What Sold for Over $1 Million at Art Basel Online?

By Sam Gaskin
London
23 June 2020

Prices didn't reach the heights of the physical fair in 2019, but at least 16 works exceeded the million dollar mark.

What Sold for Over $1 Million at Art Basel Online?

George Condo, Diagonal Evolution (2020). Acrylic, pigment stick and metallic paint on linen. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Jeff Koons' Balloon Venus Lespugue (Red) (2013-2019) fetched US $8 million at Art Basel's Online Viewing Rooms last week, the highest price reported during the event to date. That's a slightly less staggering sum than the $20 million Gerhard Richter's Versammlung (1966) brought in during the physical fair in Basel last year, where it was one of three works that sold for over $10 million.

'The total value of sales for this year's iteration of Art Basel I would imagine will be dramatically lower than last year, but the volume of sales is likely the same or possibly even more,' said Simon Fisher, Director and Co-Founder of Ocula. 'Lower priced art has been much more the focus and easier to sell without the physical fair and its emphasis on showing major blue-chip works to collectors who are there to see them in person.'

At least 16 works nevertheless sold for over $1 million. In addition to the 12 works pictured below, David Zwirner sold Joan Mitchell's Pastel (1991) and Joseph Albers' City (1928/1936) for $1 million each, Hauser & Wirth sold Ed Clark's Untitled (1972) for $1.2 million, and White Cube sold Georg Baselitz' Komplementär bräunlich (2012) for $1.7 million.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Venus Lespugue (Red) (2013-2019). Sold for $8 million by David Zwirner Gallery, Paris.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Venus Lespugue (Red) (2013-2019). Mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent colour coating. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner Gallery.

Mark Bradford, The Press of Democracy (2020). Sold for $5 million by Hauser & Wirth, Zurich.

Mark Bradford, The Press of Democracy (2020). Mixed-media-on-canvas. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Keith Haring, Untitled (1982). Sold for $4.75m by Gladstone Gallery, New York.

Keith Haring, Untitled, 1982, Enamel and dayglo on metal. © Keith Haring Foundation, Photo © Yannick Sas.

Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Blot) (2015). Sold for $3 million by David Zwirner, Paris.

Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Blot) (2015). Acrylic on PVC panel. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.

Ed Ruscha, The Nineties (1980). Sold for $2.4 million by Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York.

Ed Ruscha, The Nineties (1980), detail. Oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York.

Donald Judd, Untitled (87-33) (1987). Sold for $1.85 million by Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco.

Donald Judd, Untitled (87-33) (1987). Anodized aluminum. Courtesy the artist and Anthony Meier Fine Arts.

Louise Bourgeois, The Fragile (2007). Sold for $1.5 million by Hauser & Wirth, Zurich.

Louise Bourgeois, The Fragile (2007). Archival dyes on fabric with additional hand painting. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

George Condo, Diagonal Evolution (2020). Sold for $1.4 million by Hauser & Wirth, Zurich.

George Condo, Diagonal Evolution (2020). Acrylic, pigment stick and metallic paint on linen. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Georg Baselitz, Elke in Frankreich II (2019). Sold for $1.35 million by Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London.

Georg Baselitz, Elke in Frankreich II (2019). Oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac.

Glenn Ligon, Untitled (1990). Sold for $1.2 million by Luhring Augustine, New York.

Glenn Ligon, Untitled (study for large untitled (I Feel Most Colored When I Am Thrown Against A Sharp White Background)), (1990). Shiva brand ivory black oilstick on canvas Courtesy the artist and Luring Augustine.

Paul McCarthy, White Snow Cake (2017). Sold for $1.2 million by Xavier Hufkens, Brussels.