Impressionist and modern art achieved strong prices on Wednesday as Sotheby’sheld one of its biggest auctions ever, in a dramatic turnaround from two nights of disappointing sales at Christie’s earlier this week.
Led by Giacometti’s sculpture “Grande tete de Diego” and Picasso’s oil “Tete de femme,” which fetched $50 million and $39.9 million respectively, the sale totaled more than $290 million, with 81 percent of 64 lots finding buyers.
It was Sotheby’s best Impressionist and modern art result apart from its May 2012 sale at which one of the versions of Munch’s “The Scream” sold for a record $120 million. The strong sales were likely to calm market jitters that followed Christie’s results, which fell far short of expectations.
As the hammer came down on the final lot, applause and whoops broke out in the salesroom. Auctioneer Tobias Meyer responded to the reaction, saying, “So the market is alive, huh?”
David Norman, Sotheby’s co-chairman of Impressionist and modern art worldwide, admitted to concerns before the sale, given Christie’s’ sales at which most of the top lots went unsold and totals fell far below even the low pre-sale estimates, Reuters informs.
