USA: Christie's impressionist and modern art auction fetches over two hundred million dollars and sets some new world auction records for artists

Record ID: 765258

  • Title: USA: Christie's impressionist and modern art auction fetches over two hundred million dollars and sets some new world auction records for artists
  • Date: 20th May 2007
  • Summary: (L!2) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 09, 2007) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF BIDDING FOR "ARRIERE DU TUB" BY PAUL SIGNAC THE AUCTIONEER CLOSING THE SALE OF "ARRIERE DU TUB" VARIOUS OF "ARRIERE DU TUB"
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVABH011IYD4UTXVJKFQYRNGLTR1
  • Story Text: It was a good night for the Christie's impressionist and modern art evening sale held in New York City on Wednesday (May 9). Five records were established in all including the world auction record for artists Paul Signac and Juan Gris, and the sale brought in more than two hundred million dollars. The Spring art sales season continued on a fairly healthy note on Wednesday (May 9) after having started auspiciously on Tuesday when Sotheby's sold nearly 280 million U.S. dollars worth of Impressionist and modern art. At less than 237 million dollars (USD), the Christie's Impressionist and modern art evening sale brought in less than Sotheby's the day before, but still managed to make a total of five records.
    "Le pot de geranium" by Juan Gris and "Arriere du Tub" by Paul Signac had been slated to establish new world auction records for the respective artists. During the sale, predictions for the two rang true, with "Arriere du Tub" fetching more than 11 million dollars (USD) and "Le pot de geranium" bringing in more than 18 million dollars (USD).
    Gris' 1915 "Le pot de geranium" is seen as aa virtual guidebook to the artist's compositional practices and was made in a year when Gris is seen to have reconnected with his art after a period of deep financial anxieties and disappointments. "Arriere du Tub" created in 1888, illustrates Asnieres in northwest of Paris, and conveys not just a leisurely paradise but the rapid encroachment of industry, with bridges in the background and the image of an approaching train.
    "It's a work that's been in a private collection for forty years and so the chance to be able to offer this to our newer clients and our old, more familiar faces in the auction, was a wonderful opportunity. We estimated the work at six to eight million dollars and it soared through the estimate -- competitive bidding from all around the world simply to acquire this work. What they are simply doing is that they're buying the greatest work by Paul Signac available in private hands," said Guy Bennett, Christie's Senior Vice President and Head of Impressionist Art of "Arriere du Tub."
    Other highlights of the sale included works by Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kirchner's "Dodo mit grossem Facher" brought in nearly 13 million dollars (USD) and Pablo Picasso's "Tete et main de femme" brought in more than 18 million dollars (USD).
    "Dodo mit grossen Facher" reveals Kirchner's lover, Doris Grosse. While Picasso's portrait "Tete et main de femme" is a prime example from a period when Picasso embarked upon a series of neoclassical female nudes.
    Other records established on Wednesday night included Alberto Giacommetti's "L'homme qui chavire" which set a world auction record for the artist by bringing in more than 18 million dollars (USD), and Joan Miro's "Projet pour un monument", which set world auction record for a sculpture by the artist, by bringing in nearly ten million.
    Bennett was positive about the response to the impressionist and modern art.
    "The market in the impressionist and modern field is truly global and I think that's seen today. We've seen bidding, very aggressive bidding from European collectors, very brisk, aggressive bidding from Americans and other venues. It's a truly global market and they are all willing to come here to Christie's on an evening like this and bid very aggressively. It's a fantastic place to be, it's great theater," said Bennett.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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