Appraiser Workshops: Results: Sotheby's ImpMod Evening Sale Crushes

By now most appraisers are aware that Edvard Munch's pastel The Scream sold at Sotheby's on Wednesday evening for a new art at auction record of $119.92 million. To put this in perspective, Christie's Tuesday evening sale in NYC totaled $117 million for the entire sale. The selling price was impressive, but keep in mind there were many trade and general press reports the painting was going to sell between $150 and $200 million.

OK, on to the some of the numbers from the Sotheby's sale. It totaled an impressive $330.57 million (including buyers premiums), which is the highest ever for a Sotheby's Imp Mod sale. The sale offered 76 lots, with 61 selling for a respectable 80.3% sell through rate. The sale sold 94% by value, which of course shows strong values for what did sale. The sale was expected to sell in the $245.9 million to $342.7 million range, so the $330 was toward the top end of pre sale expectations at Sotheby's.

Seven of the top ten lots at the sale were listed as anonymous, including the buyer of The Scream, with one listed as European, one as European Private and one as US Private.

Sotheby's reported on the sale

Simon Shaw, Senior Vice President and Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art department in New York, said: “If ever there was a work of art of true shock and awe it is Edvard Munch’s The Scream, which is not only one of the seminal images from art history, but also one of the visual keys to the modern consciousness. We are delighted to say that this magnificent picture achieved a new world record at Sotheby’s for any work of art when it sold for $119.9 million (£73.6 million / €91 million) after an enthusiastic bidding battle involving at least eight bidders which lasted for more than 12 minutes. Tonight’s sale total of $330,568,550 million marked Sotheby’s highest ever total for an Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art, breaking Sotheby’s previous record of $286.2 million set in 1990 here at Sotheby’s in New York.”

Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art and this evening’s auctioneer, commented:

“This evening’s sale was a dream for an auctioneer, and to be able to sell The Scream for over $100 million dollars hammer was a moment that I cherish as an auctioneer, and also a very proud moment for Sotheby’s. The Scream is worth every penny that the collector paid for it. It is one of the great icons of art in the world, and whoever bought it should be congratulated. Tonight was a historic night for Sotheby’s, and I am very happy to have been part of it.”

David Norman, Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department, added: “I have been at

Sotheby’s for three decades, and the sale of The Scream in tonight’s auction is the most exciting moment I have experienced here. In 2004, Sotheby’s sold the first $100 million picture, and to shatter the world auction record again for such an iconic and rare work of art this evening was nothing less than historic.” and very happily – the Forstmann collection, which comfortably made a total within its estimated range, and we’re thrilled to have achieved the $29.2 million price for the Picasso and the $14.9 million sum for the marvellous Joan Miró surrealist work Tête Humaine. Throughout the sale we established great prices in so many different categories: the Munch with Expressionism; Picasso with classic Modernism; Dalí with Surrealism; and Brancusi, a great work of sculpture.”