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Tagged LAMA Auction, Richard Dorso, You Have Been Here Sometime
Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) announces Francois-Xavier Lalanne Singes Attentifs SI & SII, sold for a record price of $199,062.50 (est. $100,000 – 125,000) and was the top lot in the May 23, 2010 Modern Art & Design Auction.
For more on the monkeys check out Peter’s interview with the LATimes here!
Now that the sale is over, I got a chance to have a chat with Peter about his thoughts on the results of the May 23, 2010 Modern & Design Auction.
Peter: After a little hesitation this time last year, the market seems to be back in full swing, with many items bringing record prices. It appears certain that buyers are happier putting their money into art and antiques. Auction prices world wide seem to prove this is the case everywhere, not just in Los Angeles. Fine art won the day, which is not surprising considering well over half of the lots offered were fine art. On the whole buyers and sellers were both happy with the prices, which seemed to be firmly on an upward track again. There’s already a number of works dropped off for the Fall 2010 Auction, including a pair of unique Fletcher Benton sculptures and a few Warhol screenprints.
Bringing together a selection of top quality material is a journey in itself, but actually seeing those items go up on the auction block for twenty seconds and find new homes is a whole other story.
The May 23, 2010 Modern Art & Design auction brought together a large assortment of 20th century material, each with a distinction, but all sharing one common theme: MODERN. Modern showed up in the forms of fine art, furniture, design, and decorative arts, ranging from Mid-Century, Early 20th century, California, Danish, and French design, to Contemporary, which made up the largest portion of the auction.
LAMA Showroom full of people for the May 23, 2010 auction
All the Warhols offered found buyers with a total realizing $216,518.75. Four pieces that stood out as surprises were the Francois-Xavier Lalanne Monkeys, doubling the low estimate of $100,000, realizing $199,062.50. Three other interesting lots that far exceeded their expectations were: Pipsan Saarinen Swanson Group of Outdoor Furniture realizing $14,700, Anna Katherine Skeele War Dance realizing $13,475, and Charles & Ray Eames “Hang-it-all” realizing $8,575.
The room was full of people, including Francois-Xavier Lalanne’s daughter, who was ecstatic to see her father’s pieces sell so successfully.
Francois-Xavier Lalanne's daughter holding up one of the monkeys
Overall the sale was a success, and we are thrilled with the results. To see the results, please click here. The online catalogue lists pieces that are unsold, which are still available for purchase (please call or email Shannon at 323-904-1950 or shannon@lamodern.com to make an offer).
The auction (which is this Sunday at Noon) is quickly approaching and we are so excited to see all the important 20th century art and furniture go up on the auction block!
Recently, the auction has gotten great press coverage.
Read about us online here on LATimes.com
or
Read about us online at KCRW.com
Lot 311 Henri Matisse, Figure Assise, Bouquet de Fleurs Devant La Mer, 1923, Lithograph, Estimate $18,000 - 25,000
