Results: Christie's London Impressionist/Modern Art Evening Sale

Following the successful Tuesday evening sale by Sotheby's, Christie's held its Impressionist Modern Evening sale and Art of the Surreal on Wed.  The sales totaled $213.43 million including buyers premiums.  The auctions had a combined pre-sale estimate of $141.17 million to $208.66 million. The combined sales offered 74 lots with 66 selling for a strong 89% buy through rate.  The sale totaled a strong 94% by value.

The top selling lot was my Anedo Modigliani, Jeanne Hebuterne wearing a hat sold for an impressive $42.10 million including buyers premium (see image).  Of the top ten lots sold seven sold above the high estimate and 3 fell within the pre sale estimates.  The fourth highest selling lot in the sale was a painting by Berthe Morisot, selling for $10.9 million including buyers premium set an auction record price for a female artist.

Christie's reported on the sale

The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale and the auction of The Art of the Surreal took place on the evening of 6 February at Christie’s London, realising £136,462,100/ $213,426,725/ €157,340,801 and selling 89% by lot and 94% by value. The auctions had a combined pre-sale estimate of £89.8 million to £132.8 million. The top price was paid for Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau), 1919, by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) which sold for £26,921,250/ $42,104,835/ €31,040,201 (estimate: £16-22 million, pictured right). In total, 32 works of art sold for over £1 million / 42 for over $1 million, and five artist records were set: led by Berthe Morisot’s portrait which set a new record price for a female artist at auction; a record for a sculpture by René Magritte; and records for a work by Alberto Magnelli, Kay Sage and Óscar Domínguez.

Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, Christie’s London: “We were very pleased with the strength and depth of bidding tonight which drove this evening’s auction to achieve both the highest total for a February evening sale at Christie’s London, and our highest sell through rate for an evening sale in this category in London. The global teamwork of our Impressionist and Modern team, coupled with the international nature of buyers participating in tonight’s sale, ensured that the auction drew interest and bidding from around the world. We were very pleased to achieve five new record prices at auction including for Berthe Morisot, whose portrait set an auction record for a work of art by a female artist sold at auction.”

Olivier Camu, Deputy Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s: “Having held the inaugural standalone Dada and Surrealism sale in 1989 and established the first annual Art of the Surreal Sale in 2001, we are very proud that this pioneering movement of 20th century art now commands truly international attention, with our February sales eagerly awaited by collectors around the globe and across other collecting fields from Old Masters through to Contemporary art. This sale was the largest and strongest offering of Surrealist art ever offered at auction and the volume of bids reflected the enthusiasm for this sale format which is encouraging for the market and greatly rewarding for Christie’s. All 9 of the works by Magritte sold, with a new record set for a sculpture by the artist, beating the previous record set at Christie’s in 2009; the price for this work and Miró’s sculpture, which almost equalled the current record, highlights the strength of demand for sculptures in the field of Impressionist and Modern Art." 

Source: Christie's