Two paintings by Romanian Adrian Ghenie sell for combined GBP 3.6 million

Two paintings by the Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie sold for a combined GBP 3.6 million at Christie’s October 6 Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London. Turning Point 1 (pictured), painted in 2009, fetched GBP 2.4 million (EUR 2.68 million) after entering the auction with an estimated price of in between GBP 2 – 4 million. The second painting, Untitled (Study for Kaiser Wilhelm Institute), sold for GBP 1.2 million (EUR 1.3 million). Its estimated price was between GBP 700,000 – 1 million. The sale price totals the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium. The same auction featured works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francis Bacon, Cy Twombly or Yves Klein. The highest price of the evening went to Basquiat’s 1982 Red Skull, which sold for GBP 16.5 million. Several other painting by Ghenie have sold this year for prices similar to those of the last weekend’s auction. His Self-Portrait as Charles Darwin, a painting created in 2011, was auctioned for GBP 3.25 million (some EUR 3.75 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in London in March. The same month, two of other Ghenie paintings, sold at Christie’s Post War & Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London for a total of USD 2.7 million. They were T he Hunter (Study for Kaiser Wilhelm Institute), a 2011 painting which sold for USD 2.2 million (GBP 1.8 million), and Pie Fight Study, auctioned for almost USD 520,000 (GBP 425,000). Last year, Ghenie’s Nickelodeon painting sold for a record USD 9 million (GBP 7.1 million) at the Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Auction organized by Christie’s in London. editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Adrian Ghenie Facebook Page)