Auction records for Malevich, Munch, Degas at Sotheby’s, november 2008

Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Composition

Edvard Munch’s Vampire

Auction records for Malevich, Munch, Degas at Sotheby’s, november 2008

45 works of Impressionist, Modern and Russian works of art achieved a total of $223,812,500. Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Composition sold for $60,002,500, also setting a new record for a Russian work of art at auction; Edvard Munch’s Vampire achieved $38,162,500; and Edgar Degas Danseuse au repos sold for $37,042,500, also a record for any work on paper ever sold at auction

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November 4, 2008 – “There was a lot of anticipation leading up to tonight’s sale,” said Simon Shaw, Senior Vice President andHead of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department in New York. “This was the first true test ofour market in this new environment, and what we saw tonight is that the market is clearly alive.Tonight’s sale was assembled over the summer, and by the time the catalogue came out, we were living ina completely different world. Nevertheless, tonight’s total was not significantly different from thatachieved in May.”

Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Composition from 1916 sold for $60,002,500, not only a record for theartist, but a record for any Russian work of art ever sold at auction**. Regarded as an icon of Russian artand a paradigmatic example of the 20th century avant-garde, the masterwork was executed in 1916, thesame year that Malevich published his Suprematist Manifesto. The painting had been featured in thecollection of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam for the past fifty years before being restituted to theartist’s family. The Heirs of Kazimir Malevich issued a statement through a spokesperson as follows: “Theheirs are delighted with the extraordinary sale of Suprematist Composition which confirms KazimirMalevich’s position among the greatest masters of the 20th century.”

Edgar Degas’ Danseuse au repos reaffirmed its position as the preeminent work by the artist ever to besold at auction tonight, commanding $37,042,500, and establishing a new record for the artist at auction.It last appeared on the market in the summer of 1999 when it achieved a price of $28 million, a recordthat stood until this evening. Completed in 1879, this exquisite pastel and gouache is remarkable for thegreat quality of its richly worked surface and the detail of its vision and scope.

A record was also set tonight for a work by Edvard Munch, when his exceptionally rare masterpiece from1884, Vampire, sold for $38,162,500, with interest from four bidders. One of a group of four oil paintingsof this theme that Munch completed between 1893 and 1894, Vampire is the only example not owned by amuseum; the others reside in institutions in Oslo and Gothenburg.

Also among the top ten lots, selling within pre-sale estimates, were — Juan Gris’s Guitare, painted inDecember 1913, which sold for $6,578,500 (est. $6/8 million)*; Portrait of Nini by Pierre-Auguste Renoirwhich brought $5,570,500 (est. $5/7 million); Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Bal Masqué which fetched$4,562,500 (est. $4/6 million); and Henri Matisse’s Jeune Femme Assise en robe Grise aux BandesViolettes which achieved $4,226,500 (est. $4/6 million).

The three masterworks by the Russian artist Boris Grigoriev from the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield Massbrought $8,083,500, setting a new record at auction for the artist when his Shepherd of the Hills sold for$3,722,500 (est. $2.5/3.5 million). The funds raised by the sale of the three paintings will benefit futureacquisitions and direct care of their Collection.