NEW YORK – Impressionist and modern art achieved strong prices on Wednesday as Sotheby’s held one of its biggest auctions ever, in a dramatic turnaround from two nights of disappointing sales at Christie’s earlier this week.
Led by Giacometti’s sculpture ‘Grande tete de Diego’ and Picasso’s oil ‘Tete de femme,’ which fetched US$50 million and US$39,9 million respectively, the sale totaled more than US$290 million, with 81% of 64 lots finding buyers.
It was Sotheby’s best Impressionist and modern art result apart from its May 2012 sale at which one of the versions of Munch’s ‘The Scream’ sold for a record US$120 million. The strong sales were likely to calm market jitters that followed Christie’s results, which fell far short of expectations. – Nampa-Reuters
