Sotheby's impressionist & modern art sale fetches record $422M

PanARMENIAN.Net - Alberto Giacometti's "Chariot" sculpture sold for $101 million, leading Sotheby's record $422 million Impressionist and modern art sale in New York, Crain's New York Business reported.

The 4.75-foot-tall painted bronze figure on wheels met its $100 million estimate Tuesday, Nov 4 at the evening auction but didn't set a new artist record. Sotheby's total exceeded its high estimate of $300 million. Tuesday night's total was 45.4% higher than last November's $290.2 million tally. Of the 73 lots offered, 58 found buyers. Final prices include commissions.

Sotheby's kicked off a two-week auction season in Manhattan, where art valued at about $1.8 billion is for sale at three auction houses.

Amedeo Modigliani's sculpture of a goddess's head sold for $70.7 million, setting an auction record for the artist. The 2.4-foot high sculpture, created in 1911-1912 from limestone the artist took from a Parisian subway renovation, sailed past its high estimate of $45 million. The artist's previous auction record was $69 million for the 1917 painting "Nu Assis Sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine)," which sold at Sotheby's in New York in 2010.

Vincent Van Gogh's painting of a bouquet of white, red and blue wildflowers sold for $61.8 million against an estimate of $30 million to $50 million. "Still Life, Vase With Daisies and Poppies," is an auction record for a still life painting for the artist. It was purchased by a private Asian bidder.

The auction record for a Van Gogh painting was set nearly 25 years ago, when "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sold for $82.5 million (about $150 million adjusted for inflation).

The price of "Chariot" didn't break Giacometti's auction record, which was set by "Walking Man," a bronze sculpture that sold for $103.4 million in 2010 at Sotheby's in London.

Claude Monet's 1881 "Alice Hoschede au Jardin," which was estimated to sell for $25 million to $35 million, sold for $33.8 million. The work, which was last seen at auction in 1989, is a portrait of Monet's lover Alice Hoschede, who was also the wife of one of his most important patrons.

The 15 works by Picasso spanning more than six decades of his career had mixed results. "Femme Allongee," an abstract of a reclining woman, estimated at $2 million to $3 million, sold for $6 million. His "Bouffon et Jeune Acrobate," an early work from 1905 of a boy sitting on a clown's lap, estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, also sold for $6 million.

Picasso's almost monochromatic oil painting of a woman in religious contemplation, "La Communiante Avec Missel," valued at $1.2 million to $1.8 million, failed to find a buyer. "Homme Assis," a 4.25-foot tall work from 1969 that sold for $11.4 million, was painted at the end of Picasso's career. An abstract portrait of a musketeer, the canvas is bright red, green and yellow set against a beige background. The work was valued at $8 million to $12 million.