LONDON.- “Tonight’s result is testament to the truly outstanding quality of the works on offer. To follow our highest totals for Impressionist and Modern art sales in New York, with another sensational sale in London, emphasises the strength of what is undoubtedly a truly global market. Our worldwide network of specialists are working with a broader collector base than ever before, so whether it’s New York, London, or any of our worldwide selling locations, we are seeing incredibly strong results across the board,” said Melanie Clore, Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe & Co-Chairman Worldwide, Impressionist & Modern Art,

Helena Newman, Sotheby’s Co-Head, Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide, said: “Tonight’s sale was led by three exceptional restituted works, each of the highest calibre and each with its own story to tell. Over recent years advances in the process restitution have added a new dimension to our sales, bringing to the market outstanding works such as those offered tonight by Klimt, Liebermann and Malevich. It’s hugely rewarding to see these paintings such strong prices achieved for the heirs of their original owners.”

This evening’s sale of Impressionist & Modern Art at Sotheby’s in London realised £178,590,000 / $282,047,187 / €250,900,411 - the second highest total for any auction ever held in London*.
• Pre-Sale Estimate: £140.3-203.2m / $221.5-320.9m / €197-285.5m

• An unprecedented seven works sold for over £10m

• 84% sold by lot

Tonight’s strong total follows recent exceptional results in both Sotheby’s London and New York:
• November 2014, New York: $422.1 million – the highest total in company history

• May 2015, New York: $386.3 million - the 2nd highest in company history

• February 2015, London: £186.5m - the highest total for any auction held in London

Restituted works led tonight’s sale:
• Gustav Klimt’s 1902 Portrait of Gertrud Loew -Gertha Felsőványi sold after a ten minute bidding battle for £24.8m / $39.1m / €34.8m - the second highest price for a portrait by the artist at auction (est. £12-18m)

• Suprematism, 18th Construction (1915), an extremely rare work by Kazmir Malevich, made £21.4m / $33.8m / €30.1m - the second highest price for the artist at auction (est. £20-30m)

• Max Lieberman’s Zwei Reiter am Strand nach links (Two Riders on a Beach) – the first work to be sold from Cornelius Gurlitt’s trove of art, sold for £1.87m / $2.95m / €2.62m (est. £350,000 – 550,000)

Further stand-out results
• The first version of Edouard Manet’s famous Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère (1881) fetched £16.9 /$26.8m / €23.8m (est. £15-20m). The same work made £4.4m when it last sold at Sotheby’s in London in June 1994.

• Sculpture performed well, with seven works bringing £22.1 million – at the high estimate (£21.6m)

o The group was led by Edgar Degas’ Petite danseuse de quatorze ans (1922) – one of only a handful of bronze casts in private hands – which made £15.8m / $24.9m / €22.2m (est. £10–15m) – a record for a sculpture by the artist

New Auction records
• For a work on paper by Lyonel Feininger - Horn Player in The Village sold for £665,000 / $1.1m / €934,256 (est. £220,000-320,000)

• For a work on paper by Henry Moore – Two Women and Child realised £2.2m / $3.2m / €3m (est. £300,000-400,000)

• For a sculpture by Edgar Degas - Petite danseuse de quatorze ans (1922) sold for £15.8m / $24.9m / €22.2m (est. £10–15m)

• For a work by Erika Giovanna Klien – Lokomotive sold for £545,000 / $860,718 / €765,668 (est. 500,000-700,000)


*The highest total for any auction held in London is £186.5 million set at Sotheby’s in February 2015