The sale totaled $285.9 million (including buyers premiums) which is the highest for the category at Christie's since 2010. The sale offered 53 lots with 47 selling for a strong 89% sell through rate. The sale also had a very strong sales by value of 96%. The pre sale estimates without buyers premiums was $243.7 to $359 million, so the total, even with buyer premiums included was toward the low estimate.
The top selling lot was a Claude Monet (1840-1926), Nymphéas, oil on canvas, Painted in 1907, selling for $27.045 million including buyers premium against an estimate of $25-$35 million. The lot sold to a private Asian collector. Of the top ten selling lots 8 where within the pre sale estimate range, 1 was above and 1 was bellow.
The trade press reports are that the sale performed OK, but there was no lot the rose far above pre sale estimates as we have so often become accustomed to. As noted about, 8 of the top selling lots were within the pre sale estimates, and only one broke out and above the upper end of the estimate. That was a painting by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), Jeune homme roux assis, painted in 1919 selling for $17.64 million against an estimate of $8-$12 million. Overall the press called the sale "sleepy", with prices coming back to a more normal range, I would call it as expected. Lets see what happens next at Sotheby's and then the contemporary sales next week.
Christie's reports on the sale
Source: Christie'sCHRISTIE’S IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING SALE ACHIEVES $285.9 MILLION (£168.7 MILLION / €205.8 MILLION)
THE HIGHEST TOTAL FOR THE CATEGORY IN NEW YORK SINCE MAY 2010
STELLAR SELL-THROUGH RATE OF 89% BY LOT AND 96% BY VALUE
BLUE-CHIP ARTISTS WITH ESTEEMED PROVENANCE COMMAND TOP PRICES
MONET’S NYMPHÉAS FROM THE CLARK FAMILY TREASURES AND
PICASSO’S PORTRAIT DE FEMME (DORA MAAR) FROM THE LANGEN COLLECTION LEAD THE SALE
New York – Christie’s Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on Tuesday, May 6, realized $285,879,000 (£168,668,610/€205,832,880), selling 89% by lot and 96% by value. This marks the highest total for Christie’s New York in this category since May 2010. Of the 53 works offered, 9 lots sold for over $10 million, 18 for over $5 million, and 43 for over $1 million. The sale was led by works from distinguished private collections, including Monet’s Nymphéas from The Clark Family Treasures and Picasso’s Portrait de femme (Dora Maar) from the Viktor and Marianne Langen Collection. Two additional sales, Works on Paper and the Day sale, will complete the series on Wednesday, May 7.
Brooke Lampley, Head of Department, Impressionist & Modern Art, Christie’s New York, commented, “Our strong performance tonight, the highest since May of 2010, is a testament to the continued strength of the global market for Impressionist and Modern works of art. Bidders from 36 countries competed in our sale tonight for a wide variety of works, from Monet’s classic Nymphéas and Modigliani’s engaging portrait of a red-haired man, to bold, modern works by Picasso and Kandinsky. Our global team has worked tirelessly to source the best works available this season, many of which had never been offered at auction, including star lots from the leading collections of the season: the Clark Family Treasures, the Estate of Edgar M. Bronfman and the Viktor and Marianne Langen Collection.”
The broad strength of the Impressionist & Modern market is underscored with several lots in the sale demonstrating increasing value over the long term. Modigliani’s Jeune homme roux assis, for example, last sold in 2002 for $8,479,500. The 1919 work soared past its $8-12 million estimate, realizing $17,637,000. Additionally, Giacometti’s extraordinary sculpture, Femme de Venise IV, which sold in 2000 for $2,820,686, achieved $12,709,000 tonight. Works of different genres and time periods made it into the top 10 lots of the sale, representing a mix of classic Impressionist masters such as Renoir’s Jeunes filles jouant au volant painted in 1887, which sold for $11,365,000, to Miro’s Le serpent à coquelicots, painted in 1947, which sold for $12,485,000. Eighty-seven percent of the works have not been at auction for at least ten years and 43% of works have never been offered at auction.
EXCEPTIONAL PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Property from The Viktor and Marianne Langen Collection was 100% sold, achieving $79,829,000. Picasso’s dramatic—and characteristically distorted—depiction of his mistress and muse, Dora Maar, realized $22,565,000, and led the group of nine lots. The painting had never been sold at auction previously. Painted in 1942, Picasso’s relentless deconstructing and reconfiguring of Dora’s features in his depiction of her mysteriously intense but inscrutably impassive visage reflects the turbulence in Europe during the Second World War.
Three Impressionist paintings from the Estate of Huguette M. Clark sold for a combined $40,927,000 this evening, led by the Monet Nymphéas, that has been in the Clark family for over 85 years. Christie’s has been entrusted with the sale of over 400 items from the Clark Family this spring by the Honorable Ethel J. Griffin, New York County’s Public Administrator, who oversees the estate. Commissioner Griffin commented, “We are pleased with the results Christie’s has achieved for these paintings from the Clark Family collection this evening. The proceeds from tonight’s sale will benefit the Clark Estate and its goal of establishing a charitable foundation devoted to arts and culture. We look forward to the sale of additional property from the Clark Family Collection at Christie’s this June, which will further benefit the Estate.”
The sale also saw strong results from the Collection of Edgar J. Bronfman, the distinguished businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat, whose eight works in the Evening Sale totaled $21,174,000. The collection was led by Picasso’s arcadian work from 1965, Mangeuse de pastèque et homme écrivant, which realized $8,005,000. Additional works from the Bronfman Collection will continue to be sold in New York, London, and Hong Kong throughout the season, as well as in an online-only sale of Pablo Picasso Ceramics, which is open for bidding until May 16.
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