AFP – A Monet sold for nearly USD35 million at auction on Wednesday evening, Sotheby’s said, marking a solid start to New York’s spring art sales.
Both Sotheby’s and rival auction house Christie’s launched their spring season on Monday. Though the global art market softened last year, strong sales in London and Paris have sparked optimism for 2024.
Claude Monet’s Meules a Giverny, which the French impressionist painted in 1893, went for USD34.8 million after a bidding war.
Meanwhile, British-Mexican artist Leonora Carrington broke her own auction record when her Les Distractions de Dagobert sold for USD28.5 million.
The new record places Carrington among the top five most valuable women artists at auction, Sotheby’s said – and among the top four surrealist artists, “overtaking Max Ernst and Salvador Dali.”
Christie’s, meanwhile, sold some USD115 million in contemporary art the prior evening, including a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting for USD32 million.
At the Phillips auction house, Basquiat’s Untitled (ELMAR) sold for USD46.5 million.
