PARIS.- The two-day auction happening on 10th and 11th December achieved a total of €12,502,438/£10,541,685/$13,862,316 selling 91% by value. The top lot of the sale was August Macke’s painting Badende Frauen (recto); Pierrot mit Tänzerpaar (verso) which was sold for €2,770,000, exceeding its high estimate.
Lionel Gosset, Director and Head of sale: “We are pleased to have realised such brilliant results for this collection which was gathering many different pieces from 12 categories including German expressionism, Design, African and Pre-Columbian Art, Furniture, and even Entomology. International collectors payed a beautiful tribute to this passionate French collector who gathered this exceptional collection thanks to his exquisite eye. Given the disruption France is experiencing beyond our doors here at Christie’s in Paris, the results from the last two days of sales are well above our expectations. At Christie’s, our goal is to anticipate and meet the needs of our clients and I would like to express my gratitude to the Christie’s team here for their professionalism and commitment throughout the preview and the auctions.”
Last night’s sale realised very strong results for several artists rarely presented in Paris such as Lyonel Feininger whose Diabolospielerinnen I was sold for €2,050,000, Félix Valotton for Environs de Cagnes le soir which was sold for €1,234,000, 6 times its presale low estimate, and August Macke whose Badende Frauen (recto); Pierrot mit Tänzerpaar (verso) was sold for €2,770,000 becoming the top lot of the collection. The prices realised demonstrate that these artists can achieve strong results in Paris and that the prices they achieve at auction is continuously progressing.
Alberto Giacometti was also well represented in this sale with two rare sculptures - an abstract composition in plaster was sold for €1,210,000 and an Applique, modèle “Masque aux serpents” in bronze was sold for €286,000 after a long bidding battle between 8 clients on the telephone. Strong results were also achieved for Jean Dunand’s Panneau aux singes sold for €268,000 against a presale estimate of €80,000-120,000 and for Edouard Marcel Sandoz’s Jardinière ‘Singes’ which was sold nearly 5 times its presale estimate at €55,000.
