In just 26 hours Sothebys
sold$726.7 million at their Impressionist and modern art evening
sale in New York. The lot included masterpieces by Pablo Picasso
and Vincent Van Gogh that sold for $67.5 million and
$54 million, respectively. A total
of forty-seven lots were offered in the trade. Thissemiannual sale
kicked off a ten-day auction. It was the first big test in the art
trade business since the stock market revision in August and
September, and it did not fail to raise confidence in art
buyers.
La Gommeuse The most expensive work to be sold was
Picassos La Gommeuse from billionaire owner, William Koch. The
piece itself fetched $67.5 million from the estimated$60 million to
a Zurich-based art dealer, Doris Ammann. Picassos masterpiece was
created at the start of his Blue Period in 1901. It depicts a nude
cabaret dancer with a pale face, red lips, and black curls. On the
back of the canvas lies a second painting- a caricature of Picassos
friend Pere Manach.
was the sales top lot and fetched $67.5 million. (Photo:
Sothebys)
The painting was originally
bought in 1984 for $1.7 million at Sothebys in London.
Additionally, Koch sold his Claude Monets 1908 Nympheas for $33.9
million- tallying the sale to about $100 million, a third of the
nights sales.
Wild Flowers The
second-priciest piece of the night was Vincent van Goghs “Paysage
Sous Un Ciel Mouvement”, a landscape piece of wild flowers under
billowing clouds. This masterpiece took in $54 million from an
estimated $50 – $70 million. On a surprising note, only one bidder
wanted the piece. It came as a surprise to Impressionist
specialists that night.
Van Gogh. (Photo Sotheby’s)
These two works are just a sample of items for auction. For
moreitems on Auction visit Sotheby’s.com.