Paul Cézanne, Vue sur L’Estaque et Le Château d’If sold for £13,522,500
Miro, Cezanne, Modigliani, Giacometti and Magritte were the top sellers at Christie’s sales in London tonight. More than £147 million worth of art changed hands. The Impressionist and Modern evening sale brought in £80,375,000 and the Art of the Surreal auction which followed realised £66,656,000. This was the first ever Surrealist sale to break the $100 million barrier.
At the Impressionist and Modern sale Paul Cezanne’s Vue sur l”Estaque et le Chateau d’If sold for £13,522,500, Les Deux Filles by Amadeo Modigliani made £7,586,500 and Alberto Giacometti’s Femme de Venise V sold for £6,802,500.
At the Art of the Surreal sale Joan Miro’s Painting (Women, Moon, Birds) was the top lot of the evening, making £15,538,500. Miro’s L’Oiseau au Plumage deploye vole vers l’arbre argente sold for £9,154,500. Rene Magritte’s Quand l’heure sonnera made £4,338,500 and his Les Compagnons de la Peur made £4,114,500.
Jay Vincze , head of the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Christie’s, London, said: “We are very pleased with the strong results of this evening’s sales of Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art which exceeded the top pre-sale estimate and welcomed registered bidders from 34 countries across 5 continents. The broad range of styles and periods of the works offered – many of which came to the market for the first time in generations – contributed to the extraordinary depth of bidding we witnessed. Pan Asian buyers continue to compete for the best works across 20th century avant-garde art, notably extending this season to Surrealist masters such as Magritte, Ernst and Dominguez. This is a strong start to the overall week of five sales for the category at Christie’s in London, which presents new and established collectors with opportunities across price levels.”
UPDATE: The Impressionist/Modern day sale at Christie’s on February 5 brought in another £13,344,825. Christie’s February auction of Impressionist/Modern/Surreal art brought in £170.8 million with global participation. A total of 36 works sold for over £1 million.