Subject: Contemporary Art Auction At Sotheby's Sets a Record
Date: Published: 5/3/88 44 lines
Source:  WALL STREET JOURNAL. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

   Contemporary Art Auction
   At Sotheby's Sets a Record

   NEW YORK -- The art market continued to be hot last night
as Sotheby's sold $26 million of contemporary art, a record
for a single session.
   Part of the sale included a continuation of the Andy
Warhol auction during which paintings owned by Mr. Warhol
sold for $5.1 million.  This brings the total sales for the
late Mr. Warhol's belongings to $22.6 million, with only one
more session to go today.
   Mr. Warhol's art itself was a standout with a painting
called "210 Coca-Cola Bottles" selling for $1.4 million, a
record for the artist.
   Numerous other records were set by the overflow crowd,
which included Sylvester Stallone, Lee Radziwill, Bianca
Jagger, many art dealers and a strong showing of Japanese
collectors.
   During the evening, a record price was also set for a
Jackson Pollock, which sold for $4.8 million.  This wasn't
just a record for the artist, but was also the highest price
ever paid for a contemporary painting at auction.  The
painting was bought by a Japanese dealer.
   Other records included works by Franz Kline, Richard
Diebenkorn, Cy Twombly and Joan Mitchell.
   In a separate part of the sale, not reflected in the above
totals, Sotheby's, a unit of London-based Sotheby's Holdings
Inc., sold 15 works of art for $1.9 million to benefit a
local AIDS program.
   In the part of the sale that didn't include Mr. Warhol's
collection, 43 works of art sold, nine didn't sell.
   Richard Gray, a Chicago dealer said, "We've been blaming
it all on the Warhol hoopla, but lots of things were very
strong.  The continued strength in the market surprises me."

[This article is made available here by Dow Jones Co. for the 
personal and non-commercial use of callers to this bbs, in the 
hope that it will be of some help to those who are suffering 
from the disease and others who are seeking to help them.]