Lucio Fontana's 'Fine di Dio' Sells for $20.6M at Sotheby's New York

Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Auction in New York on November 15, 2023, achieved $305.7 million, within the pre-sale estimate of $243-346 million. The top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Self-Portrait as a Heel (Part II)' (1982) at $42 million, likely to a third-party guarantor. Lucio Fontana's 'Concetto spaziale, la fine di Dio' (1963), one of five on white surface, sold for $20,556,900, a record for the artist at auction. Other highlights: Gerhard Richter's 'Abstraktes Bild' (1997) at $31,932,000; Joan Mitchell's 'Sunflower' (1990-91) at $27,910,500; Frank Stella's 'Lottery Co' (1962) at $18,718,500. New auction records were set for Barkley L. Hendricks ('Yocks', 1975, $8,377,500) and Barbara Chase-Riboud ('La Musica / Amnesia', $647,700). The preceding 'The Now' session saw records for Julie Mehretu ('Walkers With the Dawn and Morning', $10,737,500), Marina Perez Simão, Oscar yi Hou, and Mohammed Sami. The sale reflects a cautious but active market, with strong demand for female and emerging artists.