A Gerhard Richter abstract painting sold Tuesday night at Sotheby’s contemporary art auction in London for £30.4 million, or about $46.3 million, including fees.
The monumental, 10-foot high canvas, “Abstraktes Bild,” numbered 599 and painted with veils of red, blue and green pigment, was bought by a telephone bidder, represented by Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s worldwide co-head of contemporary art, after lengthy competition from another telephone bidder.
Estimated at £14 million to £20 million, the painting had last appeared at auction in May 1999, when it sold for $607,500 at Sotheby’s New York.
“These days there are plenty of collectors who can take a painting that big,” said Christophe Van de Weghe, the New York dealer. “There are new private museums opening up all over the world.”
The Richter proved the most expensive lot at Sotheby’s evening auction of 75 contemporary works, which raised £123.5 million, with 86.5 percent of the material successful. Other stand-out results included the £8.4 million paid by another telephone bidder for a 1965 Lucio Fontana white “Concetto Spaziale, Attese” canvas with no fewer than 23 of the Italian artist’s trademark cuts.