NEW YORK—Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and modern art, including Russian and Latin American works, held in New York on Oct. 7, raised $4.2 million for 265 lots offered. Of these, 184, or 69 percent, were sold. By value the auction realized 85 percent.
The top lot was Pavel Tchelitchew’s Study for the ‘Paper Ball,’ ink, wash and collage on blue paper mounted on board, which sold for $140,500 (estimate: $15,000/20,000). Another work by Tchelitchew that was one of the auction’s top ten was Flower Piece, 1928, gouache on paper, which sold for $74,500 (estimate: $18,000/25,000).
Also among the top lots were Bernard Buffet’s Bouquet de Roses, 1985 (estimate: $30,000/40,000), and Reuven Rubin’s Sunflowers, ca. 1940-45 (estimate: $40,000/60,000), each of which sold for $86,500. Zoran Antonio Music’s Nous ne Sommes pas les Derniers, 1970, sold for $74,500 on an estimate of $40,000/60,000, and Pablo Picasso’s Tapis de Priére, 1956, crayon on paper book page, which more than doubled the $20,000/25,000 estimate to sell for $68,500 to a U.S. collector.
Sotheby’s senior vice president and head of the fine arts department, Jennifer Roth, said the sale was “marked by energetic, competitive bidding on the phones with many Europeans participating, as evidenced by buyers of the top ten lots.” Buyers of the highest-yielding items included both European and U.S. dealers and collectors.