Appraiser Workshops: Results: Christie's NY ImpMod Sale

On Tuesday evening Christie's held its Impressionist Modern Art Evening Sale in New York. The sale appears to have done well based upon pre sale estimates, but the trade reviews are a bit on the lack luster side claiming the sale was crowded, but not overly active and perhaps a bit laborious. This may be due to the fact the Sotehby's sale of Wed evening is considered the better of the sales. We will soon know.

The sale totaled $117 million (including buyers premiums) and fell nicely between the pre sale total estimates of $90.5 to $130.2 million. The sale offered 31 lots and all but three sold for a very nice 90% buy through rate. The sale also sold at a very respectable and strong 96% by value. The top selling lot was a watercolor on paper by Paul Cezanne which made $19.12 million including buyers premium against a pre sale estimate of $15-$20 million, the buyer wished to remain anonymous (see image). The top ten lots sold went to two international trade, two US trade, one European trade, two US private one European private and two were listed as anonymous.

I will try to post the individual results of the Scream this evening, followed by the full results of the Sotheby's sale.

The NY Times reported on the sale

One reason was obvious: of the two auctions this week, Christie’s had far weaker material, with nothing to rival the attention-getting power of Munch’s famed pastel of “The Scream,” which is to come on the block at Sotheby’s on Wednesday.

“A number of people who have been in the market steadily over the last decade were bidders, and some who have only recently returned after dropping out for several years,” said Marc Porter, chairman and international head of private sales at Christie’s, adding that for the most part, the night’s buyers came from “traditional markets — America and Europe.”

The sale, which had been estimated to bring $90.5 million to $130.2 million, drew just over $117 million. Of the 31 lots offered, only three failed to sell.

(Final prices include the buyer’s commission to Christie’s: 25 percent of the first $50,000; 20 percent of the next $50,000 to $1 million and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.)

Christie’s did have its own historically significant image, also a work on paper, but more of interest to connoisseurs than a trophy hunter who might try to snap up “The Scream.” It was “Card Player,” a watercolor by Cézanne of Paulin Paulet, a gardener on the estate of the artist’s family near Aix-en-Provence. A study for the artist’s famous “Card Players” series, it depicts Paulet absorbed in a game of cards. Three bidders competed for it, two on the telephone and a mystery man sitting glued to his cellphone in the second row. It was he who bought the watercolor for $17 million, or $19.1 million including Christie’s fees, just shy of its $20 million high estimate.

Source: NY Times