The preliminary artist's maquette of the confrontational Baltimore sculpture, Easy Landing, by contemporary American artist Kenneth D Snelson, brought $52,500 at Christie's, New York on January 8-9.
The impressive sale price represents a 50% increase on the piece's $35,000 high estimate, providing further impetus to the contemporary art market. 87% of the world's leading 200 art buyers are now investing in contemporary pieces, according to the 2012 Art News 200 report.
 The aluminium and stainless steel sculpture was created in 1977 as a maquette, or sculptor’s small preliminary model |
The aluminium and stainless steel sculpture was created by the award winning artist in 1977 as a maquette, or sculptor's small preliminary model.
Easy Landing, a 63 foot sculpture which stands above the entrance plaza to the Maryland Science Center at the Inner Harbour in Baltimore, is thought to communicate a lightness that belies the tension in the cables which hold the structure together.
The miniature maquette, although numbered 1/4, is in fact a one off piece as the other three preliminary maquettes were never completed by the artist.
The piece sold alongside work by several other contemporary notables, including Kenneth Noland.
Noland's Stellar Wise achieved a strong result, bringing $110,500 after arriving with an $80,000-120,000 estimate.
Here at Paul Fraser Collectibles we also have a number of exceptional art and photography collectibles in stock, including a pair of investment grade drawings by modern master Damien Hirst and a Salvador Dali original autographed drawing.
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