LONDON, ENGLAND.- Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art held on 6 February 2007 in London realised £89,684,000 / $175,870,324 / €135,781,576, a record total for any auction of Impressionist and Modern Art held by Christie’s in Europe. The top lot of the sale was Les maisons dans les arbres by Fernand Léger (1881-1955) which sold for £6.3 million ($12.3 / €9.5 million), against a pre-sale estimate of £2.8 to £3.5 million. The section of the sale dedicated to The Art of the Surreal realised a total of £15,681,600 ($30,751,618 / €23,741,942), as Le prêtre marié, 1961 by René Magritte (1898-1967) sold for £5.3 million ($10.4 / €8 million), the second highest price for the artist at auction. Buyer activity at the auction was 22.5% United Kingdom, 49% rest of Europe, 22.5% Americas and 6% Asia.

Jussi Pylkkänen, President of Christie’s Europe, International Director of the Impressionist and Modern Art Department and auctioneer for the evening said: “This was the highest total for an Impressionist and Modern Art sale ever at Christie’s in Europe. This historic auction saw 46 lots sell for over $1 million and reflects the strength of the global art market. European buying in tonight’s sale continues to dominate with 9 out of 10 of the leading works selling to European clients who represented 71.5% of the buying. Christie’s extensive work in the new markets of Russian, Asia and the Middle East saw tremendous competition brought to the sale. Clearly the art market moves from strength to strength as buyers from all over the world compete with confidence for major objects and we look forward to another record sale on Thursday evening when we expect records to tumble.”

Highlights of this evening’s sale:
- Les maisons dans les arbres, 1914, a rare contraste de forme landscape painting by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), realised £6,292,000 / $12,338,612 / €9,526,088.
- Two magnificent portraits by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), neither of which had been offered at auction before, far exceeded their pre-sale estimates. La fillette au beret, 1918 realised £6,068,000 / $11,899,348 / €9,186,952 against a pre-sale estimate of £3-4 million, while Homme au chapeau, circa 1915 sold for £3,940,000 / $7,726,340 / €5,965,160 against an estimate of £2.7-3.4 million.
- Selbstbildnis mit gespreizten Fingern by Egon Schiele (1890-1918), a self-portrait from when the artist was just 19 years old, sold for £4,500,000 / $8,824,500 / €6,813,000.
- The section of the auction devoted to The Art of the Surreal realised £15,681,600 / $30,751,618 / €23,741,942 and was highlighted by Le prêtre marié, 1961 by René Magritte (1898-1967) which sold for £5,284,000 / $10,361,924 / €7,999,976, the second highest price for the artist at auction. Fin de combat I; Combattimento (Gladiatori), painted in 1930-31 by Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) was a further highlight of this section realising £860,000 / $1,686,460 / €1,302,040.
- Compotier et guitare, 1927-29, by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) realised £3,044,000 / $5,969,284 / €4,608,616 while Nature morte, which was painted by the Spaniard the day before the planes of the German Condor Legion bombed the Basque town of Guernica in 1937, realised £2,820,000 / $5,530,020 / €4,269,480. A further highlight by Picasso was Femme dans un rocking-chair, 1956, a work with bold colours reflecting the late cut-outs of Matisse who had died just two years earlier, which realised £2,484,000 / $4,871,124 / €3,760,776.
- Further highlights of the sale included La danse, 1938, a cut-out work by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) which realized £2,260,000 / $4,431,860 / €3,421,640, Le chapeu bleu by Kees van Dongen (1877-1968) which sold for £2,484,000 / $4,871,124 / €3,760,776, Le remorqueuer à Chatou, circa 1907, by Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) which realised £2,484,000 / $4,871,124 / €3,760,776, and Les grandes arbres, and a rediscovered painting by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) which sold for £2,036,000 / $3,992,596 / €3,082,504, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of £500,000-700,000.
New auction record prices were set for 4 artists at this evening’s sale: Giorgio Morandi (lot 43), August Macke (lot 55), Christian Schad (lot 78), Heinrich Maria Davringhausen (lot 79). 2 further artist records for works on paper.

This week of sales continues with the auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale and Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper which will take place on 7 February 2007. The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which is highlighted by Francis Bacon’s (1909-1992) Study for Portrait II, will take place on Thursday 8 February and the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale will take place on 9 February 2007. All auctions will take place at Christie’s King Street salerooms.