LEGER, MAGRITTE AND MODIGLIANI LEAD CHRISTIE’S £89.7 MILLION ($175.9 / €135.8 million) AUCTION OF IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART
• Highest Sale Total Ever Achieved in this Category at Christie’s Europe• Léger Landscape Leads the Sale Realising £6.3 Million ($12.3 / €9.5 Million)• £15.7 Million Section of The Art Of The Surreal led by Magritte Masterpiece which sells for £5.3 Million ($10.4 / €8 Million), the Second Highest Price For The Artist At Auction• 26 Lots Sell For Over £1 Million / (46 Lots Sell For Over $1 Million)
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London – Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art held on 6 February 2007 in London realised £89,684,000 / $175,870,324 / €135,781,576, a record total for any auction of Impressionist and Modern Art held by Christie’s in Europe. The top lot of the sale was Les maisons dans les arbres by Fernand Léger (1881-1955) which sold for £6.3 million ($12.3 / €9.5 million), against a pre-sale estimate of £2.8 to £3.5 million. The section of the sale dedicated to The Art of the Surreal realised a total of £15,681,600 ($30,751,618 / €23,741,942), as Le prêtre marié, 1961 by René Magritte (1898- 1967) sold for £5.3 million ($10.4 / €8 million), the second highest price for the artist at auction. Buyer activity at the auction was 22.5% United Kingdom, 49% rest of Europe, 22.5% Americas and 6% Asia.
Jussi Pylkkänen, President of Christie’s Europe, International Director of the Impressionist and Modern Art Department and auctioneer for the evening said: “This was the highest total for an Impressionist and Modern Art sale ever at Christie’s in Europe. This historic auction saw 46 lots sell for over $1 million and reflects the strength of the global art market. European buying in tonight’s sale continues to dominate with 9 out of 10 of the leading works selling to European clients who represented 71.5% of the buying. Christie’s extensive work in the new markets of Russian, Asia and the Middle East saw tremendous competition brought to the sale. Clearly the art market moves from strength to strength as buyers from all over the world compete with confidence for major objects and we look forward to another record sale on Thursday evening when we expect records to tumble.”
Highlights of this evening’s sale:
– Les maisons dans les arbres, 1914, a rare contraste de forme landscape painting by Fernand Léger (1881- 1955), realised £6,292,000 / $12,338,612 / €9,526,088.
– Two magnificent portraits by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), neither of which had been offered at auction before, far exceeded their pre-sale estimates. La fillette au beret, 1918 realised £6,068,000 / $11,899,348 / €9,186,952 against a pre-sale estimate of £3-4 million, while Homme au chapeau, circa 1915 sold for £3,940,000 / $7,726,340 / €5,965,160 against an estimate of £2.7-3.4 million.
– Selbstbildnis mit gespreizten Fingern by Egon Schiele (1890-1918), a self-portrait from when the artist was just 19 years old, sold for £4,500,000 / $8,824,500 / €6,813,000.
– The section of the auction devoted to The Art of the Surreal realised £15,681,600 / $30,751,618 / €23,741,942 and was highlighted by Le prêtre marié, 1961 by René Magritte (1898-1967) which sold for £5,284,000 / $10,361,924 / €7,999,976, the second highest price for the artist at auction. Fin de combat I; Combattimento (Gladiatori), painted in 1930-31 by Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) was a further highlight of this section realising £860,000 / $1,686,460 / €1,302,040.
February 2007. All auctions will take place at Christie’s King Street salerooms.
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