Juan Gris’s Livre, pipe et verre sold for $20.8 million at Christie’s

Juan Gris’s Livre, pipe et verre sold for $20.8 million at Christie’s

In its second Evening Sale of the week, Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art EveningSale, achieved $147 million for paintings and sculpture with top lots from Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso,and Wassily Kandinsky commanding the highest prices – November 2008

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November 7, 2008 – In its second Evening Sale of the week, Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art EveningSale, achieved $147 million for paintings and sculpture with top lots from Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso,and Wassily Kandinsky commanding the highest prices. The sale follows Wednesday’s Evening Saleof two single-owner collections, The Modern Age: The Hillman Family Collection and The Collection ofAlice Lawrence. New world auction records were set for Cubist master Juan Gris, American artistAlice Neel, and for works on paper by Georges Seurat and René Magritte.

Marc Porter, President of Christie’s Americas, states: “This week’s sales witnessed the reassertion of theprivate collector with strong prices achieved for the most desirable works by artists such as Picasso, Gris andKandinsky. The past week has validated our belief that works of art are stable stores of value, and collectors andconnoisseurs will not miss the opportunity to acquire the best of the best.”

Juan Gris’s Livre, pipe et verre of 1915 drew the highest price of the evening, selling at $20.8 million,and established a new auction record for the artist. A striking still life painted in his own distinctivebrand of Cubism, Gris used stark contrast and white highlighting to create an effect similar to aphotographic negative. In its first appearance at auction, Picasso’s outstanding Deux personnages(Marie-Thérèse et sa soeur lisant) of 1934 drew $18 million. This important painting is Picasso’sculminating work in a series of six paintings portraying his mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter, and hersister together enjoying a book in front of an open window. A second Picasso, Mousquetaire et femmeà la fleur, of 1967 witnessed a lively round of bidding, ultimately selling for $9 million.

In keeping with recent strong sales for Alberto Giacometti’s sculptures – including a world auctionrecord set in May at Christie’s for Grande femme debout II – a bronze entitled Trois Hommes qui marchentI, sold for $11.5 million.

Other highlights of Thursday’s Evening Sale were Gustave Caillebotte’s Le pont d’Argenteuil et la Seineof 1883 ($8.5 million); Paul Cézanne’s Le pont et le barrage à Pontoise of 1881, a beautiful landscape thathallmarks Cézanne’s mature work ($7.9 million); and Henry Moore’s Arch Form of 1970, a blackserpentine marble ($5 million).