The scene at Christie’s evening sale on February 6.
Modigliani’s portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne was the top lot at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale on February 6. It made £26,921,250 and is believed to have gone to a Russian buyer. Christie’s Impressionist and Modern and Art of the Surreal evening sales made £136,462,100 over a combined pre-sale estimate of £89.8 to £132.8 million. There were artists records for Berthe Morisot, Renè Magritte (for sculpture), Alberto Magnelli, Kay Sage and Óscar Domínguez. A total of 32 works sold for over £1 million.
Jay Vincze, international director and head of the sale said: “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.
Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau) was painted in 1919, the year before the artist died destitute. Hébuterne, his pregnant lover, committed suicide the following day. Berthe Morisot’s “Apres le dejeuner” made £7 million over an upper estimate of £2.5 million, a record for any woman artist at auction. The market for Impressionist and Modern art is recovering, thanks to a supply of quality new to market work.
(see post on antiquesandartireland.com for January 12, 2013).