New York auction Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art brought $ 170.5 million

The volume of evening trading on impressionists and contemporary art on May 3, 2011, Sotheby’s in New York reached $ 170,478,000, which, in general, corresponds to a preliminary estimate ($ 158.9-229.7 million). In lots, the auction reached 74.6%, while 37 works were sold at a price of over a million dollars. The most significant auction was the painting “Women Reading (Two Characters)” (Femmes lisant (Deux personnages)) by Pablo Picasso, who went under the hammer for $ 21,362,500. Surrealist Paul Delvaux and the sculpture by Paul Gauguin set the record at the auction.

“This evening auction was full of bets from around the world, both from the audience and over the phone,” says Simon Shaw, head of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Contemporary Art Department in New York. - Pablo Picasso became the prevailing artist of the evening. We sold a great selection of eight works from different periods of his career, led by an exceptional portrait of readers of Marie-Teresa Walter and her sister, which was sold for more than $ 21 million. Another important event of the evening was Yavlensky - the artist’s first-class work and the most elegant of all that we have seen since we set a world record in 2008. "

“The most expensive evening auction lots are combined with a beautiful visual effect of presence and vibrant vibrant colors,” continued David Norman, co-chair of the Impressionist and Contemporary Art Department at Sotheby’s. - As always, an honest and conservative assessment fueled appetite and increased rates. The results showed demand for a wide variety of categories. Surrealism was well received, and we all saw the record price paid for Delvo, as well as the high bids offered for Dali and Magritte. The work of the Impressionists showed themselves well: Monet was sold for almost $ 3.6 million, which is twice the price for which he was bought in 2004. The sculptures and the spectacular expressionist Yavlensky were well received. ”

Pablo Picasso’s works set the tone for the evening auction: eight of the nine proposed works found their buyers. The painting “Reading Women (Two Characters)”, which was bought in a private collection for $ 21,362,500, was bidding. The work, painted in 1934, is an extraordinary portrait of Marie-Teresa Walter, the artist’s mistress in the thirties, reading with her sister. The canvas is one of the most monumental in a series of portraits of a young woman. The last time it was put up for sale in 1981.

Three paintings by Picasso from the collection of Dodi Rosencrans also resonated in the group: the monumental “Couple with a guitar” (Couple à la guitare) in 1970 was bought for $ 9 602 500; “Woman” (Femme) from a small series of surrealistic paintings was sold for $ 7,922,500 after a lively auction, exceeding the estimated value of $ 5 million, and “Girl with braids in a green hat” (Fillette aux nattes et au chapeau vert), a tender image of her daughter the artist, Paloma, went under the hammer for $ 5,906,500, also exceeding the original estimated cost. In general, the paintings from the Rosencrans collection were sold for $ 23,431,500, which looks rather modest compared to their high preliminary estimate.

Paul Gauguin - Tahitian Girl (1890)

Another exciting bidding lot was Tahitian Girl (Jeune tahitienne) Paul Gauguin. The unique carved wood sculpture set a new record for sculptures by the artist when it was sold for $ 11,282,500, the eighth largest amount paid for the work of any artist at auction. The Tahitian Girl was carved during Gauguin’s first trip to Tahiti from 1890 to 1893, and is the only fully designed bust created by the author. In 1894, Gauguin presented the sculpture to Jeanne Furnir, the ten-year-old daughter of the critic and collector Jean Dolen, keeping his promise to bring the girl a gift from the tropics. Bidding was also animated by Alberto Giacometti’s “Standing Woman” (Femme debout). More than seven interested buyers fought for the bronze figurine before it was sold for $ 7,362,500 to a bidder by telephone. This amount more than doubles $ 3 million of appraised value.

Alexey von Yavlensky - Woman with a Green Fan (1912)

"Woman with a green fan" (Frau mit grünem Fächer) by Alexei von Yavlensky almost lived up to an estimated value of $ 12 million, having gone under the hammer for $ 11,282,500. This amount is the second largest for Yavlensky’s work, and now Sotheby’s has three biggest sales of his work. Vibrating due to the vibrant colors and richness of detail, this extraordinary work is an example of the author’s talent as a key figure in the movement of expressionism.

After the success of Portrait de Paul Éluard, which set a record for a surrealist painting, sold at Sotheby’s this February auction for $ 21.7 million, today’s auction in New York did not seem weak plan for assessing surrealism. The colorful picture of 1946 "Les Cariatides" by Paul Delvaux, which is considered one of his most revered and famous works, set a new record for this artist. After fierce bidding, the price for the masterpiece was $ 9,042,500 (preliminary estimate: $ 5-7 million).

“When the clock strikes” (Quand l’heure sonnera) Rene Magritte was bought for $ 5,962,500, while six connoisseurs fought for the incredible portrait of Elena Rubenstein by Salvador Dali. The portrait was donated by the Elena Rubenstein Foundation and was sold for $ 2,658,500, which far exceeds even the highest preliminary estimate of $ 1.5 million.

Also, it is impossible not to mention the struggle for some paintings by the Impressionists: bidding for Claude Monet’s painting “La Seine à Argenteuil” (La Seine à Argenteuil), dating to 1877, reached the figure of $ 6,242,500; certainly beautiful “Portrait of Monsieur Brun” by Eduard Manet, who remained in the Brunov family from the very date of writing in 1880, was bought for $ 5,402,500, and “Summer solitude in Pontoise” (L’Hermitage en été, Pontoise) Camille Pizarro was sold for $ 4,282,500.

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May 4, a similar auction auction house Christie’s in New York brought $ 155,995,500. Three lots went for amounts in excess of $ 20 million.

The top lot of the auction week was Claude Monet’s canvas “Poplars” (Claude Monet’s - Les Peupliers) , which was bought by a private collector from the United States for $ 22,482,500 (£ 13,489,500 / € 15,063,275). In 2000, these “Poplars” were sold at Christie’s for 7 million, the investment was more than successful: over 10 years, the price of the painting grew 3 times.

Another painting by Pablo Picasso went under the hammer at Christie’s auction - Les femmes d’Alger, version L (1955). An anonymous contributor paid $ 21,362,500 (£ 12,817,500 / € 14,312,875) for her.

47% of bidders were Europeans, 36% - Americans, 4% from Asia. In total, customers from 11 countries participated in the auction, and another 70 participants conducted telephone trading. The price of three lots exceeded $ 20 million, 4 lots above $ 10 million and 19 went for more than $ 1 million dollars.