USA: New York fall art auctions stand to set records with a large collection of impressionist and modern pieces

Led by Picassos, Cezannes and Klimts, some likely to fetch 50 million U.S. dollars or more, the upcoming art auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's are expected to break records when the collections hit the auction block on November 7 and 8. With a pre-sale estimate of 350 million to 500 million U.S. dollars, Christie's Impressionist and Modern evening event is poised to set a record for the largest one-evening take. One of the most closely watched lots will be Gustav Klimt's "Adele Bloch-Bauer II," being sold by Christie's on behalf of the heirs of Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, an Austrian industrialist who lost his collection fleeing the Nazis until its restitution earlier this year. Estimated to sell for 40 million to 60 million U.S. dollars, the portrait is a companion to "Adele Bloch-Bauer I," which last summer sold for 135 million U.S. dollars, then the most expensive work of art in history. Christie's will sell three other Klimt's belonging to the collection, including "Birch Forest," estimated to sell between 20 million and 30 million U.S. dollars. Christie's Senior Vice President and Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, Guy Bennett said the five Klimt pieces, the four at Christie's and the one sold this summer, were true masterpieces. Said Bennett, "Any one of these original five works would have rewritten the landscape for Klimt in the art market. They're all incredible works onto themselves, and they already touch on the high point of the artist throughout his career: Klimt as a landscape artist, Klimt as a portrait artist, Klimt as a colourist. They are icons of the 20th century, incredibly important for art historically and incredibly important for the artist." In addition to the Klimt's, another anticipated, and pricey, lot to be auctioned is Pablo Picasso's haunting Blue Period "Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto," expected to fetch up to 60 million U.S. dollars at Christie's. The proceeds from its sale by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation will benefit as-yet unidentified charities. Other top lots at Christie's include Paul Gauguin's "Man with Hatchet," an early piece from the artist's Tahiti work estimated at 35 million to 45 million U.S. dollars, and another Nazi-looted and now-restituted painting, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Berlin Street Scene, expected to sell for 18 million to 25 million U.S. dollars. Sotheby's launches its 225 million U.S. dollars sale of Impressionist and Modern art on Tuesday (October 07). With more than half a dozen works expected to breech the 10 million U.S. dollars mark, Sotheby's is staging its biggest Impressionist sale yet. Top lots at the auction house include Paul Cezanne's still life, "Ginger Jar with Fruit," estimated at $28 million to 35 million U.S. dollars , and Claude Monet's "The Beach at Trouville," an early Impressionist work that could hit 20 million U.S. dollars or more. Also to hit the block is one of Amedeo Modigliani's most famous male portraits, "Le Fils du Concierge," expected to sell between 14 million U.S. dollars and 18 million U.S. dollars. The picture of the lone, little boy is one of Modigliani's most transfixing works. Sotheby's Co-Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art, David Norman said that there is an obvious high demand at the moment for works done in the Impressionist and Modern periods. Said Norman, "Right now we're in a very strong moment in the art market that really noticeably started about two to three years ago. It is fuelled by tremendous amount of creation of wealth all throughout the world, in Russia, in China, in other countries in Asia, the American hedge fund managers, people having tremendous successes generating enormous incomes. Then there's always an interest when people buy the homes and the plane, that they start to turn attention to culture and art. So we have an influx of new buyers from so many corners of the world." Another work by Picasso is drawing attention to Sotheby's; the artist's "Le Sauvetage," a frenzied depiction of a rescue on a beach, is estimated to sell for 12 million - 18 million U.S. dollars. For those who cannot afford the million-dollar price tags attached to many of the paintings up for sale, both Christie's and Sotheby's will have their collections on public display before going on the auction block. ENDS.

ITN Source | November 11, 2006

Tags:. .haunting. .buyers. .belonging. .portraits. .enormous