Christie's annual Prints & Multiples Sale on Thursday, June 21 was a reminder to collectors that prints can offer significant returns at auction.
The top lot at the sale in New York's Rockefeller Center was Claes Oldenburg's Profile Airflow - Test Mold, Front End, 1968-72. It achieved $30,000, far surpassing its $18,000 high estimate.
The artwork went to a US collector and is evidence that it isn't just one-off original works that command big prices at auction. Limited edition prints too can achieve spectacular sums.
The work was one of 50 produced by Oldenburg of the front end of the classic Chrysler Airflow, which revolutionised car aerodynamics in the 1930s.
The Swedish artist, best known for his sculptures, was fascinated by the vehicle, and minutely documented the Airflow during a trip to Detroit in 1966.
 An Oldenburg print made $30,000 at Christie's |
His 1976 sculpture Typewriter Eraser sold for $2.2m at Christie's in 2009.
The auction realised $1.3m in total, with 81% of lots selling; a sign that the art market remains in good health.
Roy Lichtenstein's Shipboard Girl, an offset lithograph on wove paper, produced in 1965, made $22,500 at the auction, far exceeding its $9,000 high prediction,
Marc Chagall's lithograph Le Dauphin mort et les Trois Cents Ecus, from Daphnis et Chloe, printed in 1961, made $21,250 against an $18,000 estimate. It went to a European bidder.
We will keep you abreast of all developments in the art world here at Paul Fraser Collectibles over the coming months.
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