SOTHEBY'S staff hold up the record breaking portrait by Manet
THE IRISH art market tends to track international trends. These now firmly dictate that the market at the top end has recovered from the biggest slump since 1991. The opening sale in the London series of June art auctions in London, Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale on June 22, brought in a staggering €157,601,625 – an increase of 185% on the same series last year.
For the second time in London auction history and the second time in six months three works made more than £10 million.
* Edouard Manet’s masterpiece Self Portrait with a Palette made €26,907,089, a new auction record for the artist
* André Derain’s Arbres à Collioure made €19,521,241, double the previous record for the artist and a record for any Fauve painting at auction (see earlier story on this blog, via April archive)
* Henri Matisse’s Odalisques jouant aux dames brought £11,801,250.
The 51 lot sale attracted buyers from no fewer than 13 countries; over 50% of the works sold achieved prices in excess of high estimate; and the average lot value for the works sold reached £3.2million. 19 works sold for more than £1 million and 29 for more than $1 million. The total of Impressionist & Modern Art sold by Sotheby’s London in 2010 is an unprecedented £276 million.
The Manet, one of only two self portraits he painted, was bought by New York dealer Franck Giraud. It had been part of the collection of New York collector and hedge fund manager Steven Cohen. The recovery in the market has encouraged collectors to sell high value works. Sellers now are confident.