Christie’s Paris Sales Fall Short Despite Klein’s Biggest Blue Canvas

At first glance Christie’s Paris sales were impressive. They were led by Yves Klein's largest canvas in his signature pigment, International Klein Blue, plus a sun-dappled portrait by Manet that sold after ten minutes of bidding.

The four sales held on October 23-24 totaled more than Christie’s comparable sales in Paris last year, which the auction house described as a “strong result”. A closer look, however, reveals a more measured assessment. The sales scored a C on the HENI Auction Index, down from an A- 12 months ago, and a dip from its C+ sales in April.

The sales totaled $107m, which is 25% more than the average in comparable sales, but the percentages of lots hammering above their low and high estimates declined to their weakest levels since October 2020.

So, the average hammer to mid-estimate ratio continued its fall from 1.6 in October last year and 1.4 in April to 1.2 last week. In other words, works hammered on average only 20% higher than the average of their low and high pre-sale estimates.

The number of new artists' auction records picked up slightly but remained 40% below average. Among them was an early Jannis Kounellis Alphabet painting. The Greek-French artist’s untitled 1959 painting and collage sold for just over $2m, nudging his auction record up by less than 1%.

Another record, albeit for an auction in France, went to Klein’s California (1961), which sold for $21.3m with premium. Backed by a guarantee, its estimates were undisclosed. The artist’s largest painting in the pigment he gave his name to, IBK71, was first shown in Los Angeles by Virginia Dwan in the early days of the remarkable West Coast patron’s gallery.

The HENI Auction Index is a unique benchmark of performance based on 10+ metrics. It provides a more nuanced analysis than measuring auctions by total sales value and sell-through rate; the usual litmus tests of success.

Despite the Manet bidding war and a standout Klein, the sales were not as lively as Christie’s and consignors may have anticipated during this year's Paris art week.