On
a night that saw a new world record for the most expensive artwork sold at
auction, Christie's
May 4, 2010 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale achieved a total
of $335,548,000 (£221,461,680/Є258,317,960). The evening was
highlighted by the runaway success of Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and
Bust from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody, which sold for a record $106,482,500
(£70,278,450/€81,991,525), breaking the previous world record for any work of
art sold at auction. The Evening Sale portion of the Brody Collection also
became the highest total for a singleowner sale offered at Christies New York,
surpassing the landmark sale of the Collection of Victor and Sally Ganz sale in
1997.
The
27 lots from the Brody Collection achieved $224,177,500/£147,957,150/€172,616,675
and were 100% sold by lot and value. Overall, 30 lots sold above the $1 million
mark and 9 lots sold above the $10 million mark. Buyers in the sale were 36% United
States, 36% European, 4% Asia, and 24% other.
Marc
Porter, Chairman of Christie's Americas, commented: "This was a stellar
night for Christie's and for the art market. The sale was led by exceptional
prices for works by Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Henri Matisse from
the Brody Collection, one of the greatest private collections to come to
market. In addition, we witnessed great depth of bidding and strong results for
important works from other American and European collections, includingadditional
paintings by Picasso and works by Giacometti and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. We are
honored to have been entrusted with so many remarkable works this season, and
we are delighted to have delivered such positive results, including three new
world auction records for Picasso, Georges Braque, and Jean-François
Raffaelli."
The
star lot of the evening, and the most anticipated work to come to market from
private hands in the last decade, was Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, a
sensuous and stunning masterpiece from Picasso's celebrated 1932 series of
paintings depicting his muse and mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. Referred to as
the “lost” 1932 Picasso because it had never before been published in color, Nude
Green Leaves, and Bust was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Brody in 1950
for $17,000 from the art dealer Paul Rosenberg. It had been exhibited in public
only once since its purchase, at a 1961 exhibition sponsored by the UCLA Art
Council. At the auction, eight bidders competed for the Brody Picasso, as
Christie's lead auctioneer and Honorary Chairman Christopher Burge started the
bidding at the $58 million mark.
Mr.
Burge took bids from within the saleroom and on the phone before the
competition settled down to two bidders at the $88 million mark and a
one-on-one battle ensued. Finally, at 7:32pm – nine minutes after the bidding
open – the final bid was hammered down and a new world record for the most
expensive artwork at auction was sealed at $106,482,500.
Additional top lots from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody
Modern
sculpture was an important facet of the Brody Collection, and two Giacometti
bronzes proved the continuing appeal of the artist, and sculpture as a medium,
to collectors at the sale. Giacometti's lean, stealthy Le chat sold for
$20,802,500 (₤13,729,650/€16,017,925), while the artist's Grande tête mince –
the most highly-prized of the artist's busts – realized $53,282,500
(₤35,166,450/€41,027,525), well above its high estimate. A new world auction
record for a work by Braque was achieved with the sale of La treille, a
large-format scene of a terrace garden covered in twisting vines, that sold for
$10,162,500 (₤6,707,250/€7,825,125), soaring well above its estimate of $3-5
million. The jewel-like Autoportrait by Edouard Vuillard, a superb early self-portrait
executed just after 1890, fetched $2,658,500 (₤2,658,500/€2,047,045), also clearing
its high estimate. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Brody collection
will be donated the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens
in San Marino, CA, where the late Mrs. Brody was a guiding patron. The proceeds
will be used to support the Huntington's goals of encouraging research, and
promoting education, arts, humanities and botanical sciences.
Various Owners Evening Sale
The
Various Owners portion of the sale yielded four more prices above the $10
million mark for works by Giacometti, Picasso, and Renoir, as well as a new
world auction record for Raffaelli. The top lot of the section was a stunning
1947 sculpture of a human hand by Giacometti, La Main, which sold for $25,842,500
(₤35,166,450/€41,027,525). Two further works by Pablo Picasso also sold above expectations
as Femme au chat assise dans un fauteuil, 1964, realized $18,002,500 (₤11,881,650/€13,861,925)
and another work of the same year, Le peintre et son modèle, 1964, sold
for $10,722,500 (₤7,076,850/€8,256,325).
Top
prices were achieved for two works from the Collection of Raymond and Miriam
Klein, a private collection owned by the late Philadelphia philanthropists. Femme
nue couchée, Gabrielle by Renoir, a sumptuous, life-size reclining nude,
realized $10,162,500 (₤6,707,250/€7,825,125). A new record was achieved for a
work by Raffaelli with Les buveurs d'absinthe (Les Déclassés), an early
Impressionist masterwork that is widely regarded as one of the artist's most
important and accomplished paintings. The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
acquired the work for the museum's permanent collection.
On
a night that saw a new world record for the most expensive artwork sold at
auction, Christie's
May 4, 2010 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale achieved a total
of $335,548,000 (£221,461,680/Є258,317,960). The evening was
highlighted by the runaway success of Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and
Bust from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody, which sold for a record $106,482,500
(£70,278,450/€81,991,525), breaking the previous world record for any work of
art sold at auction. The Evening Sale portion of the Brody Collection also
became the highest total for a singleowner sale offered at Christies New York,
surpassing the landmark sale of the Collection of Victor and Sally Ganz sale in
1997.
The
27 lots from the Brody Collection achieved $224,177,500/£147,957,150/€172,616,675
and were 100% sold by lot and value. Overall, 30 lots sold above the $1 million
mark and 9 lots sold above the $10 million mark. Buyers in the sale were 36% United
States, 36% European, 4% Asia, and 24% other.
Marc
Porter, Chairman of Christie's Americas, commented: "This was a stellar
night for Christie's and for the art market. The sale was led by exceptional
prices for works by Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Henri Matisse from
the Brody Collection, one of the greatest private collections to come to
market. In addition, we witnessed great depth of bidding and strong results for
important works from other American and European collections, includingadditional
paintings by Picasso and works by Giacometti and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. We are
honored to have been entrusted with so many remarkable works this season, and
we are delighted to have delivered such positive results, including three new
world auction records for Picasso, Georges Braque, and Jean-François
Raffaelli."
The
star lot of the evening, and the most anticipated work to come to market from
private hands in the last decade, was Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, a
sensuous and stunning masterpiece from Picasso's celebrated 1932 series of
paintings depicting his muse and mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. Referred to as
the “lost” 1932 Picasso because it had never before been published in color, Nude
Green Leaves, and Bust was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Brody in 1950
for $17,000 from the art dealer Paul Rosenberg. It had been exhibited in public
only once since its purchase, at a 1961 exhibition sponsored by the UCLA Art
Council. At the auction, eight bidders competed for the Brody Picasso, as
Christie's lead auctioneer and Honorary Chairman Christopher Burge started the
bidding at the $58 million mark.
Mr.
Burge took bids from within the saleroom and on the phone before the
competition settled down to two bidders at the $88 million mark and a
one-on-one battle ensued. Finally, at 7:32pm – nine minutes after the bidding
open – the final bid was hammered down and a new world record for the most
expensive artwork at auction was sealed at $106,482,500.
Additional top lots from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody
Modern
sculpture was an important facet of the Brody Collection, and two Giacometti
bronzes proved the continuing appeal of the artist, and sculpture as a medium,
to collectors at the sale. Giacometti's lean, stealthy Le chat sold for
$20,802,500 (₤13,729,650/€16,017,925), while the artist's Grande tête mince –
the most highly-prized of the artist's busts – realized $53,282,500
(₤35,166,450/€41,027,525), well above its high estimate. A new world auction
record for a work by Braque was achieved with the sale of La treille, a
large-format scene of a terrace garden covered in twisting vines, that sold for
$10,162,500 (₤6,707,250/€7,825,125), soaring well above its estimate of $3-5
million. The jewel-like Autoportrait by Edouard Vuillard, a superb early self-portrait
executed just after 1890, fetched $2,658,500 (₤2,658,500/€2,047,045), also clearing
its high estimate. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Brody collection
will be donated the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens
in San Marino, CA, where the late Mrs. Brody was a guiding patron. The proceeds
will be used to support the Huntington's goals of encouraging research, and
promoting education, arts, humanities and botanical sciences.
Various Owners Evening Sale
The
Various Owners portion of the sale yielded four more prices above the $10
million mark for works by Giacometti, Picasso, and Renoir, as well as a new
world auction record for Raffaelli. The top lot of the section was a stunning
1947 sculpture of a human hand by Giacometti, La Main, which sold for $25,842,500
(₤35,166,450/€41,027,525). Two further works by Pablo Picasso also sold above expectations
as Femme au chat assise dans un fauteuil, 1964, realized $18,002,500 (₤11,881,650/€13,861,925)
and another work of the same year, Le peintre et son modèle, 1964, sold
for $10,722,500 (₤7,076,850/€8,256,325).
Top
prices were achieved for two works from the Collection of Raymond and Miriam
Klein, a private collection owned by the late Philadelphia philanthropists. Femme
nue couchée, Gabrielle by Renoir, a sumptuous, life-size reclining nude,
realized $10,162,500 (₤6,707,250/€7,825,125). A new record was achieved for a
work by Raffaelli with Les buveurs d'absinthe (Les Déclassés), an early
Impressionist masterwork that is widely regarded as one of the artist's most
important and accomplished paintings. The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
acquired the work for the museum's permanent collection.
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