POST-SALE RELEASE: CHRISTIE’S FEBRUARY AUCTIONS OF IMPRESSIONIST, MODERN & SURREAL ART REALISE £117.8 million/ $169.5 million / €139.9 million
CHRISTIE’S
FEBRUARY AUCTIONS OF
IMPRESSIONIST, MODERN & SURREAL ART
REALISE £117.8 million/ $169.5 million / €139.9 million
Demand Continues Across Price Levels, Styles, Media and Periods with the
Week of Sales Welcoming Buyers from Across 35 Countries and 5 Continents
Most Valuable Various Owner Sale for the Category at Christie’s South Kensington, Accompanied by Sell-Through Rates of 90% by Lot and 95% by Value, with
46% of Lots Either Sold or Directly Underbid Online Using Christie’s LIVETM
London - A successful start to 20th Century at Christie’s, the February week of Impressionist, Modern & Surreal sales in London built on the stellar strength of this category evidenced in 2015. The auctions at Christie’s King Street and South Kensington between 2 and 5 February welcomed new and established buyers across price levels, styles, media and periods, from works by the masters of Impressionism, including Cézanne and Renoir, through to works from the 1960s by Dalí, Chagall, Picasso and Miró. Having opened the week with the strong Evening Sales on 2 February, attractive and considered pre-sale estimates were well received by the market across all the auctions, concluding with the Impressionist & Modern Art and Picasso Ceramics Sale which realised the highest ever total for a various owner sale in the category at South Kensington, with exceptional sell- through rates of 90% by lot and 95% by value and 46% of lots either sold or directly underbid online using Christie’s LIVETM; the Picasso Ceramics portion of the sale was 100% sold. Providing an assuring start to 2016, the week of sales realised a combined total of £117,788,500/ $169,546,690/ €139,991,921, with overall sell- through rates of 83% by lot and 87% by value. The auctions welcomed registered bidders from 35 countries across 5 continents, with a total of 27 works selling for over £1 million and 35 sold over $1 million.
Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Auctions, Digital and Private Sales:
In addition to Christie’s auctions of Impressionist & Modern Art, the digital and private sales platforms provide innovative opportunities to buy and sell throughout the year. 2015 saw the category as a whole grow by 57% (by
£)/ 47% (by $) compared with the same period for 2014. Private sales saw great success in 2015, with an unprecedented growth and the best ever turn over for the category. The team’s longstanding relationships with global clients and international institutions led to the sales of Jockeys, circa 1886-1890, by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) to Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and Tristan Bernard conférencier by Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940) to Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Private sales exhibitions took place in London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Moscow. The demand for digital sales in this category was highlighted by Picasso Ceramics, which ran alongside the November New York auctions, which was 100% sold by lot and 257% sold by value.
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