreva thang (2019), at David Kordansky
$20,000: Zheng Bo, Survival Manual 2 (Hand-Copied 1945 “Taiwan’s Wild Edible Plants”) (2016), at Edouard Malingue Gallery
$14,000: Aaron Curry, Beasts Will Be Beasts (2019), at David Kordanksy
$14,000 each: Multiple photograph editions by Wardell Milan at David Nolan
$10,000: Gordon Parks, Untitled Alabama (1956), at Alison Jacques Gallery
$4,000–7,000 each: Works by Corita Kent at Andrew Kreps Gallery
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