Sotheby’s two-days of Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art sales brought in £215.8 million

KOLKATA: All eyes were on London this week as the city witnessed an unprecedented series of auctions led by Sotheby’s two-days of Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art sales, which brought a total of £215.8 million, the highest achieved for any sale series ever held anywhere in London.

This record total represents an almost five-fold growth on sales held just five years ago, driven by the highest level of participation and with the greatest geographical reach ever experienced.

Records toppled in both the Evening and Day Sales as new benchmarks were achieved for numerous artists including: Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Pierre Bonnard and Georges de Chirico, among others.

Buyers in both sales included noted American and British institutions including the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. Additional highlights of the auctions included the historic ‘white-glove’ status achieved by The Private Collection of Jan Krugier, with every single work sold, driving the total to more than double pre-sale expectations.