Sombre sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s mark end of art boom, says the FT.

“However, (Sotheby’s) managed to sell its star piece, an abstract work by Kazimir Malevich, for $53m – $60m after the buyers’ premium – after securing an irrevocable bid for the work. It had estimated it would sell for about $60m…”

Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist composition (blue rectangle over purple beam), 1916 sold at Sotheby’s last week for $60,002,500. This was not only a record for the artist, but a record for any Russian work of art ever sold at auction. The masterwork was executed in 1916, the same year that Malevich published his Suprematist Manifesto.

This is evidence of the fracture that is currently taking place in the art market, where certain acknowledged masterpieces (historical, mid-century and contemporary) retain their value as mid-market works suffer.

Read the full article HERE.

Read a related article on the Sotheby’s sale from Artdaily.com HERE.