Cezanne Art Fetches $11 million

The most important watercolour by Paul Cezanne remaining in private hands was sold at art auction in New York yesterday for more than £11 million. Cezanne's Nature Morte au Melon Vert exceeded its expected price of $14-$18 million (£7-9 million) and sold for 22,750,000 (£11.4 million) when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York. The painting, which measures 18.75 inches by 12.35 inches, is a late work dating from 1902-06 and depicts shades of green in a melon. Sotheby's has offered the work for sale twice before - once in the 1978 art sale of the Robert von Hirsch collection and again in the sale of the British Rail Pension Fund in 1989 when it sold for £2.56 million. It was sold on behalf of Giuseppe Eskenazi, one of the world's most distinguished art dealers, who specialises in Chinese art and has a gallery off Bond Street, London. (For full source and article click the Headline). Irish Art