London - European auction capital [01/31/2007]
Traditionally in February, it is London that kicks off the season of European public auctions with major sales organised by Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
This year, the season will start with Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art sale on February 5 with 54 lots including no less than 6 works by Claude MONET , two Edgar DEGAS dancers and two paintings by Paul GAUGUIN . Last year Gauguin was the star of the Sotheby's sale with Deux Femmes – La Chevelure Fleurie fetching GBP 11,000,000 on 7 February. This year, the centrepiece of the sale is a major work by Auguste RENOIR , Les Deux sœurs, estimated at between GBP 6 and 8 million.
The following day, Christie’s will be offering - among other masterpieces - no less than seven works by Pablo PICASSO , 4 by Auguste RENOIR , 2 by Amedeo MODIGLIANI , and 2 Egon SCHIELE paintings. The star of the sale is Schiele's Prozession, painted in 1911 and today estimated at GBP 5 to 7 million. Selected to adorn Christie’s catalogue cover, the Schiele work presages a high-figure duel between the two auction houses since two of his works fetched over EUR 15 million in 2006.
The same evening, Christie's is planning to sell 45 surrealist works. The star of this sale will be René MAGRITTE with 10 pieces, including the 1961 oil entitled Le Prêtre marié, estimated at GBP 2-3 million. Magritte's price index progressed +120% over the last 4 years.
Surprises could however be generated by some of the more contemporary works. On 8 February, Christie's is planning one of the biggest and most significant sales of contemporary art ever seen in London. It hopes to generate roughly GBP 40 million from 78 lots including some major works by Cy TWOMBLY , Roy LICHTENSTEIN , Sigmar POLKE and Gerhard RICHTER from the Tettamanti collection and Study for Portrait II (1956), the most important painting by Francis BACON ever to appear at a public auction. Several paintings by Andy WARHOL of the dimension we usually see in New York will also be presented for sale in London. These include a portrait of Brigitte Bardot estimated at GBP 1.5 – 2 million, a 1963 painting entitled Three Women estimated at GBP 2.5 – 3.5 million and a Dollar Sign for GBP 1.5 – 2 million.
At Sotheby’s on 7 February, another American - Roy LICHTENSTEIN - will be the star of the Contemporary Art, Evening Sale, with Still Life with Oysters, Fish in a Bowl and Book, a work created in 1973 and estimated at GBP 2 – 3 million. A number of other important American works will also be offered including 3 by Jean-Michel BASQUIAT , 7 by Warhol and 1 by Willem de Kooning (Willem DE KOONING ). China will be represented by ZHANG Xiaogang , ZAO Wou-ki and YAN Pei-Ming , and India by Anish KAPOOR .
These prestigious sales are very much a reflection of the internationalisation of the art market and confirm the ambition of the auction houses to make London the hub of the European art market.
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