Christie’s is showcasing an exhibition named “Framing the Figure” with an intention to further expand its private sale channel. The private sale will show 35 art works from renowned artists including works from Kehinde Wiley, Julie Curtiss, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Pablo Picasso, and Lucien Freud. Each of these works will be carrying values between $85,000 and $7 million. The exhibition will run online till March 12.
This online sale through private sale channel is Christie’s third exhibition of its kind during this pandemic time. The first one was devoted to monumental sculpture followed by the works by Monet and Richter. The sale is expected to gain momentum in the sales through private channels and surpass the sale in 2020. Put together by New York contemporary specialist Joanna Szymkowiak, the curated selection is focused on the market-favored mode of figuration.
The pandemic has forced people to think beyond traditional sales format which turned out to be beneficiary for private sales. Last month, in its 2020 financial report, Christie’s said that, despite a 25 percent decline in overall sales, it made $1.2 billion in private sales last year, surpassing the house’s 2019 total by 56 percent and marking Christie’s highest historic yearly private sale total to date.
Some of the works exhibited in Framing the Figure is acquired privately for a long time. Jacob Lawrence’s painting Moving Day (1937), made when the artist was just 20 years old, was last on the market around 1950s, when it was acquired by New York literary agent Leah Salisbury, wife of publisher Philip Salisbury. Lucien Freud’s ink drawing Man and Town (1940–1941) has been in a U.K. collection since the 1940s, where it passed by descent to the current sellers.
Some of the works came to the auction recently but have a high end value. To name a few are The seller of Pablo Picasso’s portrait of Dora Maar, Tête de femme (1940), purchased it at Christie’s in May 2015 for $3.7 million. It was previously in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection, and had passed through the hands of German collectors Viktor and Marianne Langen. And Marc Chagall’s dream-like painting of a circus scene titled Le Rappel (1968–71) last sold at the house in November 2013 for $4.4 million.
“Framing the Figure” also includes names such as Jonathan Lyndon Chase and Salman Toor, whose markets are increasing, thanks to surging salesroom interest. The private sales have seen massive transactions in the past year which can be another reason for the sector’s widening impact on the revenue. According to the house’s annual report released in January, the three most expensive works it sold in 2020 were sold privately, for an excess of $100 million each, and 12 above $25 million.