What a difference a day makes
Sotheby’s beats rival Christie’s with a solid sale
By Charlotte Burns and Riah Pryor. From Web only
Published online: 03 November 2011
New york. Sotheby’s thrashed rival Christie’s Wednesday night with an energetic auction of impressionist and modern art that totalled $199.8m, selling 81% by lot and 87% by value. The sale was in stark contrast to the performance Tuesday night at Christie’s, which raised $140.8m and sold only 62% by lot and 55% by value.
The star of Sotheby’s sale was Gustav Klimt’s oil painting, Litzlberg am Attersee, 1914-15, which sold for $40.4m (est in excess of $25m) to the Zurich-based dealer David Lachenmann, who was talking on his mobile phone in English to a private client. “We were happy to get it at this price. We had approached the lawyer handling the sale before the summer and made a higher offer for the work, which they refused as not being tempting enough,” Lachenmann said after the sale. “The painting is in perfect condition. It is a masterpiece.” The work was recently restituted to the heir of Amalie Redlich, who had owned the work before it was looted by the Nazis during the second world war.
There was further excitement when Pablo Picasso’s L’Aubade, 1967, sparked a bidding war between potential buyers including the Nahmad clan, Larry Gagosian and two telephone bidders. There was speculation that Acquavella gallery was the successful bidder for the work, which hammered at $20.5m ($23m with buyer's premium added, est $18m-$25m. Acquavella could not be reached for confirmation). “I wanted to bid at $15m, but did not get a chance to put my hand up,” said Christopher Van de Weghe, the secondary market dealer. Nicholas Maclean of dealership Eykyn Maclean added, “You can’t get a better Picasso from the 1960s.” Indeed, the work set a record for a Picasso from this period, according to Sotheby’s specialist Simon Shaw.
The relief was almost tangible after the disappointment felt yesterday at Christie’s, which had its lowest sale of impressionist and modern works in two years. The auction house had drummed up anticipation around the sale of Edgar Degas’ Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, a bronze statue that was executed in wax around 1879 to 1881 and cast posthumously. There were gasps in the room as the work failed to elicit a single bid. It was what Conor Jordan, the head of Christie’s impressionism and modern art department, called “the headline casualty” in a sale where pieces by the usual auction favourites—including Giacometti, Picasso and Matisse—all fell flat.
