Carol Vogel of The New York Times compliments Sotheby’s on a relatively successful Impressionist and Modern sale that took place in London on Wednesday. I say “relatively” because last year’s equivalent sale brought in over $200 million; given the current economic circumstances, however, selling 27 lots in just 50 minutes for around $55 million is a victory for the high-end art market. The Christie’s sale, held a night prior, is described as being “bloated” and filled with “mediocre material,” and brought in a roughly equivalent amount of money in a sale with 44 lots, 14 of which failed to find a buyer.
Pictured above is the star of the Sotheby’s sale, Picasso’s 1969 Man with a Sword, which sold for approximately $11.5 million to Samir Traboulsi, a Lebanese financier. This begs the question: Samir, are you single?
Check out the full NYT article here, Sotheby’s auction results here, and Christie’s auction results here.
