Modern and contemporary art auctions feature paintings, sculptures and works on paper from emerging artists to those with a longstanding presence in the market. These events provide a great opportunity for collectors to find pieces that fit with their tastes and budgets. Find out https://www.waddingtons.ca/

The auction got off to a romping start with a large landscape painting by recent Pace Gallery signee Li Hei Dei surpassing its $60,000 high estimate, thanks in part to vigorous bidding from the room and on the phones with Phillips specialists. Then came another record-setting result: Kent Monkman’s The Storm (2020) sold for $381,000 with fees, the first six-figure price ever achieved for a work by the Fisher River Cree Nation member. The painting subtly reworks the historical stereotype of the Canadian Mountie, who is depicted here ensnared in the gossamer sash of Monkman’s alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle.

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But then the energy began to wane, as lots like the large Cy Twombly canvas Crimes of Passion I (1960), which had previously belonged to Eric Clapton, failed to drum up passions at its low estimate of $5 million. The same went for the small textured composition by Robert Ryman with a $1.5m to $2m estimate, and a sombre self-portrait by Jean-Michel Basquiat that fell well short of its $10 million high estimate.

Despite the slowdown, the sale ended strongly with a number of top lots including Ed Ruscha’s Georges’ Flag ($13.6 million with fees) and a tintype by Faith Ringgold measuring nearly seven feet in length. Overall, the evening sale took in $127 million with fees, a figure well within its $101 million low presale estimate.