DALLAS, TX.- Auguste Rodin's The Kiss, standing 15-3/4 inches high, which was discovered in a private collection in Amarillo, Texas, sold for $485,000 at Heritage Auctions. The rare and important bronze — ranking alongside The Thinker as one of Rodin's most recognizable works — lead a $1.9+ million selection of major Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints Nov. 8 in Dallas. Many of the auction's top lots were discovered in private Texas collections.

"It's thrilling to be able to bring to the market important works from Texas collections," said Brian Roughton, Director of American and European Art at Heritage. "It validates the high level of connoisseurship and world-class sophistication of collectors in this region"

Two Post-Impressionist masterpieces by Henri Martin, from an important private collection in San Antonio, enjoyed intense bidder interest, as Petit bassin près de la tonnelle sud de Marquayrol (Jardin de l'Artiste) or Small Pond near the South Arbor Marquayrol (Garden of the Artist) hit $149,000, and Charmille, realized $118,750. The Nov. 8 auction marks the first time the two works have been seen by the market since the 1960s.

Works by School of Paris artists remain popular with bidders as Edouard-Léon Cortès' Place de la Republique, Paris, from 1918, sold for $62,500 and Pierre Eugene Montezin's Le Casino, a lively landscape of Cannes, took $59,375, more than doubled its estimate. Montezin's Les Paons, a striking work depicting a male and a female peacock from the esteemed collection of former Dallas Mayor Starke Taylor and his wife, Carolyn, sold for a strong $43,750.

Additional highlights include, but are not limited by:

• Paysage d'Hiver á Chaponval by Gustave Loiseau. Realized: $53,125.

• La ferme à Châtillon-sur-Seine by Camille Pizzarro. Realized: $46,875.

• Nu allongé contre un lit by Henri Baptiste Lebasque. Realized: $46,875.