DALLAS – Three record-breaking prices helped push the auction total at Heritage Auctions’ April 19 Prints & Multiples Signature® Auction to $2,377,188 – more than double the pre-sale estimate.
The first lot to shatter an auction record was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Wolf Sausage, King Brand, Dog Leg Study and Undiscovered Genius, a group of four screenprints that sold for $137,500 – double the previous record. Still in their original box, the quartet of works by the art-world favorite hit the auction block in pristine condition.
Soon enough, another record was shattered when Pablo Picasso’s Tete de Femme prompted a bidding war. The final price for the striking Cubist linocut: $250,000. Like its sister work Grand Tete de Femme – which sold for $100,000, tying that print’s previous auction record – the piece depicts an abstracted woman’s face seen from multiple perspectives, allowing the viewer various experiences in one image.
The final record-breaker arrived when Andy Warhol’s Teddy Roosevelt, from his 1986 Cowboys and Indians portfolio, lassoed $131,250. Geronimo, from the same series, sold for $71,875, surpassing its high estimate. Also soaring past its high estimate was Warhol’s $, a 1982 work that had bidders seeing dollar signs when it sold for $87,500.
“Our top three lots all broke records, and 100 percent of our lots sold, which proves prints are just as desirable as originals and only growing in popularity,” said Rebecca Van Norman, Heritage Auctions’ consignment director of prints and multiples. “Those numbers also show that Heritage has become the new auction leader in this category of collecting, and we’re excited to see what new records we will break in our fall auction.”
Keith Haring, ‘Untitled 4’ from ‘Fertility,’ $71,875. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
As the top lots also show, pop art performed particularly well, with three colorful, eye-catching lots by Keith Haring joining in the fun. All three Haring lots surpassed their high estimates: Untitled 4, from the 1983 Fertility suite, sold for $71,875; Pop Shop Quad V (A-D) from 1989 realized $70,000; and Lucky Strike from 1987 sold for $31,250.
“The pop art market is strong,” Van Norman said. “And it’s thrilling to see that category experiencing such a robust comeback.”
[av_button label=’Click to view the auction catalog complete with prices realized’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/241931_prints-and-multiples-8078/?keyword=&page=1′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-86n9z3c’ admin_preview_bg=”]
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
