Results: Christie's London Impressionist and Modern Sale

On June 23 Christie's London held its summer Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale. The sale with 44 lots offered was not considered to be full of high quality art. Of the 44 lots offered 30 sold for a sell through rate of 68%. The 30 items that did sell totaled $60.4 million, with Claude Monet's Au Parc Monceau (1878) being the top lot, selling at $10.3 million (see image). From the various reports I have seen for this sale the results are very mixed. Which is not unusual in this market. Some items did very well, while others failed to make reserve (14) or sold below the low estimate.

Giovanna Bertazzoni, Director and Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s London stated During the last 6 months, our auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art in London, Paris and New York have produced consistently solid results and this evening’s sale confirms that collectors, both new and established, have confidence buying works by established artists in this category. We see consistent demand throughout and overall the prices of individual works remain stable. At the top end of the market we continue to see strong interest and bidding as collectors seize opportunities to acquire rare and beautiful works of art.

Carol Vogel of the NY Times reported It was a thin sale, with a mixed bag of Impressionist and modern art, nearly half the number of works of last year’s auction and no blockbusters. The evening reflected the state of the economy: with prices for art having fallen significantly since autumn, Christie’s experts had trouble cobbling together a sale because collectors refused to part with their paintings, drawings or sculptures unless they absolutely had to. Buyers — primarily Europeans — were cautious about spending money, and bidding was thin. The combination of meager offerings and tight purse strings led Christie’s to reduce some reserve prices — a handful of works sold for less than their estimates — and made for a dull night.

I will report more on the summer sales, with more upcoming sales at Sotheby's and Christie's this week and early next week.