$4.75 million David Hammons painting leads Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 opening sales.
Exterior view of Art Basel Miami Beach 2024. Courtesy of Art Basel.
Hauser & Wirth’s $4.75 million sale of David Hammons’s Untitled (2014) led the slate of reported transactions from Art Basel Miami Beach’s VIP preview, which got underway yesterday, December 4th.
The 22nd edition of the largest art fair in the western hemisphere this year features 286 exhibitors and is the first under the directorship of veteran gallerist Bridget Finn. It takes place amid a packed Miami Art Week of more than 10 art fairs: Untitled Art, Miami Beach and NADA were among the notable events opening earlier in the week.
The $4.75 million Hammons sale is a far lower price than the leading sale reported at last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach VIP day, a $20 million Philip Guston painting (also sold by Hauser & Wirth). Dealers struck an optimistic tenor despite a more measured pace to dealmaking.
“After a dark and nervous season, it feels like the clouds have broken and the perfect blue-sky weather here in Miami is reflecting the art world’s mood––buoyant and fully engaged minus the overly frantic energy of the past,” said Hauser & Wirth president Marc Payot. Mega-dealer Larry Gagosian also noted that “collectors are taking their time,” but said that his gallery enjoyed “a great start to the fair and sales have been strong.”
“There is an appetite for great things and the market feels like it’s coming back,” he added.
Here, we round up a selection of notable early sales reported by galleries at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024. Check back on Monday for our full round-up of sales from the fair.
Leading seven-figure sales from Art Basel Miami Beach 2024:
Installation view of Hauser & Wirth’s booth at Art Basel Miami Beach, 2024. Photo by Dan Bradica. Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth.
- As well as the $4.75 million Hammons work, Hauser & Wirth’s notable sales included George Condo’s Female Portrait Abstraction (2024) for $2.5 million and Ed Clark’s Untitled (1986) for $1.4 million.
- David Zwirner’s sales were led by a Yayoi Kusama painting for $3.5 million and a painting by Noah Davis for $2 million.
- Thaddaeus Ropac’s sales were led by Georg Baselitz’s Dresdner Frauen - Die Elbe (1990/2023) for €2.5 million ($2.63 million) and Robert Rauschenberg’s Everglade (Borealis) (1990) for $2.3 million.
- White Cube’s reported sales were led by David Hammons’s Rock Head (2000) for $2.35 million and Christine Ay Tjoe’s Mischievous Player (2016) for $1.15 million.
- Pace Gallery’s sales were led by Sam Gilliam’s Whispering Wind (1972) for $1 million and a work by Robert Longo for $550,000.
- Mai 36 Galerie’s sales were led by H.R. Giger’s Necronom / Alien III (1990–2005) for $1 million.
- Mennour’s sales were led by Lee Ufan’s Response (2024) for $1 million and a work by Anish Kapoor for £675,000 ($826,946).
Other notable sales from Art Basel Miami Beach 2024:
Installation view of Xavier Hufkens’s booth at Art Basel Miami Beach, 2024. Photo by Sebastiano Pellion di Persano. Courtesy of Xavier Hufkens, Brussels.
- Xavier Hufkens’s sales were led by a Nicolas Party painting for “approximately” $600,000 and a painting by Qiu Xiaofei for $360,000.
- Lisson Gallery’s sales were led by Lee Ufan’s Response (2024) for $850,000 and Anish Kapoor’s Cobalt Blue to Mipa 5 (2024) for £700,000 ($890,557).
- David Kordansky Gallery’s sales were led by Fred Eversley’s Untitled (cylindrical lens) (2024) for $600,000 and Rashid Johnson’s God Painting “The Baths” (2024) for $550,000.
- Kasmin’s sales were led by Claude and Francois Xavier Lalanne’s Centaure (moyen) (1995/2008) for €695,000 ($731,860) and Francois Xavier Lalanne’s Requin (petit) (2003/2011) for €420,000 ($442,275).
