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Ernst shines, Degas fails at Christie’s $140 million sale

EDGAR DEGAS - Petite danseuse de quatorze ans

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Petite danseuse de quatorze ans
Pre-sale estimate: $25,000,000-35,000,000
Unsold

Ernst shines, Degas fails at Christie’s $140 million sale The Impressionist and Modern Art auction at Christie’s on November 1 totaled $140,773,500 (£88,687,305/ €102,764,655). The star of the sale was Max Ernst’s “The Stolen Mirror”, but the highly anticipated “Petite danseuse“ by Edgar Degas failed to sell.]]>

November 2, 2011, source: theartwolf / Christie’s

Edgar Degas’ “Petite danseuse de quatorze ans” is one of the only 10 examples of this sculpture (labeled as “the most celebrated sculpture to have emerged from the Impressionist era”) that remain in private hands. The work carried an estimate of $25 – 35 million, but did not find any buyer.

Max Ernst’s “The Stolen Mirror” -described by the auction house as “a Surrealist tour-de-force painting”- was sold for $16,3 million, setting a new auction record for the artist. This “dream-like landscape” painted in 1941 was acquired by a European private collector.

Two other works were sold above $10 million: a 1917 bronze ovoid sculpture by Constantin Brancusi’s titled “Le premier cri” sold for $14,9 million, and René Magritte’s “Les vacances de Hegel (Hegel’s Holiday)” sold for $10,2 million.

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Ernst shines, Degas fails at Christie’s $140 million sale