The success of the sale by Sotheby's of the Whitney collection in New York on May 10th 1999 has brought renewed optimism among collectors but only high quality pieces sell well. Buyers have shown quite a dose of realism in their choices while Sotheby's realised US $ 128,3 million for the Whitney collection, thanks to Cézanne work, a still life titled «Rideau, Cruchon and compotier» which sold for US $ 60,5 million and to Seurat's version of «L'Ile de la Grande Jatte» painted between 1884 and 1889 which went for US $ 35,2 million causing some disappointment since it was thought to be worth well over US $ 40 million by some specialists.
The Seurat painting, considerd as sold at a bargain price, went to Stephen A. Wynn, the owner of a hotel and casino complex in Las Vegas.
Monet and Renoir fared well in the Sotheby's sale, the latter's «Rose garden in Wargemont» reaching US $ 6,1 million, four times more than the price it fetched in June 1997 in Paris with PIASA. However, buyers were reluctant to bid for average pieces and those seen on the market recently.
Out of 48 lots offered by Sotheby's, 18 remained unsold notably works by Sisley, Vuillard, Léger, Chagall, Pissarro, Degas or Toulouse-Lautrec whose «Red haired woman seated in the garden of M. Forest» was unwanted at above US $ 4,6 million.
During the same week, Christie's sale in its new premises situated in the Rockefeller Center, realised US $ 65,9 million with 90% of lots sold, including a painting by Van Gogh, «La Roubine du Roi», which not really among his best works, that went at US $ 19,8 million, almost nine times more than the price it fetched in May 1984 at Sotheby's.
A Corot work, «View of the Haute-Savoie region», went for US $ 1,3 million and another titled «Solitude» reached US $ 1,5 million while a fauve painting by Braque, «L'Estaque», sold for US $ 2,2 million and a Vuillard,
«Mme Vuillard knitting» reached £ 900,000 but Christie's did not make a happy choice with the cover illustration of its catalogue, «Madeleine Adam» by Renoir, which remained unsold at US $ 1,6 million.
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