Golden summer for Sotheby's London, which achieved a total sale of 19 million dollars from 5 June to 445.6 July with the participation of 75 countries, of which one in six buyers came from Asia, Russia and the Middle East, while 30% made transactions in new auction categories. Sotheby's London closes the 2013 summer session very well, with a total of nearly 450 million dollars, a real record for an increasingly growing market, but above all increasingly interesting for "buyers" coming to the British capital in search of masterpieces of any kind of art.
Robin Woodhead, President, Sotheby's International, said “It is evident that we are increasingly operating in an increasingly dynamic world, where a third of collectors who came to London came from Latin America, Russia, Asia and the Middle East, confirming thus a new way of operating to which a different and particular attention must be given in the future”.
The best auctions:
-Impressionist and Modern Art (with record registrations and buyers from Asia) Auction total $199,325,581
– Contemporary Art (with participation from 38 countries) Auction total USD 147,629,185
– Old Master & British Paintings (with works sold to Russian buyers and record registrations from Asia and the Middle East) Auction total USD 60,159,026
A series of “Firsts”
– Sotheby's holds its first exhibition of “12-21: a millennium of masterpieces”, an innovative event that has been able to create a real dialogue between artists of different eras.
– For the first time two works by El Greco are offered in the same auction: Saint Dominic in prayer and Christ on the Cross
– The work “Head III” by Francis Bacon, never sold at auction before and which saw the competition of 6 buyers, is sold.
The work with the best award
– Le Palais Contarini by Claude Monet sold for 25,697,000 USD
New Records
– For an old Spanish work: El Greco with “Saint Dominic in prayer” sold for 11,941,675 USD
– For an early work by a female artist: Rachel Ruysch “Still life of Roses” – sold for $2,153,000
– For a modern French work: Pierre Soulanges “Peinture, 21 November 1959”
Sculptures and works on paper
– Over 30 million awards for works on paper, with 25% Asian buyers.
– The J.Paul Getty Museum's purchase of a rare Prague School miniature for US 253,000
– Sale of 100% of the sculptures offered in the Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale for a total of USD 20,939,837
