the art collectors

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Results in for Yves St. Lareunt Art Auction

In the weeks leading up to the landmark sale, Chrisite’s has conducted private viewings of auction lots in their original setting, the Parisian home of Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Berge.
Image: New York Times.

Yesterday marked the beginning of the highly anticipated three-day auction of the collection of the late Yves St. Laurent and lifelong partner, Pierre Berge.  Christie’s spared no expense of the extravaganza, having spent over $1 million to rent and refurbish Paris’ famed Grand Palais, with seating for more than 1,000 potential buyers, 100 phone lines, and eight auctioneers working in shifts. In an event nothing short of spectacular, the sale of 733 lots representing fifty years of collecting, ranging from modern and impressionist masters, to decorative arts and even rare archaeological gems. The largest ever single sale of privately owned art was tactfully estimated to fetch a modest $250 – $380 million (significantly less than the pre-financial meltdown estimate of $600 million).

Results are in for the first two days of sales. Of particular interest are the final figures for the Feb. 23rd Impressionist and Modern Art sale, which realized a total of $266 million. The list of represented artists was unarguably astounding – Goya, Munch, Matisse, Gaugin, Degas, Mondrain, Cezanne, Brancusi, Leger and Duchamp were all here. While the most notable lot, a 1914-15 Picasso, entitled Musical Instruments on a Table (estimated at $31 -$38 million) failed to find a buyer, several other works seemingly fared quite well, outshining initial auction estimates. Matisse hit an all time auction record, when Cowslips, blue and pink carpet sold for $46.4 million, despite its original estimate of $15.5 – $23.2 million, and a prime example of Mondrian’s abstract paintings went for $27 million, with an initial estimate of only $9 – 13 million. However, it must be mentioned that in such a deflated market, intentionally low auction house estimates may have set the stage to guaranteed surface level success.

Read on for auction highlights. All sale prices include buyer’s premium.

Edgar Degas – Landscape of Italy seen by an attic window, 14 1/2 x 12 5/8 inches, 1856-59.
Estimate: $388,157 – $517,542, Sale Price: $576,129.

Paul Gaugin – Study of women of Martinique, 16½ x 21 7/8 in.,1887.
Estimate: $388,157 – $517,542, Sale Price: $848,435.

Paul Cezanne – The Sainte-Victoire Mountain view from Lauves, 12¼ x 28¼ in., 1902-06.
Estimate:$2,587,711 – $3,881,567, Sale Price: $2,623,467.

Pablo Picasso – Musical Instruments on a table, 50 7/8 x 35 in., 1914-15.
Estimate: $31 -$38 million, Lot Unsold.

Fernand Leger – Composition of a machine, 39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in., 1918.
Estimate: $7,763,134 – $10,350,846, Sale Price: $7,000,535.

Piet Mondrian – Composition I, 29 5/8 x 25 5/8 in., 1920.
Estimate: $6,469,279 – $9,056,990, Sale Price: $8,836,079.

Henri Matisse – The Cuckoos, blue and pink carpet, 31 7/8 x 25¾ in., 1911.
Estimate: $15,526,268 – $23,289,403, Sale Price: $45,264,579.

Edvard Munch – Seaside, 22 x 31¾ in., 1898.
Estimate: $1,552,627 – $2,328,940, Sale Price: $1,423,303.

All lot images via Christie’s.

Read more at the NY Times and BBC