Mondrian painted “Composition No. II” in 1930 while living in Paris
Painting from one of the Dutch artist’s most famous periods, Piet Mondrianis expected to sell for more than $50 million at Sotheby’s in November.
According to the auction house, this is an exceptional purchase price, as it is twenty times higher than the last time the painting was sold at auction, almost 40 years ago.
Mondrian painted Composition II in 1930 while living in Paris, perfecting his grid-based abstract art with black lines and primary colors.
The painting comes from a well-known series of square-shaped canvases, completed by the painter during this period, the majority of which are in museum collections and rarely come to the private market.
“Composition No. II” is expected to break the artist’s record at auction, with the most expensive Mondrian painting ever sold today being “Composition No. III,” in red, blue, yellow and black, which he took in $50.6 million in 2015.
The painting last appeared at auction in 1983, when it sold for $2.1 million to a private Japanese collector, in a sale that at the time was the most valuable work of art by Mondrian and the most expensive piece of abstract art ever sold at auction.
Julian Dawes, head of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby’s in New York, told Forbes that the last time Composition II came up for auction, the art market as a whole was “very different and much less global and competitive’ than today.
$65.1 billion… This is the total sales of the art market in 2021, according to an estimate by Art Basel and UBS. This figure marks a 29% jump from the previous year, when the Covid-19 pandemic caused a downturn in the market.
The potential sale of the Piet Mondrian painting comes as art continues to fetch sky-high prices at auction. Over the past year, art auctions have continued to break records, with the art collection amassed by real estate mogul Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda selling for $922.2 million at Sotheby’s, the most valuable collection ever sold at auction. The record may be broken again this year when the collection of late billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen goes up for auction at Christie’s, where it is estimated to fetch more than $1 billion.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
