Results: Sotheby's London Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale

On Tuesday evening Sotheby's held its Impressionist and Modern Art sale.  The sale totaled $164.27 million including buyers premium and offered 40 lots.  Of the 40 lots offer 34 sold for a strong sell through rate of 85%.  The sale sold an impressive 92.5% by value.  The pre sale estimates ranged between $136.18 million to $197.95.

The top selling lot was Picasso's Femme Assise Près d’une Fenêtre sold for $45 million including buyers premium (see image) and had an estimate of $39.30 million to $55 million. Sotheby's reported the combined sales including evening, day and surreal totaled $190.5 million.  Of the top ten lots 5 sold over the high estimate, four fell between the estimates and one sold below the low estimate.

Overall the sale was considered strong and offered good quality lots that were in demand.

Bloomberg reported on the sale

After decades of intense trading, the market for modern and Impressionist art suffers from a shortage of high-quality works that haven’t been seen at auction before, dealers said. Unusually, two-thirds of the 61 lots at this auction were new to the saleroom, triggering more intense levels of demand.

“There were more fresh works than I’ve seen at an Impressionist auction for a while,” said Morgan Long, director of art investments at the London-based Fine Art Fund. “The resale market is really difficult at the moment. There’s very little around that hasn’t been seen before.”

Picasso’s sensuous “Marie-Therese” paintings are among the art market’s most coveted trophies. The Sotheby’s canvas, “Femme assise pres d’une fenetre,” came from a European private collection. It had a formal valuation of 25 million pounds to 35 million pounds, based on hammer prices.

Guaranteed to sell courtesy of a third-party “irrevocable” bid, it was bought by the guarantor, represented by Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia. The work had last been seen on the auction market in 1997, when it sold for $7.5 million.

Asian Bidders

“It was a painting for someone who was new to the market,” said the Paris-based dealer Christian Ogier. “A pleasant, not great Picasso. This was one of those occasions where Asian bidders played a major role in a London auction.”

The Monet, bought by a telephone bidder, set an auction record for a snow scene by the artist. It was one of five Impressionist paintings from the estate of the Earl of Jersey, who had acquired the works more than 60 years previously, advised by his second wife, the Hollywood actress Virginia Cherrill.

Source: Bloomberg