Perhaps the best-known of the new generation of artists now selling at public auction
are the Young British Artists —"young" in our classification means born after 1960.
Having achieved international acclaim, they are now increasingly making an impact
on the auction floor. Of the new wave, Jenny SAVILLE has attracted the highest prices for
two years now.
With a powerful patron in collector Charles Saatchi, and after a landmark Sensation
exhibition at the London Royal Academy (1997) and Brooklyn Museum of Art (1999), the
British avant-garde can now hold their own against contemporary American artists in
the New York auction rooms. At the end of the first 2002 season, 5 out of the 10 top-priced
artists were British. Jenny SAVILLE , Damien HIRST and Rachel WHITEREAD had already sent the reputation of
new contemporary British art soaring last year, when they respectively fetched the
top three hammer prices for current production. A painting by Jenny SAVILLE , Branded, commanded the highest
price of the season, selling for almost USD420,000. In May 2002, prices hit a fresh
high when another of her paintings, Figure 11.23, estimated at USD150,000–200,000,
was knocked down at USD480,000. As for Damien HIRST , in 1992 his first installation offered
at auction, God, failed to find a buyer at GBP4,000. In 1998 it went for GBP170,000.
But even though his price level has climbed 325% since 1997, almost a quarter of his
lots have been bought in this year.
In the first half of 2002, excellent results at auction brought two Japanese artists
into the limelight.
At Christie’s, a monumental Takashi MURAKAMI sculpture, inspired by popular Japanese
culture and comic book art (manga), with an estimated price of USD80,000–120,000,
was knocked down at USD380,000 on 15 May 2002. But the same day at Sotheby’s, collectors
—obviously more excited by the media potential of sculpture— were left cold by a similarly-priced
huge painting by the same artist. In a totally different style, the cult images of
the image-conscious Mariko MORI are also increasingly popular at auction.
The huge photograph auctioned for USD140,000 by Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg
confirms the public’s enthusiasm for this young Japanese icon.
Turning to the US, John CURRIN is our second ranking new contemporary
artist.
Though his paintings are still rarely seen on the secondary market,
they are increasingly prized. In 1996, his first work to come up for auction fetched
USD13,000. Three years later, the price for a similar work had tripled. And in May
2002 the hammer came down on 
