AP Archive
SHOTLIST
1. Pan across crowded auction room
2. Various of painting by Mark Rothko “White Centre (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)”
3. Wide of the Rothko being auctioned
4. Wide of Bidders
5. Wide of auctioneer, floor and Rothko painting
6. Mid of man on phone, bidding
7. Auctioneer
8. Man bidding with card
9. Screen, with bidding in various currencies
10. Mid of auctioneer UPSOUND: (English), auctioneer (part overlaid with cutaways of bidders)
“at 63 (m) million dollars…. Fair warning… Selling (inaudible)… 64 (m) million, just in time… 65 million… At 65 (m) million dollars then, against you Four. At 65 million dollars, fair warning.. at 65 (m) million dollars then (brings down hammer) Thank you. (applause)”
11. Wide, auction floor
12. Full-frame, painting by Francis Bacon “Study from Innocent X”
13. Wide of painting behind auctioneer
14. Woman, standing, on phone, bidding
15. Close up, auctioneer
16. Camera crews
17. Mid of auctioneer UPSOUND ( English): “…fair warning, last chance, selling then for 47 (m) million dollars… It’s against you (inaudible) at 47 (m) million dollars (hammer) Thank you (applause).”
18. Wide, auction floor
19. SOUNDBITE: (english), Anthony Grant, Sotheby’s senior specialist for contemporary art:
“We knew they were going to do well by after the weekend, and, but we just didn’t know how well and you know, internally we all have little games and people take bets here in the company and all that. I’m dying to hear the results of those bets. But no, we were really thrilled, really thrilled.”
20. Pull out from close-up of detail to wide of painting by Jackson Pollock “Number 16, 1945”
21. Mid of another painting by Jackson Pollock “Rhythmical Dance”
22. Wide, auctioneer
23. Close up, woman bidding
24. Mid of auctioneer closing bid
25. Wide of auction room floor
STORYLINE:
Bidding at the biggest ever contemporary art auction broke the record price for postwar art twice, first with a Francis Bacon work and later with a Mark Rothko painting, which went for almost 73 (m) million US dollars, the auction house said.
The 1962 Bacon painting of a pope, “Study from Innocent X,” sold to an anonymous bidder for nearly 53 million US dollars at the Sotheby’s sale.
The 1950 Rothko painting, “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose),” of blocks of color, sold for 72.8 (m) million dollars on Tuesday
to an anonymous bidder, Sotheby’s said.
Both works surpassed the old auction mark for any post-war work of 27.1 (m) million US dollars, set in November, 2006, and far exceeded pre-sale estimates.
“We were really thrilled, really thrilled,” said Anthony Grant, Sotheby’s senior specialist of contemporary art. “We knew they were going to do well by after the weekend, but we just didn’t know how well.”
The auction was marked by lots of international bidding, from all over the world.
Records were set for 15 artists altogether, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose untitled work from 1981 fetched 14.6 (m) million US dollars, which was about twice its estimate and nearly three times the artist’s previous record.
It was sold by the Israel Museum.
In all, the sale of 74 works grossed almost 255 (m) million US dollars, slightly under its high pre-sale estimate with almost one in ten failing to sell.
Roughly half the total came from the top two lots, Rothko’s “White Centre (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose),” and Bacon’s “Study from Innocent X”.
Both Sotheby’s and rival Christie’s had set unprecedented, and seemingly aggressive prices in excess of 30 (m) million US dollars for top post-war works this season, but those turned out to be conservative on Tuesday.
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