Bumper week of contemporary art auctions set to start

According to LONDON (AFP) — A series of high-profile contemporary art auctions is set to begin in London Friday, as rising levels of interest in the genre have prompted auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's to stage competing sales.

"Contemporary art is becoming a global language, the interest is massive," Francis Outred, head of evening auctions and private sales at Sotheby's, told AFP.

"We've seen a generational change that is certainly here to stay," Outred said, adding that new "masterpieces are created all the time which is not the case for Manet or Van Gogh."

"In the last two years, we've seen a big rise in global biddings with buyers from China, Russia and Middle East that are not the classic buyers."

Along with the traditional February and June sales of contemporary and impressionist art, the competing London auction houses have organised a small set of contemporary art sales this month to coincide with the Frieze art fair, which will take place in London's Regent's Park from October 11 to 14.

Outred said that eight years ago, the October sales generated between one and two million pounds (2.2 and 2.9 million euros, 3.1 and 4.1 million dollars).

By comparison, the auctions organised for Friday and the following Monday by Sotheby's are expected to fetch between 48 and 68 million pounds -- a record -- according to pre-sale estimates, though total sales may well exceed those figures.

Francis Bacon's "Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne" from 1983, which has been described as an "exceptional work," is among the more eagerly-anticipated paintings set to go under the hammer during the week of sales, having only been seen once in public, more than a decade ago.

It is expected to sell for between 1.5 and two million pounds.

Also on sale are Andy Warhol's "Jackie" (1964) and "Coca-Cola" (1962) -- the former is of Jackie Kennedy smiling, just before her husband's assassination while the latter, which was drafted in crayon for an advertisement, is a "piece of history because it's the start of Pop art," Outred said.

Meanwhile, at Christie's, Pilar Ordovas, the auction house's head of post-war and contemporary art, described the upcoming week as "incredibly exciting" with sales expected to generate between 55 and 77 million pounds.

Among the highlights of the week is Bacon's "Study from the human body, man turning on the light", which is expected to fetch between seven and nine million pounds.

The auction house is also selling a private collection of 30 works, estimated to be worth in excess of eight million pounds, assembled by a European couple of amateur art collectors who focused on works by the newest generation of artists.

In addition to well-known artists Mark Rothko, David Hockney, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy and Damien Hirst, the two auction houses are also offering works from other parts of the world, with a strong Italian and Chinese presence, including Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fanzhi and Yue Minjun.

Yue Minjun, one of the most important Chinese avant-garde artists, has since June held the record for the sale at auction of a work by a contemporary Chinese artist, when "The Pope" fetched 2.15 million pounds.

"Execution," estimated at between 1.5 and two million pounds, was inspired by "The Execution of Emperor Maximilian" by Edouard Manet, which was itself inspired by "The third of May 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid" by Francisco Goya.

Yue Minjun, however, transposed the theme onto the background of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, referring to protests there in 1989.