Sotheby's Art Takes $187m

An auction of modern and Impressionist paintings has become the most lucrative art sale ever held at Sotheby's, reports the BBC. The London art auction, which used material from American collections, made almost £95m, with 30 lots making over £1m. The top price for a single painting was £8,756,000 for Chaim Soutine's L'Homme au Foulard Rouge, which had been given an estimate of between £3.5m and £5m. Works by Renoir, Degas, Monet and Edvard Munch and a sculpture by Modigliani were also sold. Sotheby's said there was a surge of interest in the modern art market, as shown by the fact the Soutine was sold for £1.5m just a decade ago. Melanie Clore, co-chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art department, said: "What was most encouraging about tonight's sale was that the evening's success was not pegged on a single picture but, led by the Soutine, the strength of the art market was evident throughout."The results this evening provide clear evidence of the depth of the market - the buyers are informed and considered private collectors, or art dealers representing private collectors." Of the collections sold, the highlight was that of the late Charles R Lachman, a founding partner of Revlon cosmetics. This included Renoir's Les Deux Soeurs, which fetched £6,852,000, and Raoul Dufy's La Foire aux Oignons, which sold for £4,052,000 Irish Art