Monday, June 28th, 2010

Christie’s in Record London Sale, Misses Target and Monet Water-Lily Painting Fails to Sell

June 25, 2010 by All Art News  
Filed under Art Market, Featured

LONDON.- Christie’s held London’s biggest ever art auction on Wednesday when its impressionist and modern sale fetched 153 million pounds ($227 million), but the total fell short of expectations of 164-231 million pounds.

The big disappointment on the night came when a Monet water-lily painting worth an estimated 30-40 million pounds failed to sell. Bidding reached 29 million pounds.

The other top lot did change hands, however, with a Blue Period portrait by Picasso selling for 34.8 million pounds. The price includes a buyer’s premium.

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose charity sold the painting, said he was pleased with the price, “especially in such austere times.

Christies auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen points to Pablo Picassos 1903 painting Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto 580x388 Christies in Record London Sale, Misses Target and Monet Water Lily Painting Fails to Sell

Christie's auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen points to Pablo Picasso's 1903 painting 'Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto' during an auction of Impressionist and Modern Art in London June 23, 2010. The piece sold for over 34 million pounds Sterling (51 million US dollars). REUTERS/Paul Hackett

“This is a significant amount to devote to the Foundation’s passions — architecture and the sponsorship of young talent in musical theatre.”

Overall, the auction total of 153 million pounds eclipsed the previous London auction record of 147 million pounds set by rivals Sotheby’s in February.

On Tuesday, Sotheby’s sold art worth 112 million pounds, towards the lower end of its range of estimates from 101 to 148 million.

The results underlined how strongly the fine art market has recovered following a brief slump caused by the financial crisis. But they failed to match the buzz surrounding sales earlier this year when world auction records were broken twice.

“This has been a very strong week of sales, even if on some pictures the expectations of sellers were not matched to those of potential buyers,” said Robert Korzinek, fine art expert at specialist insurer Hiscox.

“What is important is that we have returned to a more normal level of liquidity in the art market.”

Christie’s said 55 percent of the lots sold were bought by European buyers, 40 percent by buyers from the Americas and five percent from Asia.

Related posts:

  1. London Art Auctions Target the Former Soviet Union’s Growing Middle Classes
  2. Christie’s Amasses $65.67 Million in a Sparse Impressionist Sale
  3. Roedig Achieves Record-Breaking Price at Bonhams Old Masters Sale
  4. Classical Paintings Shine at Christie’s in Hong Kong
  5. Contemporary Art Sale in New York Sees More Big Prices

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