2013 was a banner year for the contemporary art world. Various artists set auction records: Jeff Koons set the World Auction Record for a Living Artist with the sale of Balloon Dog (Orange), Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud became the most expensive piece of art ever sold, and Vija Celmins, Lucio Fontana, and Willem De Kooning each set personal bests.
ArtInfo complied a list of the twenty works that pulled in the most cash at the hammer this year. The usual suspects top the list, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol. In fact, there is not much diversity in the list (zero women) and many of the regulars hold multiple positions:
1. Francis Bacon, Three Studies of Lucian Freud - $142,405,000
2. Andy Warhol, Silver Car Crash [Double Disaster] - $105,445,000
3. Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Orange) - $58,405,000
4. Jackson Pollock, Number 19, 1948 - $58,363,750
5. Andy Warhol, Coca-Cola [3] - $57,285,000
6. Roy Lichtenstein, Woman with Flowered Hat - $56,123,750
7. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dustheads - $48,843,750
8. Mark Rothko, Untitled (No. 11) - $46,085,000
9. Barnett Newman, Onement VI - $43,845,000
10. Andy Warhol, Four Marilyns - $38,245,000
11. Gerhard Richter, Domplatz, Mailand - $37,125,000
12. Jackson Pollock, Number 16 - $32,645,000
13. Willem de Kooning, Untitled VIII - $32,085,000
14. Roy Lichtenstein, Seductive Girl - $31,525,000
15. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled - $29,285,000
16. Gerhard Richter, A.B. Courbet [616] - $26,485,000
17. Christopher Wool, Apocalypse Now - $26,485,000
18. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Yellow Tar and Feathers) - $25,925,000
19. Willem de Kooning, Untitled V - $24,805,000
20. Zeng Fanzhi, The Last Supper, $23,269,542
[via ArtInfo]
