NEW YORK.- The Old Masters and 19th Century Art sale realized $6,486,150/ £4,053,843/ €4,632,964 at Christie’s and was 86% sold by value and 72% sold by lot.

The top price of $722,500/£451,562/ €516,071 was achieved for two works: The Japanese Scroll by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902) and La Leçon Difficile by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905).

Ben Hall, Head of Department, and James Hastie, Specialist, Old Masters and 19th Century Art, comment: “As the inaugural sale for the newly amalgamated Old Masters and 19th Century Art Department, today’s results present a solid first step for our new sales strategy. We witnessed cross-over buying between clients of Old Masters and 19th Century art which yielded very encouraging sell-through rates of 72% by lot and 86% by value. American, British and French buyers were particularly active, and we were delighted to welcome a number of new collectors into this broader collecting field. Among the top results, we are especially pleased with Le Miroir de Scey-en-Varais by Gustave Courbet, and A gentleman in his study, attributed to the Circle of Quentin Massys, both of which soared beyond their pre-sale estimates. We now look forward to our London sale in July and our flagship New York sale in January.”