New world record: Auction sales 1,4 million $ art works!

LOS ANGELES, CA - The April 1st: Contemporary Art auction at Bonhams witnessed an excited crowd all longing to take home a piece by Californian artists.

This Californian auction achieved a spectacular result with a total sale of $1.4 million and 93% of lots sold and 95% sold by value.

The auction began early on, when Charles Howard's painting "Bouquet" (picture above) 1932, achieved more than ten times its minimum evaluation, with a final sale of $125,000! This sale achieved a new world record price for the artist. Bonhams set another world record with Raimonds Staprans's painting "Blue Boat”, 1994, which sold for $87,500. John Register's painting "Man on Bed” 1995, sold for nearly three times its high estimate at $90,000 - which is still outstanding.

The auction also featured two paintings by John Altoon. With the upcoming retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, bidders were enthusiastic to acquire a work by the artist.

As a result, the two large-scale paintings, "Untitled", 1960 and "Untitled" circa 1958, each got sold for $68,750 and $43,750 respectively. Other works successfully sold were Robert Graham's bronze "Gabrielle" 1993, selling for $43,750 and Judy Chicago's “Boadaceia, Test Plate from The Dinner Party" 1978, a seminal work of feminist art, selling for $35,000.

According to Bonhams Contemporary Art Specialist, Brooke Corley, “We are pleased with the strong prices and high sell through rate of the April 1 auction. We continue to see growth in this category confirming the importance of California artists in the market”.