A painting by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, which is being sold by a private seller, is expected to fetch over $50 million when it is auctioned at Sotheby’s in November as art prices soar amid a post-pandemic industry boom.
Mondrian’s painting “Composition No. II” from 1930 would sell for more than twenty times its last sale in 1983 to a private Japanese collector for $2.1 million, which would translate to about $6.4 million in 2022.
The sale comes as the art collecting industry is experiencing a post-pandemic resurgence, with art sales up 29% from 2020-2021 to gross $65.1 billion, helped by increases in online sales and traditional public auctions.
One of his best works from his most famous era, the Mondrian piece shows his penchant for abstract art combined with characteristic heavy black lines and primary colors.
Piet Mondrian’s painting “Composition No. II” from 1930 will sell for over $50 million when it is auctioned at Sotheby’s in November
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn by famed American artist Andy Warhol fetched $195 million when it sold at Christie’s in New York City earlier this year
Pablo Picasso’s Femme assise pres d’une fenetre (Marie-Therese) is the most expensive painting sold so far in 2022, grossing $103 million
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “In This Case” sold at Christie’s in 2021 for $93.1 million, the highest price ever paid for a Basquiat work
Mondrian’s art has experienced tremendous growth in value since he was universally recognized as an artist “who fundamentally changed and forever expanded our perception of art,” according to Julian Dawes, Head of Impressionist & Modern Art at Sotheby’s in New York.
The artwork has a chance to become the artist’s most expensive work as his most expensive artwork to date, Composition No III, with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black, sold for $50.6 million in 2015.
Dawes says that “Composition No. II” will be sold in a hectic art market little like the last one the piece was sold in, in 1983, which was “quite different and far less global and competitive”.
Many investors consider artworks a safer investment vehicle than traditional stocks or real estate as these markets become increasingly uncertain, and DollarSprout reports that investments in artworks have averaged a 7.6% return.
The market is further encouraged by the recent sale of works and collections for a staggering amount, including real estate magnate Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda’s collection which totaled $922.2 million.
The couple’s collection, which included works by Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter, was sold in two separate auctions at Sotheby’s in New York City. The previous record was held by banker David Rockefeller and his wife Peggy, who sold their $835 million collection in 2018.
That same month, Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn became the most expensive single work of art of all time when it sold for over $195 million to an unknown buyer at Christie’s.
Rembrandt’s The Standard Bearer was sold to the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands as the government helped with around $140 million of the total cost of $170 million
Artists whose work features in the collection of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen include Paul Cezanne, Jasper Johns, David Hockney and Edward Hopper
Jasper Johns’ 1959 collage work False Start is expected to fetch over $50 million at the Paul Allen Collection’s November auction
Artists whose work features in Allen’s collection include Paul Cezanne, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Edward Hopper, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georgia O’Keefe, Paul Gauguin, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claude Monet
Harry and Linda Macklowe, now separated, sold their art collection for a staggering $922.2 million
In 2017, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvador Mundi” sold for a whopping $450 million after the sale was estimated to fetch $100 million, further encouraging dealers to shop in and reap the rewards.
The late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen also owns one of the most valuable collections ever assembled, including works by Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe and Claude Monet.
Allen’s collection is expected to exceed $1 billion in sales and will be featured in an auction at Christie’s this November entitled Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection.
In 2015 he told Bloomberg: “To live with these works of art is truly amazing. I think you should share some of the works to give the public a chance to see them.’ Allen said in the same interview that his art collection is a “very, very good investment for me”.
After Allen’s death, it was revealed that he was the anonymous 2016 buyer of Monet’s haystack painting entitled Meule. The painting sold for $81.4 million.
2022 also brought a surge in digital art sales as NFTs experienced a boom in popularity. Sotheby’s NFT sales brought in $80 million, while Christie’s brought in $150 million from NFTs.
But external sales of NFTs eclipsed both auction houses as NFT owners selling their works via blockchains brought in a staggering $11.1 billion in revenue, a massive increase from just $4.6 million in the past year 2019