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Paul Cézanne's 46 x 61 cm still life representing fruit and a ginger earthenware jug fetched £ 12,1 million ($ 18,24 million) (Inclusive of buyer's premium) against a top pre-sale estimate of £ 12 million at Christie's on June 28th. Christie's expected a better price for such a painting, which was acquired by Bill Acquavella from the U.S at what was considered a bargain price.

A similar but major 1893 still life by Cézanne from the Whitney collection measuring 59.7 x 73 cm fetched a record $ 60,5 million on May 10th 1999 at Sotheby's in New York while a richer composition was sold privately two years earlier by Paris dealer Daniel Malingue to Ronald Lauder, an American collector, for $ 50 million. Last December in London, Sotheby's sold another 1888 Cézanne titled “bouilloire et fruits” (46.7 x 58.5 cm) for £ 18,1 million ($ 29,3 million) against a top pre-sale estimate of £ 12 million. The last bid recorded at Christie's last week was therefore not really stunning.

In fact, the market depends on a small number of collectors and most of them have already a major work by Cézanne while today's tastes are rather changing with buyers neglecting classical Impressionist artists.

Buyers are now more inclined to buy 20th Century works thanks to the appearance on the market of dot.com entrepreneurs who are more interested in those works produced by Picasso in the 1930s or Matisse whose “Danseuse dans un fauteuil” was bought by an American amateur for $ 7,4 million at Sotheby's and also Delaunay, whose “Homme à la Tulipe” (portrait of Jean Metzinger) went for $ 2,9 million as well as Francis Bacon whose “study for a pope” culminated at £ 2,9 million ($ 4,4 million) at Christie's.

Both Sotheby's and Christie's were satisfied with their sales turnover, the former recording £ 45,8 million ($ 69,36 million) on June 27th and the latter £ 15,79 million ($ 23,91 million) with respectively 68,7 % and 84% of lots sold.

It is worthy to note that prices for contemporary art are progressing rapidly in auction sales thanks to the success of ArtBasel, a trend that is likely to keep going at the expense of Impressionist works, which seem to have reached a certain ceiling.

Meanwhile, prices recorded in Paris appeared somewhat modest in comparison. Rembrandt Bugatti's bronze 1904 sculpture of a Panther yawning cast by Hébrard, 55 cm long, 22 cm wide and 29 cm high sold for 3 150 000 FF ($ 456,521) (not inclusive of buyer's premium) while a pair of table by Ruhlmann called “Bloch” , 68 cm high, 65 cm long and 40.2 cm deep, fetched 1 550 696 FF ($ 224,738) at Drouot-Montaigne on June 19th.

A pair of partially gilt lead 71 cm high sculptures from the early 18th Century representing putti holding a conch with an emblem fetched a surprising bid of
1 050 000 FF ($ 152,170) against a 100 000 FF top pre-sale estimate , four large Louis XV armchair by N.Q Foliot were sold for a similar price and an 18th century Meissen porcelain group representing the allegory of music and that of Astronomy went for 950 000 FF ($ 137,680) while a 1923 painting by Paul Signac titled “Les Andelys, matin d'été” measuring 73 x 92 cm culminated at 2 990 600 FF ($ 433,420) (Inclusive of buyer's premium) at the Espace Tajan in Paris on June 20th .

A Sèvres 1788 cup and saucer with an Etruscan décor went for 1 050 000 FF ($ 152,170) (not inclusive of buyer's premium) in a Drouot sale held by Piasa on June 23rd while a 1679 painting by Dutch painter Abraham Storck representing a Venetian capriccio”, painted on an panel and measuring 51 x 65 cm went for 1 300 000 FF ($ 188,410) on June 19th.

Another Bugatti 1910 bronze sculpture
representing a “sacred Baboon” cast
by Hébrard and measuring 45 x 18, sold for 3 150 000 FF
($ 456,521) at the Espace Tajan on June 22nd and
a painting by 17th Century painter François Lemoyne
representing the “Arrival of Ulysses and Telemaque”
(85 x 127.5 cm) fetched 2 150 000 FF
($ 311,590) at Drouot on June 23rd.

A pair of “coin de feu” gilt-wood armchairs upholstered with Beauvais tapestries covers, made around 1725, were sold by the Millon Group for 1 250 000 FF ($ 181,160) on June 23rd and a RVLC kidney-shaped rosewood marqueted “bureau de dame” measuring 73 x 115 x 62 went for 4 210 000 FF ($ 610,140) (inclusive of buyer's premium) the same day at Piasa.

Outside Paris, a pair of still lifes by 17th Century Spanish artist Tomas Hiepes or Yepes fetched 8 500 000 FF ($ 1,231,880) ( Not inclusive of buyer's premium) while an ebony Louis XVI commode measuring 88 x 136 x 65 went for 1 720 000 ($ 249,280) (inclusive of buyer's premium) at Neuilly on June 19th.

Meanwhile a 17th century painting by Dutch painter Jacob Van Oost, representing figures around a sculpture in the courtyard of a palace measuring 187 x 240 cm sold for 1 250 000 FF ($ 181,160) in Angers, western France and an oil painting attributed to French painter Lubin Baugin (1612-1663) representing “Olinde and Sophronie” (155 x 102 cm) went for 820 000 FF ($ 118,840) (Not inclusive of buyer's premium) in Belfort, eastern France, on June 25th.