Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Composition with Plane in Projection sold for $21.2 million to lead Sotheby’s auction of Impressionist and Modern art in New York last night. The sale, which saw exceptional prices for sculpture, brought in $173.8 million. There was a new record for Max Ernst whose Surrealist bronze from the Motherwell collection made $16 million. New auction records were also established for Diego Giacometti ($6.3 million), Jean Arp ($4.9 million) and Germaine Richier ($3 million). The Impressionist sale was led by a Monet view of the pond at Giverny which made $16 million.
Simon Shaw, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, commented: “Collectors are ready to look in every corner of the marketplace for the best of the best, be it sculpture, Impressionism, Modern or avant-garde works. When you offer something so rare, that hasn’t been seen at auction before, and is represented in the greatest museums, it ticks all the boxes. And today’s collectors are ready to go the extra mile to secure those special pieces – the excitement we saw around the Malevich and the Ernst reflects that. Taken together with our outstanding results achieved in London this past March, our flagship sales of Impressionist & Modern Art are up nearly 50% year to date – a statement on both the strength of the market and our performance for our clients.”
Kazimir Malevich Suprematist Composition with Plane in Projection made $21.1 million
Max Ernst Le Roi Jouant Avec La Reine (sold for $15.9 million)
Claude Monet Le Bassin aux nymphéas ($15.9 million)
Diego Giacometti Bibliothèque De L’île Saint-Louis (sold for $6.3 million)