NEW YORK.- Sotheby’s sale of 19th Century European Art achieved a total of $24,169,288. Works by French academic painter William Bouguereau and Gustave Courbet sold particularly well. The top lot was Courbet’s Le Veau Blanc, which achieved a price of $2,505,000 (est. $320/380,000), over six times its high estimate. The next top five prices went to William Bouguereau. Bidders competed aggressively for the most expensive lots, resulting in an unprecedented average lot value of $150,000.

Polly Sartori, Senior Vice President and Director of Sotheby’s 19th Century Paintings Department, said of the sale, “Today, the top end of the 19th Century European Paintings market was tested by two of its most important artists: Gustave Courbet and William Bouguereau. Stylistically and in choice of subject, these two artists could not be further apart. The highest price of the sale went to Courbet’s fantastic young bull, with the next five top prices going to William Bouguereau. These results show the continued interest by our buyers to focus on the best examples of 19th Century European Paintings. As has been the trend in the past few sales, bidders competed aggressively for the most expensive lots, resulting in an unprecedented average lot value of $150,000. American collectors - as they did in April 2007 - dominated the bidding at the highest value levels.”