Let’s play a game, shall we? The New York Times highlighted some quality works coming up for auction that have a newly-lowered price tag. I thought we’d play a little game to see how our own values line up with art world estimates.

Here’s the game: match the artwork with its estimate.

The Prices, in no particular order:
1. 1.2 to 1.8 M; 2. 3.5 to 4.5 M; 3. 16 to 24 M; 4. 1.2 to 1.8 M; 5. 6 to 8 M; 6. 6 to 8 M

The Artworks:

A. Giacommetti’s The Cat

B. Monet’s Sailboat on the River Seine, Argenteuil

C. Martin Kippenberger’s Untitled Self-Portrait

D. Jeff Koon’s Baroque Egg With Bow (Turquoise/Magenta)

E. Tamara de Lempicka’s Portrait of Madame M.

F. Alexander Calder’s Untitled Wall Relief

The answers are listed below. Auction houses consider Impressionist and Modern works to be the most stable purchases. These choices certainly cover many tastes. Does a Monet now cost more than a Jeff Koons? Are any of these estimates more than guesses (16 to 24M is a wide range…)?

These sales begin today at the big auction houses, so if you have disposable income in the range of 1M plus, maybe you should check out these newly-minted bargains. For the rest of us, I’ve got my thinking cap on for how we might get a little art on the walls. Cheers!

Answers: 1 & 4 at 1.2 to 1.8M are B and F, 2 at 3.5 to 4.5M is C, 3 at 16 to 24M is A, 5 & 6 at 6 to 8M are D and E.

*See the addendum for auction results. (May 7)