Impressionist/Modern Evening Sale

The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale and the auction of The Art of the Surreal took place on the evening of 6 February at Christie’s London, realising £136,462,100/ $213,426,725/ €157,340,801 and selling 89% by lot and 94% by value. The auctions had a combined pre-sale estimate of £89.8 million to £132.8 million. The top price was paid for Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau), 1919, by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) which sold for £26,921,250/ $42,104,835/ €31,040,201 (estimate: £16-22 million, pictured above). In total, 32 works of art sold for over £1 million / 42 for over $1 million, and five artist records were set: led by Berthe Morisot’s portrait which set a new record price for a female artist at auction; a record for a sculpture by Renè Magritte; and records for a work by Alberto Magnelli, Kay Sage and Óscar Domínguez.

Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, Christie’s London: “We were very pleased with the strength and depth of bidding tonight which drove this evening’s auction to achieve both the highest total for a February evening sale at Christie’s London, and our highest sell through rate for an evening sale in this category in London. The global teamwork of our Impressionist and Modern team, coupled with the international nature of buyers participating in tonight’s sale, ensured that the auction drew interest and bidding from around the world. We were very pleased to achieve five new record prices at auction including for Berthe Morisot, whose portrait set an auction record for a work of art by a female artist sold at auction.”