|
 There was a noticeable tension in the room when Jussi
Pylkkanen, the auctioneer and president of the auction house's
European region, gave a "pass" to German painter Gerhard
Richter's large 1985 canvas "Netz" (Net) after it received a top
bid of 5.8 million pounds ($9.32 million), below a minimum price
of 7 million pounds, thus removing the work from the auction.
After an unusually long delay before beginning the post-auction
press conference, Christie's officials emerged to say that the
Richter had been sold following the auction, to an undisclosed
buyer, for 5.5 million pounds.
This avoided Christie's having to carry the painting on its
books, since it had given a house guarantee for the sale of all
the works.
"I can announce that also the Richter abstract 'Netz' has sold
... after the sale for 5.5 million pounds," Francis Outred,
director of Christie's post-war department, said.
The sale of what originally was set to be 44 pieces from the
Essl collection had been touted as one of the most valuable
auctions of a private collection of contemporary art ever staged
in London.
The auction generated almost 47 million pounds in sales, well
within the pre-auction estimate of 40-60 million pounds, even
without the Richter, which carried a top estimate of 10 million
pounds.
A spokesman for the Essl Museum told Reuters before the sale
that the proceeds would be used to refinance a loan that
Austrian construction tycoon Peter Haselsteiner used to buy an
interest in the art collection from struggling home improvements
millionaire Karlheinz Essl, who founded the museum.
"This is now a means to refinance a big part of the loan," the
museum spokesperson said, adding that many valuable pieces
remain in the collection and "this is not a sellout".
[to top of second column] |
The most expensive work sold during the auction was another Richter,
"Wolken (Fenster)" (Clouds (Windows)) which went for 6.24 million
pounds, including the buyer's premium.
In a statement released by Christie's, Essl said it had not been
easy for him to part with the 44 works that were put up for auction,
one of which was withdrawn before the auction and three of which did
not meet the minimum, including the Richter.
Essl said that he and his wife Agnes "are equally delighted that
through the proceeds of this sale, the long-term future of the Essl
Museum is now secured".
According to newspaper reports, a new firm owned 60 percent by the
Haselsteiner family foundation and 40 percent by Essl family
vehicles would pay more than 100 million euros ($131 million) for
the collection. The money would be used to shore up Essl's
struggling BauMax home improvement chain.
Austria in April turned down Essl's request to buy the 7,000-piece
collection, rejecting his argument that 4,000 of more than 9,000
jobs in his company were at risk if it did not do so.
(1 US dollar = 0.6222 British pound)
(Additional reporrting by Shadia Nasralla in Vienna; Editing by Tom
Brown)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
