The Wright Modern Design auction generated some big, big sales, and only a few passed lots. Overall pretty astonishing results.
From the first lot — a Prouve table that was estimated to sell from 12-15K that brought 40K
to the Prouve platform bed I really liked, estimated at 9-12K, sold for $33,750
to a set of armchairs by Pierre Jeanneret, estimated at 15-20K that brought $74,500
and a Nakashima platform bed and headboard estimated at 20-30K that sold for $146,500.
[all photos from Wright online catalog]
George Nelson’s Eames hang-it-all which I coveted sold for $2.625.
Unlike a more publicity oriented auction house, Wright doesn’t issue a statement following the auction with overall sales totals, and I don’t feel like doing the math. But I’m guessing the total sales figures probably doubled the pre-sale estimates.
I’m not sure if this says something about “the state of the economy;” I’m not sure the art markets in general are any gauge of the economic climate. Collectors, I think, have their own mentality. What I think the results do say, though, is that the design market is really healthy.
It does make me wonder, as I often have, about the psychology of pre-sale estimates. Are the auction house appraisers clueless? Or is there something else going on?
In this sale, I’m guessing that if the estimate on the Nakashima bed was anything close to the actual sale price, a lot of bidders would have been scared off, and the bidding never would have gone as high. There’s no similar danger in setting the estimate too low.
