LONDON.- Tonight’s sale of Impressionist & Modern Art at Sotheby’s in London saw 22 works realise a total of £32,564,300 ($46,238,050). The sale was 75.9% sold by lot and 67.7% sold by value and it saw two works command prices in excess of £5 million, and six for more than £1 million.

Commenting on the sale, Melanie Clore, Co-Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art, Sotheby’s Worldwide, said: “This evening’s sale was the first test of the market in this field this year and we’re delighted that the strategy we employed in assembling a tightly edited sale achieved the highest sell-through rate since last summer — 76% sold by lot. In addition, we’re extremely pleased with the new world auction record price established for a Degas sculpture of £13.2 million, an excellent price given that the same sculpture sold in 2004 for £5 million. This is clear evidence that the market continues to respond to quality and rarity.”

The top price achieved tonight was for Edgar Degas’s Petite danseuse de quatorze ans (lot 8), which was competed for by three bidders before selling to a private Asian collector for £13,257,250. This price – which surpasses pre-sale expectations – establishes a new auction record for a Degas sculpture. The bronze captures a young ballet dancer assuming a delicate and subtle pose and it is one of the most ambitious and iconic works by Degas. One of only a handful of casts that had remained in private hands, the consignor of the sculpture was Sir John Madejski, one of Britain’s leading arts philanthropists whose generosity has helped to transform many cultural institutions in the UK, including The Royal Academy of Arts and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Mr Madejski purchased the sculpture at Sotheby’s London in February 2004 for £5 million/$9.1 million.

Discussing the record-price achieved for the Degas sculpture tonight, Helena Newman, Vice Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art, Sotheby’s Worldwide, comments: “Petite danseuse de quatorze ans is the most important sculpture by Edgar Degas and it is undoubtedly one of the most iconic sculptures of the Impressionist period. The recordbreaking price achieved for this exceptional sculpture tonight is a testament to the strength of the market for rare works of exceptional quality.”

The £5,417,250 achieved for Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Strassenszene (Street Scene) from 1913 (lot 13) demonstrates the extraordinary growth that the German Expressionist market has witnessed in recent years. The painting – which captures a Berlin street scene, a theme which occupies a central position in Kirchner’s oeuvre – is one of the quintessential images of the German Expressionist movement. Kirchner produced only eleven Berlin street scenes in oil during the years 1913-15 and Strassenszene was the last of these important paintings from this series and date in private hands.

Further highlights of tonight’s sale were a recently restituted work by the Austrian Expressionist Oskar Kokoschka, which made £1,497,250, comfortably within the estimate of £1.2-1.8 million. The striking panoramic view of Istanbul (lot 4) was restituted in 2007 to the heirs of Oskar Federer, a prominent industrialist in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

Oskar Federer was acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent collectors of French Impressionism, 19th- and 20th- century German, Austrian and Czech Art. Joan Miró’s monumental oil Femmes et oiseaux dans la nuit (lot 26) also performed well, soaring above its pre-sale estimate of £750,000-1,000,000 and selling for £2,001,250.

Sculpture was once again highly sought-after this evening with not only the record breaking price for Degas’s Petite danseuse de quatorze ans but strong prices too for Auguste Rodin’s Les Bourgeois de Calais (which realised £657,250, comfortably within estimate) and Aristide Maillol’s Flore Nue (which made £433,250, against an estimate of £300,000-400,000).

Sale Statistics:
• 22 of 29 lots were sold
• Six lots sold for over £1 million and eight lots for over $1 million.
• Sale fetched $32,564,300 against a pre-sale estimate of £40,620,000-55,680,000
• New auction record was achieved for a sculpture by Edgas Degas (lot 8)
• 40% of lots sold this evening sold above their pre-sale high estimates.

The post Auction Record Price For Edgar Degas Sculpture Headlines Sotheby’s Sale Of Impressionist Art first appeared on Indian Art News.

Olivier Camu, Director and Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s London and Thomas Seydoux, International co-head of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s: “This evening’s auction realised the highest total for any art auction ever held in Europe, and illustrates the continuing strength and confidence of the art market. We saw particularly strong bidding for works of the highest quality which were fresh to the market. The leading lot of the auction was ‘Le bassin aux nymphéas’, a masterpiece painting by Claude Monet which witnessed a bidding battle involving many international collectors, before selling to a client in the saleroom for £41 million, a new world record price for the artist at auction. A further highlight was ‘Danseuse a la barre’, an extremely rare early masterpiece in pastel by Edgar Degas, which also drew bidding from a number of international clients and far exceeded its pre-sale estimate, selling for £13.5 million, the second highest price for the artist at auction.”

The top 5 prices of the evening were:

– Le bassin aux nymphéas, a masterpiece painting by Claude Monet which was offered from the Estate of J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller and which realised £40,921,250 / $80,451,178 / €51,683,539, a world record price for the artist at auction.

– Danseuse a la barre, an extremely rare early masterpiece in pastel by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) which realised £13,481,250 / $26,504,138 / €17,026,819 far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of £4,000,000 to £6,000,000.

– Les Fleurs, circa 1912, a rare and powerful work by Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) which sold for £5,529,250 / $10,870,506 / €6,983,443, a world record price for the artist at auction, and a world record price for a work by a female artist at auction.

– Draped Reclining Woman by Henry Moore (1898-1986) which was also offered from the Estate of J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller and which realised £4,297,250 / $8,448,394 / €5,427,427, a world record price for the artist at auction.

– The Portrait of Yanaihara by Alberto Giacometti (1906-1966) which was painted in 1958 and which sold for £4,297,250 / $8,448,394 / €5,427,427.

Property from the Estate of J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller

The auction was led by a selection of seventeen works from the Estate of J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller. J. Irwin Miller, an industrialist from Columbus, Indiana, and his wife Xenia Simons Miller, who were major philanthropists and patrons of the arts and who were instrumental in turning the American city of Columbus, Indiana, into a showcase for modern architecture. The seventeen Impressionist and Modern works together realised £67,540,050 / $132,783,738 / €85,303,083, and was led by Claude Monet’s Le bassin aux nymphéas which realised £40,921,250 / $80,451,178 / €51,683,539, a world record price for the artist at auction.

Works from the Collection of the late Simon Sainsbury

A selection of 7 works from the collection of Simon Sainsbury were sold this evening for a total of £10,424,750 / $20,495,059 / €13,166,459, led by Collioure. Les Balancelles, 1887, an early Pointillist picture by Paul Signac (1836-1935) which sold for £2,953,250 / $5,806,090 / €3,729,955. One of Britain’s most generous philanthropists and discerning collectors, the late Simon Sainsbury assembled throughout his lifetime one of the finest private British collections of the 20th century, from which a selection of furniture, ceramics and art was sold at a landmark auction on 18 June 2008 at Christie’s in London for £16,512,025 / $32,214,961 / €20,772,127, bringing the total to £26,936,775 / $52,710,020 / €33,938,586. Proceeds from the sale of the collection as a whole will benefit the charity established by Simon Sainsbury in 1965, The Monument Trust.

Works from a Distinguished European Collection

A selection of 11 works from a Distinguished European Collection assembled nearly half a century ago realised £9,494,550 / $18,666,285 / €11,991,616, and was led by Les Sapins, Varengeville, a luminous coastal landscape by Claude Monet (1840-1926) which was painted in the Summer of 1882, when the artist was staying at Pourville on the Norman coast in France and which sold for £3,177,250 / $6,246,474 / €4,012,867.

The Hoh Collection

The auction sold 7 works from the impressive collection of 20th century avant-garde works assembled by Alfred and Elisabeth Hoh, which toured various German institutions between 1998 and 2000 as the ‘Languages of Art’ exhibition and which realised £12,816,750 / $25,197,730 / €16,187,555. Leading the selection was Les Fleurs, circa 1912, a rare and powerful work by Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) which sold for £5,529,250 / $10,870,506 / €6,983,443, a world record price for the artist at auction, and a world record price for a work by a female artist at auction.

ARTIST RECORDS:

Claude Monet (1840-1926), Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1919

Sold: £40,921,250 / $80,451,178 / € 51,683,539

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

HIGHEST PRICE PAID FOR A WORK OF ART SOLD BY CHRISTIE’S IN EUROPE

Natalia Goncharova (Russian, 1881-1962), Les Fleurs

Sold: £5,529,250 / $10,870,506 / €6,983,443

WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR ARTIST

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR A WORK BY A FEMALE ARTIST AT AUCTION

Henry Moore (1898-1986), Draped Reclining Woman, 1957-1958

Sold: £4,297,250 / $8,448,394 / €5,427,427

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

Vladimir Baranoff-Rossiné (Russian, 1888-1944), The Rhythm (Adam and Eve), 1910

Sold: £2.729.250 / $5.365.706 / €3.447.143

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

Vera Rockline (Russian, 1986-1934), The Card Player

Sold: £2,057,050 / $4,044,554 / €2,598,307

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

Oscar Dominguez (1906-1957), Machine à coudre électro-sexuelle

Sold: £1,497,250 / $2,943,594 / €1,891,027

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

Leo Gestel (1881-1941), Gladiolen

Sold: £505,250 / $993,322 / €638,131

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

Frits Van Den Berghe (Belgian, 1883-1939), Bloemen over de stad (Fleurs sur la ville)

Sold: £241,250 / $474,298 / €304,699

WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION

About Christie’s

Christie’s is the world’s leading art business with global auction sales in 2007 that totaled £3.1 billion/$6.3 billion. This marks the highest total in company and in art auction history. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie’s conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 600 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million. Christie’s has 85 offices in 43 countries and 14 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Dubai and Hong Kong. Most recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in emerging and new markets such as Russia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai.

The post CHRISTIE’S AUCTION OF IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART REALISES £144 MILLION / $284 MILLION / €182 MILLION first appeared on Indian Art News.