Christie's Impressionist and modern sale on Thursday, May 12 totaled $141 million, just at the low tip of the $138.3 million to $203.4 million range. Of 51 lots on offer, one was withdrawn) and 44 were sold.
Throughout the sale, several works were sold on a single bid. Claude Monet's "Le bassin aux nymphéas" (1919) which carried an estimate of $25 to $35 millon only went for 27 million. Another Monet painting, "Au Petit-Gennevilliers" (1874) sold under estimate, for 11.4 million USD million on an estimate of 12 million to 18 million. while Frida Kahlo's small-scale "Two Nudes in a Forest"(1939), estimated at $8 to $12 million only found a buyer at 8 million including premium.
The Kahlo appeared at auction more than 25 years aago at Christie's New York where it sold in 1989 for a 506,000 USD, far above the 120,000 to 160,000 estimate.
Kahlo's previous record stood at 5.6 million USD for "Roots" (1943), which sold in 2006 at Sotheby's New York.
Amedeo Modigliani's "Jeune Femme à la Rose" (Margherita" (1916) only snatched 12.8 million USD with premium against a low estimate of 12 million. This painting had been sold at Sotheby's New York in May 2000 for 3.2 million USD.
Georges Braque's " Mandoline à partition "(Le Banjo) (1941), went for 10.2 million USD against a low estimate of 7 million and Picasso's "Homme Assis" (1969) sold for 8 million USD, under its estimate