Léger’s “” being auctioned at Sotheby’s
Edward Munch: “Girls on a bridge”
Pablo Picasso: “La Grue”
SOTHEBY’S MAY 2008 EVENING SALE OF IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART BRINGS STRONG RESULTS TOTALING $235,333,000
FERNAND LÉGER’S “ÉTUDE POUR LA FEMME EN BLEU” SELLS FOR A RECORD $39.2 MILLION AND EDVARD MUNCH’S GIRLS ON A BRIDGE ACHIEVES A RECORD $30.8 MILLION
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May 8th 2008 – Sotheby’s spring 2008 evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York achieved a total of $235,333,000, well above the low estimate of $203.9 million. Artists records were achieved for Fernand Léger, when his Cubist masterpiece, Étude pour La Femme en Bleu, sold for $39,241,000, and for Edvard Munch, when his Girls on a Bridge surpassed the high estimate of $28 million to bring $30,841,000. Additionally, a record was set for a painting by Alberto Giacometti, when his Portrait de Caroline, sold for $14,601,000. The sale was 89.6% sold by value and 78.8% sold by lot with 7 lots selling for more than $10 million, 13 lots selling above $5 million and 33 lots commanding $1 million or more.
“Tonight’s tightly edited and curated sale was exactly what the market wanted,” said Simon Shaw, Senior Vice President and Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department in New York. “By pursuing our focus on high end property, we achieved an extraordinary average lot value of $5.7 million, up significantly from the $3.5 million achieved six months ago in New York and in February in London. Americans accounted for 67% of the purchasers in tonight’s sale by lot, which was quite a satisfying figure given recent uncertainties in the American economy.”
Emmanuel Di-Donna, Vice Chairman and Head of the Evening sale, continued, “We saw once again tonight proof of great strength in the market for modern sculpture.” Strong prices were achieved for the five sculptural works by Alberto Giacometti offered this evening and Pablo Picasso’s whimsical work, La Grue from 1951-52, inspired competitive bidding, finally selling for $19.1 million, above a high estimate of $15 million. “Bidders pursued works of quality actively,” continued Mr. Di-Donna, as seen in the battle for Matisse’s Le Géranium from the estate of New York philanthropist Catherine Gamble Curran which had not been on the market in nearly 30 years. The final price was $9.6 million, nearly three times the high estimate of $3.5 million.
Four works from the great American collection of Raymond and Patsy Nasher, also commanded strong prices this evening. Together, the two works by Picasso and two works by Giacometti brought $27,548,000, against a pre-sale estimate of $17.8/25.7 million. The top selling lot was Picasso’s monumental canvas from 1969, Le Baiser, which surpassed a high estimate of $15 million to sell for $17,401,000.
Strong results were also achieved for Impressionist works in tonight’s sale, led by Paul Cèzanne’s Environs de Gardanne, which sold for $10,457,000 (est. $6/8 million), and Edgar Degas’ Trois Danseuses en Rose, which brought $8.441,000 (est. $7/9 million). Claude Monet incited the first spirited bidding war of the evening, when six bidders fought for his La Vallée de la Creuse à Fresselines, which finally sold for $1,721,000, above the high estimate of $1.5 million.
Leading off the sale were four stunning works by the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, all of which exceeded expectations. The group was led by the artist’s Natura Morta, from 1956, which sold for $1,609,000, above a high estimate of $900,000. Together, the four works totaled $4,363,600.
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