While the usual suspects continue to command the highest prices at auction — as evidenced by Monday night's $195 million sale of Warhol's "Marilyn" — black artists and women's artworks found place in the art market
In this file photo taken on April 29, 2022 a woman takes a photo of Andy Warhol's 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' during Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art press preview at Christie's New York in New York City. - An iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe by American pop art visionary Andy Warhol went under the hammer for a record $195 million on May 9, 2022 at Christie's, becoming the most expensive 20th century artwork ever sold at public auction.
"Shot Sage Blue Marilyn," produced in 1964 two years after the death of the glamourous Hollywood star, sold for exactly $195.04 million, including fees, in just four minutes in a crowded room at Christie's headquarters in Manhattan. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP)
While the usual suspects continue to command the highest prices at auction — as evidenced by Monday night’s $195 million sale of Warhol’s “Marilyn” — the art market also continues to seize on the potential next hot thing.
On Tuesday, Christie’s turned its attention to some of those prospects at its 21st century contemporary evening sale — which totaled $103 million, just shy of a high estimate of $106 million. The auction of 31 works brought strong prices for works by Black artists like Amoako Boafo, Reggie Burrows Hodges and Ouattara Watts.
Also faring well were women — including Shara Hughes, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Elizabeth Peyton and Lisa Yuskavage — along with relative unknowns like 27-year-old painter Anna Weyant, whom the megadealer Larry Gagosian recently started representing (and dating).
And Refik Anadol, a Turkish-American data artist, offered the evening’s only NFT.
“We are defining what will be the next great generation of artists,” said Ana Maria Celis, a Christie’s specialist. “Ultimately the market will decide that.”
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