"The loudest signal this time came from a canvas that looked nothing like the week's blockbuster lots: Keller Fair II, a 1960 painting by Lynne Drexler that sold for $2,027,000, shattering her previous auction record by nearly $500,000 and far exceeding its $800,000-$1.2 million estimate. For a second-generation Abstract Expressionist who spent much of her career in obscurity, the result suggests a market moving into a new phase."
""It looks different when you're building a market, which is a slow and steady process," Christine Berry, co-founder of Berry Campbell, told ARTnews. Her gallery specializes in underrecognized postwar artists like Drexler. At first, Berry said, interest in Drexler came mainly from "deep in the industry"-dealers and advisors steeped in postwar abstraction. "But now it's becoming clear to the mainstream collector that people should be paying attention," she said. The market appears to have matured."
Day sales serve as a primary gauge of market temperature, sharpening trends and testing the middle market. Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art day sale totaled $88.7 million with an 88 percent sell-through by lot and 90 percent by value. Keller Fair II, a 1960 painting by Lynne Drexler, achieved $2,027,000, far above estimates and a new auction record. The result signals growing recognition for Drexler and suggests market maturation as interest expands beyond industry insiders. Private sales have reportedly reached higher numbers, and exceptional early-1960s works are driving heightened demand.
Read at ARTnews.com
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