NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s global spring season of 20th Century art sales launched in London and New York on 1 March 2021, achieving a total across the evening of £43,702,515 / $61,139,818 / €50,520,107, with collectors convening from 12 countries over 5 continents and combined sell-through rates of 98% by lot and 100% by value. The series of sales was opened in New York with A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud, a grouping of eight exquisite works on paper that saw the market bidding competitively for exceptional quality, with a total of £18,070,765 / $25,281,000 / €20,889,804 realised. The sale was led by Van Gogh’s rare portrait La Mousmé, one of the finest works on paper of the artist’s career which sold for £7,459,614 / $10,436,000 / €8,623,314. A world auction record was set by Augustus John’s Head of a Girl (Edie McNeill) (£348,463 / $487,500 / €402,823) while bidding across the salerooms in London and New York saw strong prices realised for works on paper by René Magritte, Henry Moore and Georges Seurat.
The Modern British Art Evening Sale directly followed, realising a total of £25,631,750 / $35,858,818 / €29,630,303, selling 97% by lot and 99% by value. The evening was led by Sir Winston Churchill’s Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque which set a new world auction record price of £8,285,000 / $11,590,715 / €9,577,460 after a nine-minute battle between 10 bidders. The painting was offered from the Jolie Family Collection. Two further works by Churchill demonstrated heightened demand for his paintings with both far exceeding the pre-sale expectations: Scene at Marrakech (£1,882,500 / $2,633,618 / €2,176,170) and St Paul’s Churchyard (£1,078,500 / $1,508,822 / €1,246,746). Henry Moore’s Maquette for King and Queen sold for £3,022,500 / $4,228,478 / €3,494,010, over three times the low estimate and testament to the rarity of the subject matter in the artist’s oeuvre. Sir John Lavery’s The Viscountess Castlerosse, Palm Springs, from the collection of Charles Delevingne, sold for £862,500 / $1,206,638 / €997,050, a record for a portrait by the artist. Sir Michael Craig-Martin’s With Red Shoes set a new world auction record for the artist (£325,000 / $454,675 / €375,700).
Giovanna Bertazzoni, Vice Chairman, 20th – 21st Century Art, Christie’s: “We are delighted with the very strong result for the exquisite works in the Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud. Quality always wins, and the infallible eye of this collector strove only for exceptional quality.”
Nick Orchard, Head of Department, Modern British Art, Christie’s: “The auction of Modern British Art demonstrated the vibrant and dynamic nature of this market with exceptional provenance as witnessed in the Churchills, Lavery, the Collection of Mireille and James Lévy and the Estates of L.S. Lowry and Carol Ann Lowry. These works generated international interest with competitive bidding throughout the evening, resulting in Christie’s second highest total for a Modern British Art evening sale.”
FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS
A FAMILY COLLECTION: WORKS ON PAPER, VAN GOGH TO FREUD
• René Magritte, Journal intime £2,680,486 / $3,750,000 / €3,098,642
• Henry Moore, Two Sleepers in the Underground (recto); Figures and Sketches of Sculpture (verso), £2,251,608 / $3,150,000 / €2,602,859
• Georges Seurat, La voile blanche, £3,280,915 / $4,590,000 / €3,792,738
MODERN BRITISH ART EVENING SALE
• Dame Barbara Hepworth, Square Forms (Two Sequences), £922,500, / $1,290,578 / €1,066,410
• L.S. Lowry, Head of a Boy, £742,500 / $1,038,758 / €858,330
Over 145,000 viewers tuned into the sales through Facebook, You Tube, Christies.com and Christie’s Live™, highlighting the inclusive nature of the interactive livestream.
