Art News

Sotheby’s ‘Artists for Serpentine Sale’ Doubles Pre-Sale Estimate; Raises $7,313,991

LONDON.- Forty-four out of 46 artworks offered in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Day Sale, generously donated by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists in aid of the Serpentine Gallery’s new space, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, were today sold for an exceptional total of £4,545,675 / $7,313,991 – more than double the pre-sale low estimate of £2.2 million for the offering. The Serpentine Sackler Gallery will open in 2012 in Kensington Gardens and is a stone’s throw from the Serpentine Gallery. The top-selling lot of the offering and Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Day Auction was John Currin’s oil on canvas Edwardian, which commanded £713,250 / $1,147,619, above its pre-sale estimate of £300,000-400,000. The second