Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) Après le déjeuner. © Christie’s Images Limited 2013. (Click on image to enlarge).
René Magritte (1898-1967) La folie des grandeurs (Megalomania). © Christie’s Images Limited 2013. (Click on image to enlarge).
BERTHE Morisot’s Après le déjeuner became the most expensive work ever by a female artist at auction at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern sale in London last night. Painted in 1881 it had been estimated at £1.5 to £2.5 million. The work was the subject of intense bidding by at least six seriously interested potential buyers before being eventually knocked down for £6,985,250. It was bought by Christie’s New York-based specialist David Kleiweg de Zwaan. He was bidding on behalf of a client on the telephone.
Among the other records was La folie des grandeurs (Megalomania) by René Magritte. It made £1,721,250 over an estimate of £450,000-650,000, a record for a piece of sculpture by the artist. Bronze with brown patina it is signed, dated and numbered ‘Magritte 1967 1/5’ and inscribed with the foundry mark “Fondera Gi Bi Esse, Verona, Italy”. It was consigned by the Scheringa Museum of Realist art in Spanbroek, Northern Holland.