RETNA Massive Painting Leads Heritage Auctions’ Wildly Successful Urban Art Event
Wednesday’s sale, featuring works by Invader, Futura and others, nearly doubles pre-action estimate
DALLAS, Texas (June 25, 2020) – A monumental painting by Los Angeles street artist RETNA and a pair of previously unseen early paintings by New York graffiti legend Futura boosted the final total for Heritage Auctions’ Urban Art Auction featuring the Gone Far Beyond Collection to $910,285.50 June 24 in Dallas, Texas. The total nearly doubled the pre-auction estimate of $482,050.
More than 650 bidders spent their Wednesday morning vying for these pieces, with nearly two dozen collectors bidding for RETNA’s 2015 The Kings Way is the Only Way, which eventually sold for $87,500.
The result is the second-highest price ever paid for a work by the artist, trailing only the $93,750 paid for the artist’s Serenity of the mind States Moments of dark days allows Soaring like a search light -High-, 2012 in March 2019, also at Heritage Auctions.
A massive canvas – 72 by 72 inches – features the use of “diamond dust” mixed into the paint, which makes the image sparkle and appear to move depending on the perspective of the viewer. The image is believed to be an homage to other artists who incorporated diamond dust into their works, including Andy Warhol.
“The sale was led by a monumental painting by RETNA, which falls in line with past success RETNA’s work has had at Heritage Auctions – which, incidentally, holds the top three world auction records for his art,” Heritage Auctions Fine & Decorative Arts Consignment Director Taylor Curry said. “This auction also produced outstanding results for a pair of paintings by Futura, the legendary New York graffiti artist.
“The strong results, coupled with the impressive bidding from our customers, only strengthened Heritage Auctions’ position as a leader in this category.”
The auction included 30 lots by KAWS and eight lots by the French street artist Invader, two of the most sought-after artists in the Urban Art category, which led to strong prices and heated bidding. One such round lifted KAWS 4FT Dissected Companion (Black) to $81,250, which led the results for the artist, while Invader’s lots were led by 2014’s Rubik Ambiguous Cubes, which found a new home at $40,000.
Futura created multiple works that finished among the auction’s top lots, including Character Reference, 1992, which drew a winning bid of $75,000, and In the Midst, 1994, which closed at $57,500.
Another artist who enjoyed unprecedented success in the auction is Alec Monopoly. His Mr. Monopoly, early 21st century set a world record at $36,250, the same price drawn by the artist’s Scrooge McDuck, c. 2013.
Supreme remained exceptionally popular in the auction, which found new homes for 14 lots, including two of the rarest items released by the brand the Supreme X Honda CRF 250R Dirt Bike, 2020, which went for $26,250 and the Supreme X Pearl Drum Kit, 2019, which sold for $6,250.
Other top lots in the auction included, but were not limited to:
RETNA Untitled, 2018: $25,000
KAWS Presenting the Past, 2014: $21,250
Alec Monopoly Scrooge McDuck, early 21st century: $20,000
Invader Invasion Kit #4: Rubik Space, 2004: $16,250
Invader Invasion Kit #14: 3D Vision, 2011: $15,000
“The results of this sale are a testament to the strength of the market in a new world, and affirms the validity and values of the Urban Art market,” Heritage Auctions Modern & Contemporary Art Vice President Leon Benrimon said. “We saw big increases in pricing for Invader, RETNA, Futura and Alec Monopoly, to name a few.”
Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet’s most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,250,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of five million past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit.
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