Christie’s Amasses $65.67 Million in a Sparse Impressionist Sale
NEW YORK — Christie’s scored beyond all hope on Tuesday night in a sale of Impressionist and Modern art that was alarmingly thin. Of the 40 paintings and sculptures offered, 28 realized an aggregate $65.67 million.
In a market starved for goods, the modest signs of an apparent economic recovery in the United States stimulated art buyers. Artists represented by works currently in high demand consistently exceeded expectations.
Pastel studies of ballerinas, seen by the general public as the supreme achievement of Degas at the height of his Impressionist style, now rarely appear in the market. “Danseuses,” depicting a dancer who bends to adjust her shoe, became the most expensive work of the evening as it ascended to $10.72 million.
Rodin’s bronzes cast within his lifetime have been steadily rising for some time. On Tuesday, the very first lot, “Néréides, grand modèle” (Nereids, larger model, also known as “Three Sirens” or “The Wave”), shot up to $626,500, nearly triple the high estimate. Five lots down, “Le Baiser, moyen modèle” (The Kiss, medium-size model) brought a steep $6.35 million, again nearly tripling forecasts.
The strong prices commanded by Tamara de Lempicka, whose works abruptly started soaring shortly before the autumn 2008 financial panic, say even more about the optimistic mood of art buyers. A 1924 “Portrait of the Duchesse de Valmy,” done in the painter’s naturalistic style with an Art Deco touch, sold for $1.37 million, 50 percent above the high estimate.
This was soon dwarfed by the $4.33 million realized by the portrait of Marquis Sommi. De Lempicka’s mannered, sentimental style qualifies as Modernist kitsch. It could have been a problem in less favorable circumstances.
Buyers were less enthusiastic when it came to greater works that appeal to dwindling numbers of connoisseurs. The subtlety of their brushwork and the nuances of their mood do not register with newcomers to the market who look for paintings with an instant punch.
An Impressionist masterpiece painted by Pissarro in 1903, as remarkable in its composition as in its coloristic notations, could be had for $2.15 million.
Two lots down, one of the most poetic landscapes painted by the great Corot near his home at Ville d’Avray brought only $866,500. While this matches the high estimate put forward by Christie’s, it is peanuts for a gem worthy of the Paris Musée d’Orsay or the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The contrast could not be greater with landscapes in stronger contrasted colors, however modest their merit. Paul Signac’s “Vieux port de Cannes” (The old harbor at Cannes) done in 1918 in a Pointillist style then long outdated, climbed to $3.77 million, well above the high estimate.
Even Henri Edmond Cross, a very minor follower of the Pointillist movement, was favorably received. “Sailing Boats on the Giudecca,” also called “A Venetian Marine,” was done between 1903 and 1905, past the heyday of Pointillism. It realized $698,500. This is a generous price even if it falls within the estimated bracket.
A clear sign of the optimism that prevailed on Tuesday is the success encountered by two pictures graced with the signatures of the most famous masters of Impressionism. Other than that, there was little to be said in their favor.
Renoir’s “Reclining Woman in the Nude,” which fetched $602,500, looks like those quickly sketched studies left lying around in the painter’s studio.
Monet’s view of the village of Vétheuil, dated 1901, is unusually awkward in its unbalanced composition. The nearly abstract expanse of water in the foreground does not relate to the detailed topography of the village appearing beyond on the hill. A lone bidder paid a stiff $5.45 million for the picture.
Optimism, however, did not result in the starry-eyed acquisition of blatantly overestimated works. Poor condition was a killer that included among its victims Piet Mondrian’s “Composition II, with Red.”
Inadequate quality was equally lethal in the upper financial strata. One of Picasso’s clumsiest cartoon-style portraits was never going to jump the hurdle of a $7 million to $10 million estimate.
Christie’s victory, won in difficult circumstances, came with casualties that were all too predictable. Consignors continue to be reticent and auction houses cave in easily to demands for Alice in Wonderland estimates. Too much complacency might endanger an otherwise effervescent market.
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- Sotheby’s next big Impressionist and Modern Art sale
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