Christie's expected a 305 million
USD turnover for its Impressionist and Modern art evening sale held on November
11 in New York but had to be content with 279.3 million because of surprisingly
unsold pieces.
Of the 61 lots offered for sale,
52 were sold, but Vincent Van Gogh's « Coin
de Jardin avec Papillons » (1887) failed to sell at 30 million, far
from its pre-sale estimate of 40 million as did Claude Monet's « L'Escalier
à Vétheuil » (1881) stranded at 7.5 million against an estimate of 12.5
million or René Magritte's « La Statue Volante » with no bid at 5
million, one million short o its low valuation.
Pablo Picasso's Femme au béret orange et au col de
fourrure (Marie-Thérèse) (1937) painstakingly fetched 14
million USD whereas it was estimated between 15 million and 20 million.
Monet's Le
bassin aux nymphéas (1917–19). Previously sold at Christie's in May 2000
for the then-below-estimate price of $6.8 million, Monet's « Le Bassin aux
Nymphéas » (1917-1919) entered the auction with an estimate of $30 million
to $50 million but only reached a 28 million hammer price- 31.8 million with
buyer's premium) well behind the larger, Nymphéas en fleur (circa
1914–1917) from the Peggy and David Rockefeller collection that sold at Christie's in May for $84.7
million.
Secured by a third-party, Picasso's La
Lampe (1931), the cover lot for the sale, carried a 25 million
to 35 million USD estimate but sold for only 29.6 million with premium while Monet's « Effet
de Neige à Giverny » (1893) rose to 15.5 million USD (with premium)
against a high pre-sale estimate of 8 million. A world record was set for
Tamara de Lempicka's « La Musicienne » with 9.1 million USD with
premium while Hans Arp's white marble sculpture "Déméter", sold for 5.8 million—nearly
double its high estimate.
Déméter was
also one of 13 works from the collection of Herbert and Adele Klapper which
sold for 41.1 million USD against a global estimate of nearly 45 million. The three
successful lots from the Sam Rose and Julie Walters collection brought 20.7 million,
led by a 7.7 million winning bid for Picasso's Buste de femme (1939), four
works from the collection of Elizabeth Stafford brought 20.5 million while lots
consigned from the collection of Jerrold A. Perenchio added another 15.4
million with a bid of 9.3 million with premium recorded on Henry Moore's Reclining Figure
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