Stars Of $237 Million Art Sale

Bloomberg reports that Picasso, fellow cubist Juan Gris and sculptor Alberto Giacometti topped the bill at Christie's International art auction. Works from each sold for $18.5 million as collectors reinforced the steady rise in the art market. The record prices for Gris and Giacometti helped Christie's amass $236.5 million in sales at its Impressionist and modern art auction in New York, at the top end of the $179.7 million- $245 million pre-sale estimate. Everything from a Renoir nude to Giacometti's anorexic bronzes drew bidders. The sale was the second of four major art auctions at Christie's and rival Sotheby's this month, which conclude next week with sales of contemporary art. The companies project a record total as high as $1.4 billion, even though neither sale this week included the top-selling artists' best work. Gris's 'Le pot de geranium,' was a standout, estimated to sell for up to $18 million. A blue and pink collage-like canvas included a copy of 'Le Figaro' newspaper and a web of green leaves. It is a totem from the early days of Cubism, a style that Gris, Picasso and Braque made into one of modern art's pivotal movements. Collectors Philip and Grace Sandblom owned the painting for more than 60 years. Their heirs sold it in 2002 at Sotheby's, where it fetched what seemed like an exorbitant $8.47 million. That anonymous buyer has made a $10 million gain in five years. Europeans dominated last night, according to Christie's, snapping up 48 percent of the lots. U.S. buyers followed with 29 percent. Asia trailed at 2 percent. Buyers from 'other' countries, including the Middle East, accounted for 21 percent. The weaker dollar has made the sales in New York more attractive for some overseas collectors. (For full source and article click the Headline). Irish Art