PARIS—A number of contemporary paintings and works on paper surpassed their high estimates at a sale held on April 13 at Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris, with the star of the auction being the Indian painter Syed Haider Raza (b. 1922), who lives and works in France.
Raza’s colorful abstract paintings repeatedly doubled or tripled their high estimates, with the selection of 14 of his paintings bringing a total of €2.1million ($2.9million).
The top seller of the day was the oil landscape painting Paysage, 1960, which fetched €324,991 ($406,240), quadrupling its €60,000/80,000 estimate. Another landscape painting dated that same year brought €237,493 ($296,870), nearly four times the estimate of €40,000/60,000. Raza’s painting Jour d’anniversaire, 1969, fetched €131,246 ($164,057), more than tripling its estimate of €30,000/40,000; and the painting Enigme, 1970, sold for €224,994 ($281,242), triple the estimate of €50,000/70,000.
Another work by Raza, the oil on panel Rajasthan IV, 1961, sold for €162,495 ($203,120) on a €30,000/40,000 estimate. Nuit, 1967, an oil, doubled its €20,000/30,000 estimate to sell for €62,498 ($78,120); Congo, 1965, an oil, sold for €199,994 ($249,992) on a €50,000/70,000 estimate; and La Pluie, 1969, brought €193,744 ($242,280) on a €40,000/60,000 estimate. A 1970 oil, La Terre III, sold for €124,996 ($158,745) on a €20,000/30,000 estimate. Iris Blanc, 1966, a painting mounted on a wooden door panel, sold for €49,999 ($62,500) against an estimate of €10,000/15,000. Eglise, 1956, an oil, sold for €124,996 ($158,745), more than quadruple its estimate of €20,000/30,000. And the painting Terre Jaune, 1956, tripled its estimate of €20,000/30,000 to sell for €93,747 ($117,180).
Other artists in the auction whose works topped their high estimates included Chu Teh-Chun, a Chinese painter who lives in France. Composition, 1985–86, an abstract oil on canvas estimated at €25,000/30,000, soared to €193,744 ($242,180). And 10 lignes aux hasards N°750 88, 1975, an acrylic painting by Francois Morellet, more than doubled its estimate of €10,000/15,000 to sell for €37,499 ($46,870). Avall, 1975–88, an oil painting by Victor Vasarely, sold for €181,245 ($226,560), surpassing its estimate of €60,000/80,000. An untitled 1995 oil on cardboard by Gerhard Richter fetched €77,498 ($96,870), nearly double its estimate of €30,000/40,000.
Other lots fetching strong prices included Tom Wesselmann’s enameled steel cutout Judy Trying on Clothes, 1986–92, which sold for €187,495 ($255,089), just within its €180,000/220,000 estimate, and his pencil study Drawing for Bedroom Painting, 1969, which sold for €43,749 ($54,680), exceeding its estimate of €18,000/25,000. Valerio Adami’s oil Nudo Sulla Poltrona, 1968–69, topped its estimate of €80,000/100,000, bringing €112,497 ($140,620).
Hommage à Omar Khayyam, 2002, a mixed-media work by Anselm Kiefer, fetched €224,994 ($281,242) on a €180,000/220,000 estimate. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s colored-pencil drawing Easy Mark Sucker-Coach, 1987, sold for €99,997 ($125,000), on a €70,000/90,000 estimate.