Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sales on June 25 totals $247million

KOLKATA: Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art sales on June 25 totalled £145million/ $247million (estimate £108.6-£155.6 million). Bidding from Asia, Russia & South America, and the greatest depth of bidding in the last five years drove 91% of the evening sale works to sell. The London Impressionist & Modern Art Sales Week was spearheaded by Claude Monet’s Nymphéas which sold for £31.7 million/$54 million, second-highest price ever for the artist at auction. Another quintessential masterpiece by Mondrian fetched £15.2million/ $25.9million.

Helena Newman, Sotheby’s co-head, Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide, said in an email statement: "Sotheby’s London sale series demonstrates just how responsive the international market is when presented with works of outstanding quality with reasonable estimates. We were thrilled to have seen both new and existing collectors drawn to bid, and saw classic works by Monet, Mondrian, Picasso and Kandinsky proving their enduring appeal to an ever-widening range of international collectors - notably from Asia, Russia and South America."

Melanie Clore, chairman of Sotheby's Europe said in the same statement: "By providing unprecedented opportunities to collectors we elicited the greatest depth of bidding across the sale seen in the last five years. We were privileged to have been entrusted with works from superb private and estate collections together with property presented for the first time at auction, and succeeded in achieving consistently strong prices for each."