NEW YORK, NY.- Last night’s evening session of Latin American Art Modern & Contemporary at Sotheby’s New York brought a total of $15,142,875 (est. $11.3/15.6 million)* with strong results achieved for many of the key names of Latin American Art such as Joaquín Torres-García, Diego Rivera, Lygia Clark, Jesús Rafael Soto, Rufino Tamayo, Carlos Cruz-Diez, and Emiliano di Cavalcanti. The sale was led by Lygia Clark, whose Bicho-Em-Si-Md (Nº IV), soared over the $400/600,000 estimate to sell for $1,169,000 as a major retrospective opens at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Other highlights included: Mira Schendel’s Sem título (Objeto gráfico), which more than doubled the previous artist record to sell for $845,000 (est. $200/300,000) just months after an exhibition of her work at Tate Modern; Joaquín Torres-García’s beautiful, monochromatic Grafismo Infinito from 1937, which was sought by six bidders before selling for $1,025,000 (est. $600/800,000); and a series of kinetic works by the likes of Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jesús Rafael Soto, and others, which all brought strong prices.

“Tonight we saw exceptional results for a diverse range of paintings and sculpture from the masters of Latin American Art,” commented Axel Stein, Head of Latin American Art at Sotheby’s. “Works as varied as a constructivist 1937 painting from Joaquín Torres-García, one of Lygia Clark’s signature folding sculptures, and a classic graphic object on paper by Mira Schendel all drew upwards of five bidders to soar over their high estimates. These results, as well as heated competition for the cubist Diego Rivera, early Escritura by Jesús Rafael Soto and the remarkable pair of 18th century paintings attributed to Vicente Albán along with exceptional prices for works by Rufino Tamayo, Carlos Cruz-Diez, and Emiliano di Cavalcanti show that Sotheby’s continues to drive the ever deepening market for Modern and Contemporary Art from Latin America.”

Artist records were set for Mira Schendel and Narcisco Debourg.