Christie’s started the New York auction week with an Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale. The sale totalled US$279.2m, below the estimate US$305m (that doesn’t include the buyer’s premium). The auction achieved an 85% sold by lot but the percentage by value was only 79%. A number of highlights of the sale went unsold, including the cover lot Van Gogh’s Coin de jardin avec papillons (estimate: US$40m) and a Picasso’s Marie-Thérèse painting (estimate:US$15m-20m). Meanwhile, several top lots sold at the sale were hammered down below their estimates.
Pablo Picasso's Femme au béret orange et au col de fourrure (Marie-Thérèse) was bought-in
Vincent van Gogh’s Coin de jardin avec papillons was bought-in
Estimated at US$40m, Van Gogh’s Coin de jardin avec papillons depicts a close-up view of a garden corner with butterflies. The painting was bought-in at US$30m after no one offered higher bids. As the leading Van Gogh’s painting failed to sell, the star of the night fell to Claude Monet, three of whose paintings ranked in the top five of the night.
Claude Monet's Le bassin aux nymphéas
The auction house used a headline ‘Monet shimmers on opening night of 20th Century” to describe the night in its press release. Yet, the performance was not as impressive as the auction house has put it. Three of all six Monet’s paintings offered were hammered down for prices below estimates whereas one went unsold. Le bassin aux nymphéas, one of the fourteen paintings in the format of 1 meter high by 2 meters wide, was created in 1917-1919 when Monet was approaching 80 and suffering increasingly with cataracts in both eyes. The artist unified the ensemble through diaphanous veils of colour laid down with a lighter, more transparent touch, emphasising the spatial breadth of the composition.
David Kleiweg de Zwaan, Specialist of Impressionist & Modern Art
Elaine Holt, Senior Director of Impressionist & Modern Art
The bidding of the painting started at US$20m. There were mainly two telephone bidders in the contest, respectively represented by David Kleiweg de Zwaan, Specialist of Impressionist & Modern Art, and Elaine Holt, Senior Director of Impressionist & Modern Art. After nine bid increments, the painting was hammered down at US$28m, shy of its estimate between US$30m-50m. It was sold to Elaine Holt’s client for US$31.8m, achieving the highest price of the sale.
Claude Monet’s Jeune fille dans le jardin de Giverny
Rebecca Wei, Christie's Asia president
Monet’s Jeune fille dans le jardin de Giverny, a painting of Monet’s evocation of late summer in his gardens at Giverny was hammered down at US$14m, below its estimate of US$15m-25m. It was sold for US$16m after premium to the telephone bidder represented by Rebecca Wei, Christie's Asia president, making it the second most expensive Monet painting of the night. Rebecca Wei and Elaine Holt are both representative from Hong Kong. There is a possibility that these two Monet paintings will go to Asian collections. The auction house said 12 lots were either bought or underbid by clients from Asia, including China.
Monet's Effet de neige à Giverny
Well, if you are underwhelmed by the results, here is something more comforting – one of the Monet’s painting did shine at the sale and drew applause from the saleroom. Effet de neige à Giverny, the artist’s painting of heavy snowfall at Giverny. The bidding started at US$3.8m, followed by six telephone bidders joining in the competition. Bidders further pushed the price up to US$10m. The pace was then slowed down but the bidding didn’t stop there.
Max Carter (with his hand raised), Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, New York
Jay Vincze (second from the right), Senior International Director, London
The bidding soon boiled down to a duel between Max Carter, Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, New York, who communicated with his telephone client via texting, and Jay Vincze, Senior International Director, London. After an intense bidding battle, the painting was hammered down for US$13.5m, almost triple its low estimate of US$5m. The winning bidder was Max Carter’s client, who bought the work for US$15.5m.
Jean Hans Arp's Déméter was sold for an auction record for the artist
Tamara de Lempicka La Musicienne was sold for an auction record for the artist
Another surprise of the sale was new auction records set for Jean Hans Arp and Tamara de Lempicka. A white sculpture titled Déméter by Jean Hans Arp was sold for US$5.8m, an auction record for the artist. Tamara de Lempicka’s painting La Musicienne was sold for US$9.1m, also an auction record for the artist.
Picasso’s La Lampe was sold for US$29.5m
Alberto Giacometti’s Le Chat was sold for US$17.1m
Besides Claude Monet, other top lots include Picasso’s La Lampe that sold for US$29.5m and Alberto Giacometti’s Le Chat that sold for US$17.1m.
Top five lots
Claude Monet (1840-1926). Le bassin aux nymphéas
Lot no.: 32A
Painted in: 1917-1919
Size: 100.7 x 200.8 cm
Provenance:
- Michel Monet, Giverny (by descent from the artist).
- Katia Granoff, Paris (acquired from the above).
- Fairweather-Harding Gallery, Chicago (by 1959).
- Grant J. Pick, Chicago (1959).
- The Art Institute of Chicago, as the Midwestern Educational Institution, Chicago (bequest from the Estate of the above, 1963); sale, Parke-Bernet Inc., New York, 15 April 1965, lot 84.
- Mr. and Mrs. David Lloyd Kreeger, Washington, D.C. (acquired at the above sale).
- Galerie Beyeler, Basel (acquired from the above, 1976).
- Private collection, Switzerland; sale, Christie’s, New York, 8 May 2000, lot 33.
- Private collection.
- Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York (acquired from the above).
- Acquired from the above by present owner, 2002.
Estimate: US$30,000,000-50,000,000
Hammer price: US$28,000,000
Price realised: US$31,812,500
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). La Lampe
Lot no.: 22A
Painted in Boisgeloup, 21 January-8 June 1931
Size: 162.5 x 130.4 cm
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist.
- Maya Widmaier-Picasso, Paris (by descent from the above).
- Acquired from the above by the present owner, February 2008.
Estimate: US$25,000,000-35,000,000
Hammer price: US$26,000,000
Price realised: US$29,562,500
Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). Le Chat
Lot no.: 24A
Conceived in 1951 and cast in 1955
Length: 81.5 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Maeght, Paris (acquired from the artist, 1955).
- Baronne Johanna Lambert, Brussels (acquired from the above, 19 October 1955).
- By descent from the above to the present owners.
Estimate: US$14,000,000–18,000,000
Hammer price: US$15,000,000
Price realised: US$17,187,500
Claude Monet (1840-1926). Jeune fille dans le jardin de Giverny
Lot no.: 16A
Painted in: 1888
Size: 73.4 x 92.5 cm
Provenance:
- Tadamasa Hayashi, Tokyo (acquired from the artist in exchange for Japanese woodcut prints); Estate sale, American Art Association, New York, 8-9 January 1913, lot 160.
- Louisine Havemeyer, New York (acquired at the above sale).
- Adaline Havemeyer Frelinghuysen, New York (by descent from the above, circa 1931).
- M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York (acquired from the above, 10 December 1945).
- French Art Galleries, New York (acquired from the above, 23 March 1946).
- Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Eisner, New York (acquired from the above, 1946 and until at least 1965).
- Anon. sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, 11 May 1977, lot 29.
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owners.
Estimate: US$15,000,000-25,000,000
Hammer price: US$14,000,000
Price realised: US$16,062,500
Claude Monet (1840-1926). Effet de neige à Giverny
Lot no.: 37A
Painted in: 1893
Size: 65.4 x 92.7 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris (acquired from the artist, 7 May 1895).
- Clement A. Griscom, New York (acquired from the above, 7 January 1899); sale, American Art Association, New York, 26-27 February 1914, lot 54.
- Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York (acquired at the above sale).
- John T. Spaulding, Boston (acquired from the above, 20 April 1925).
- David William Trail Cargill, Glasgow; Estate sale, Parke Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, 6 January 1949, lot 64.
- Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.
Estimate: US$5,000,000-8,000,000
Hammer price: US$13,500,000
Price realised: US$15,500,000
Cover lot bought-in
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Coin de jardin avec papillons
Lot no.: 40A
Painted in May-July 1887
Size: 50.4 x 61.4 cm
Provenance:
- Theo van Gogh, Paris.
- Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Amsterdam (by descent from the above).
- Vincent Willem van Gogh, Amsterdam (by descent from the above).
- Galerie Eugène Druet, Paris.
- Joseph Reinach, Paris.
- Lily Reinach-Goujon, Paris (by descent from the above by 1928).
- Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York (acquired from the above, 1987).
- Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1998.
Estimate on request (It is reported to be US$40m)
Bought-in
Auction summary:
Auction house: Christie’s New York
Sale: Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale Including Property from the Collection of Herbert and Adele Klapper
Date: 11 November 2018
Lots offered: 61
Sold: 52
Unsold: 9
Sold by lot: 85.2%
Sale total: US$279,253,500