22.Jun.2007 : The Rising Price of Art
A series of London auctions featuring paintings by Lucian Freud, Claude Monet and Joan Miro netted the biggest-ever sum for a week of art sales in Europe, auctioneers Christie’s said today.
The sales earned a total of £237 million ($561.41 million) and featured 23 new artist records.
Highlights included French Impressionist Monet’s Waterloo Bridge, which sold for £17.9 million ($42.4 million), the third-highest price for the artist at auction and the week’s most expensive painting at Christie’s.
Bruce Bernard by Briton Freud sold for nearly £7.9 million ($18.71 million) - a world record for any work by a living European artist - and Spaniard Miro’s Le Coq (The Cock) fetched £6.6 million ($15.63 million).
Tuesday’s Impressionist and modern art sale was the most lucrative of the week, with sales totalling over £121 million.
Christie’s European president, Jussi Pylkkanen, said the results highlighted “the ever-increasing number of new buyers entering the market”.
“There is great strength and depth in this marketplace and it promises to be another record year for the London art market,” he said.
Christie’s rivals Sotheby’s are also conducting high-budget art sales in London this week.
The auction house sold Monet’s Nympheas, part of his water lilies series, on Wednesday for £18.5 million ($43.82 million), the second-largest price tag ever for the sought-after artist.
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