PARIS.- Sotheby's Paris Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art, today saw more than 170 international clients register to bid and realise an extremely impressive total of €12,763,700. The sum – almost the pre-sale high estimate (Est. €8,996,000-12,945,000) - represents a record total for a sale in this category at Sotheby’s Paris. The auction - highlighted by the sale of Georges Seurat’s masterpiece in crayon, which established the highest price for any work of art sold so-far in Paris in 2008 – brings the overall total for Impressionist and Modern Art sold at Sotheby’s in Paris in 2008 to the extraordinary sum of €28.7 million.

Commenting on the sale, Samuel Valette, Head of Sotheby’s Paris Impressionist and Modern Art Department, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the results for tonight’s sale – the highest for a sale in this category at Sotheby’s Paris. We are particularly delighted with the remarkable record price achieved for the rare and beautiful masterpiece by Seurat, which made over five times the previous world auction record for a Seurat drawing.“

Auctioneer and Vice President Sotheby’s Paris, Cyrille Cohen, added: “The results unequivocally demonstrate that there is continued strength in the international market for high quality Impressionist and Modern art that is desirable and fresh to the market. Buyers in today’s sale came from all over the world to buy hotly contested works – no less than seven bidders from all corners of the globe competed to acquire the masterwork by Seurat.”

Auction Highlights: The top-selling lot in today’s sale was Georges Seurat’s masterwork Au Divan, which saw fierce competition from no less than seven bidders - six on the telephones and one in the saleroom – realised a staggering €4,992,750, almost five times its pre-sale high estimate of €1 million and was acquired by an private US buyer over the telephone to applause. The drawing broke the previous auction record for a work by Seurat by over five-fold (the previous record of €855,015 was set in November 2008) and the price realised also represents the second highest price ever achieved for a work by Seurat at auction.

Another record-breaking price in the sale was achieved for Albert Gleizes's masterly Paysage cubiste, from 1914. This rare and large-format composition from the artist's best period remained in the same European collection since the 1920s and today sold for €900,750, more than three times its low estimate (Est. €300,000-500,000). The sum also represents the third highest price paid in the sale tonight.

The second highest price paid in today’s auction was for Pablo Picasso's Tête de mort et livre (1946), which sold for €1,128,750 (Est. €1-1.5m). The painting, which belongs to the famous series of still lifes with skulls that the artist painted between 1943 and the years immediately after the war, remained in the personal collection of the artist until his death and it is completely fresh to the market.

The auction also included a group of drawings by Amadeo Modigliani from the collection of Dr Paul Alexandre, acquired directly from the artist before 1914. The highlight of the group was Femme Nue de Face, which commanded €318,750 against a pre-sale estimate of €250,000-350,000.