$66.3 million van Gogh tops Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale in New York

Lot 30. Claude Monet 1840 – 1926 NYMPHÉAS
Signed Claude Monet and dated 1905 (lower left)
Oil on canvas: 31 7/8 by 39 1/2 in.
Painted in 1905.
Estimate: $30-45 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $48 million ($54,010,000 with fees).
Sotheby’s kicked off the May sales of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York with a auction that brought in a combined hammer price of $295,730,000 against an estimate in excess of $255 million (pre-sale estimates do NOT include the buyer’s premiums – the original estimate was in excess of $270, the revised number accounts for combined high estimates of withdrawn lots) – the total with buyer’s fees was $368,344,00. There were six Monets, including a waterlilies from 1905 that hammered for $48 million ($54,010,000 with the buyer’s premium) and a late van Gogh that drew a winning bid of $59 million ($66,330,000 with fees). Fifty of the 69 lots founds buyers, 14 failed and five were withdrawn (here’s the print version of the entire catalogue).

Lot 7. Alberto Giacometti 1901 – 1966 BUSTE DE DIEGO (AMÉNOPHIS)
Inscribed with the signature Alberto Giacometti and with the foundry mark Susse Fondeur Paris, dated 1954 and numbered 3/8 twice
Bronze: Height: 15 1/4 in.; 38.7 cm
Conceived in 1954 and cast before 1956.
Estimate: $6-8 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $11.2 million ($12,794,000 with fees).
Lot 5 Pablo Picasso’s Le Hibou Noir, also from the Sarnoff estate, estimate $900,000-1,200,000, made an even $1 million ($1,210,000 with fees), while lot 6, Marc Chagall’s Crépuscule ou la maison rouge, estimated $2.5-3.5 million, saw healthy bidding that took it to $4.3 million ($5,066,000 with fees). The first of the Giacometti sculptures also caught bidders’ attention and zipped past its $8 million high estimate to sell for $11.2 million ($12,794,000 with fees). The first of the Legers moved every so slowly to finally hammer for $9.2 million ($10,554,000 with fees).

Lot 8. Fernand Léger 1881 – 1955 LA ROUE BLEUE, ÉTAT DÉFINITIF
Signed F. Léger and dated 20 (lower right); signed F. Léger, titled and dated 20 on the reverse
Oil on canvas: 36 1/8 by 23 1/2 in.; 92 by 60 cm
Painted in 1920.
Estimate: $8-12 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $9.2 million ($10,554,000 with fees).
Lot 9, Juan Gris’ Guitare et compotier, estimated at $2-3 million, could only muster $1.8 million, but still sold ($2.17 million with fees), while the following lot by Miro (below) saw more vigorous bidding, finally making $8.5 million ($9.77 million with fees). Alberto Giacometti’s Pommes dans l’atelier, estimated at $3.5-5 million, saw determined bidding that carried it to $$6.1 million ($7,082,000 with fees).

Lot 10. Joan Miró 1893 – 1983 L’OISEAU ENCERCLANT D’OR ÉTINCELANT LA PENSÉE DU POÈTE
Signed Miró (lower center); signed Miró and titled and dated 1951 on the reverse
Oil on canvas: 23 5/8 by 31 7/8 in.: 60 by 81 cm
Painted in 1951.
Estimate: $6-9 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $8.5 million ($9.77 million with fees).
Click on image to enlarge.
Fernand Léger’s Les Pêcheurs, estimated at $2.5-3.5 million, sold on the low side for $2.8 million ($3,370,000 with fees) and lot 14, Fernand Léger’s Les Deux Pêcheurs, estimated at $4-6 million, also hammered on the low side at $4.5 million ($5,290,000 with fees).

Lot 18. Vincent van Gogh 1853 – 1890 L’ALLÉE DES ALYSCAMPS
Oil on canvas: 36 1/8 by 28 7/8 in.; 91.7 by 73.5 cm
Painted on November 1, 1888.
Estimate on request (in excess of $40 million). This lot sold for a hammer price of $59 million ($66,330,000 with fees).
The van Gogh opened at $28 million and climbed steadily to a hefty $50 million, when the pace slowed ultimately leading to a hammer of $59 million ($66,330,000 with fees), followed by the first of the night’s six Monets, which bombed at $2.5 million against a $3 million low estimate. The first of the Picassos opened (lot 21, below) opened at $9 million and had little trouble moving into the $20 million range, finally getting a winning bid of $26.5 million ($29,930,000 with fees).

Lot 19. Claude Monet 1840 – 1926 AU VAL SAINT-NICOLAS PRÈS DIEPPE, MATIN
Signed Claude Monet and dated 97 (lower right)
Oil on canvas: 25 7/8 by 39 1/2 in.; 65.5 by 100.3 cm
Painted in 1897.
Estimate: $3-4 million. Bidding on this lot stopped at $2.5 million and it failed to sell.
Click on image to enlarge.

Lot 21. Pablo Picasso 1881 – 1973 FEMME AU CHIGNON DANS UN FAUTEUIL
Signed Picasso (upper right); dated 1.11.48 on the reverse
Oil on canvas: 36 1/4 by 28 3/4 in.; 92 by 73 cm
Painted in 1948.
Estimate: $12-18 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $26.5 million ($29,930,000 with fees).

Lot 24. Fernand Léger 1881 – 1955 FIGURES DESCENDANT UN ESCALIER
Signed F.L. and dated 13 (lower left)
Gouache and brush and ink on paper: 19 3/4 by 15 in.; 50.3 by 38 cm
Executed in 1913.
Estimate: $3.5-4.5 million. This lot was withdrawn.
Lot 22 Henri Matisse’s Anémones et grenades, estimated $5-7 million, the first work by the artist of the evening edged it’s way to make its way to $5.2 million ($6,074,00 with fees). Pablo Picasso’s Femme assise dans un fauteuil noir, estimated at $7-9 million, moved swiftly to its low estimate of $7 million ($8,090,000 with fees). The next of the Monets (lot 28, below) did far better than the first, easily going past its $8 million high estimate to gavel for $10 million ($11,450,00 with fees).

Lot 28. Claude Monet 1840 – 1926 LA SEINE À VÉTHEUIL
Signed Claude Monet (lower left)
Oil on canvas: 32 1/8 by 36 3/8 in.; 81.5 by 92.5 cm
Painted in 1901.
Estimate: $6-8 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $10 million $11,450,000 with fees).
Click on image to enlarge.
The marquis Monet, a waterlilies (lot 30, top), opened at $$26 million, but did not have the power bidding that the van Gogh saw. Nevertheless, determined bidding moved steadily past its $45 million high estimate to a winning bid of $48 million ($54,010,000 with fees), taken from a telephone bidder by George Wachter, Sotheby’s head of Old Master paintings.
Lot 32 Vincent van Gogh’s Femme dans un champ de blé, estimated at $5-7 million, remarkably hammered for $5.5 million ($6,410,000 with fees). According to the catalogue entry, this small work with a horribly drawn figure “painted in 1887 … exemplifies Van Gogh’s stylistic experimentation following his exposure to the French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.” It’s just a terrible painting. The Gaugin (lot 33, below), from the same collection, sold in the middle of its estimate for $5 million ($5,850,000 with fees).

Lot 33. Paul Gauguin 1848 – 1903 NATIVITÉ
Signed Paul Gauguin and dated 1902 (lower right)
Oil on canvas: 17 3/8 by 24 5/8 in.; 44.1 by 62.5 cm
Painted in 1902.
Estimate: $4-6 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $5 million ($5,850,000 with fees).
Click on image to enlarge.
Lot 34 Alberto Giacometti’s Femme de Venise VI, a slender 51″ tall bronze figure created in 1956 and executed in the artist’s lifetime, estimated at $8-12 million, opened at $6.2 million and moved steadily to gavel for $14.2 million. The Monet of Venice (lot 40, below), opened at $12 million and moved slowly (at $19.6 million the auctioneer tried to move the bidding along, saying “we’re all hungry” and then pleading “put us out of our misery”) to a hammer price of $20,400,000 ($23,098,000 with fees). The next lot Henry Moore’s Working Model for Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped, estimated at $2.5-3.5 million, a late work from 1975 in an edition of nine, sold just below the low end for $2.4 million ($2,890,000 with fees).

Lot 40. Claude Monet 1840 – 1926 LE PALAIS DUCAL
Signed Claude Monet and dated 1908 (lower left)
Oil on canvas: 22 1/2 by 36 1/4 in.; 57 by 92 cm
Painted in 1908.
Estimate: $15-20 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $20,400,000 $$23,098,000 with fees).
Click on image to enlarge.

Lot 47. Claude Monet 1840 – 1926 BASSIN AUX NYMPHÉAS, LES ROSIERS
Signed Claude Monet and dated 1913 (lower left)
Oil on canvas: 28 3/4 by 39 3/8 in.; 73 by 100 cm
Painted in 1913.
Estimate: $18-25 million. This lot sold for a hammer price of $18 million ($20,410,000 with fees).
Click on image to enlarge.

Lot 49. Claude Monet 1840 – 1926 LE CHEMIN D’EPINAY, EFFET DE NEIGE
Signed Claude Monet (lower right)
Oil on canvas: 24 by 39 1/8 in.; 61 by 99.5 cm
Painted in 1875.
Estimate: $6–8 million. Bidding on this lot stopped at $5.2 million and it failed to sell. Bidding on this was then reopened following lot 65 and it sold for a hammer price of $5.5 million ($6,410,000 with fees).
Click on image to enlarge.