A portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne painted by Modigliani in 1919 was sold by Sotheby's for a record US $ 15,1 million (inclusive of buyer's costs) against a top pre-sale estimate of US $ 12 million during the sale of the Reader's Digest collection in New York on November 16th 1998.
Another painting by Modigliani, Jeanne Hébuterne seated (lot 31), went for US $ 9,9 million just above the low estimate.
A bronze by Alberto Giacometti titled Forest and showing seven figures and a head fetched US $ 6,8 million. A painting by Cézanne, L'Estaque, was sold for US $ 10 million while a controversial work by Van Gogh, Thatched Roofs in Auvers, found a buyer who did not bother about rumours that it was a fake. It went however for only US $
4 million, a price equalling the low estimate.
Renoir did not fare well as his Woman in Blue remained unsold at US $ 3,5 million while a pastel by Degas showing a ballet dancer in pink went only at the low estimate for US $ 1,5 million. Meanwhile, Monet's Bassin aux Nymphéas was acquired for the rather disappointing price of US $ 9 million.
The following day Sotheby's sold a Picasso, Cubist Woman for US $ 10 million while several paintings owned by Japanese institutions remained unsold except for Miss Grimpel with a blue ribbon which went for US $ 4,9 million. Several art specialists claimed that some of the Renoir paintings offered for sale were fakes which had been authenticated by Swiss expert François Daulte at his end of his life (He died last July in Lausanne). French dealer Philippe Cazeau said that several dubious paintings authenticated as by Renoir were presently circulating on the market. He added that the painting showing a girl combing her hair which remained unsold at US $ 950,000 was a badly painted notable forgery.
On November 18th 1998, Christie's sold in New York a Claude Monet painting, Canotiers à Argenteuil, for US $ 8,2 million to London dealer David Nahmad.
A work by Vuillard, Conversation, went for US $ 4,3 million while a painting by Courbet, View of Ornans, which had been acquired for US $ 1,5 million in a June 1990 Sotheby's sale, sold for a disappointing US $ 550,000 against an estimate of between US $ 800,000 and 1,2 million.
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