13/11/2001
by Andrew Moore

The beginning of November saw the big auction houses offer their Impressionist and Modernist paintings to a wary New York. Phillips, de Pury and Luxembourg managed to poach two superb quality single-owner sales - the Hoener and Smooke collections – and duly offered them on the 5^th of November. Christie’s on the 6^th of November offered the René Gaffé collection, but Sotheby’s could only muster on the 7^th (and 8^th) of November a mixed bag coming from various properties and this lack of rare quality cost the auction house dear. More importantly the strong sales for Phillips, de Pury and Luxembourg showed the company was coming out fighting, bearing in mind its British branch, Phillips (UK), had been consigned to history just four days before, after being merged with Bonhams in London.

The Phillips, de Pury and Luxembourg’s Hoener sale consisted of 48 lots and raised $ 12.5 million (€ 14 million), 90 % sold by value and 93.1% sold by lot. However, as with recent sales, it was rumoured the auction house had assured to the vendor guaranteed prices (a pre-paid advance irrespective of whether the works were bought or not, which was pushed by the auction house to consign the Berggruen collection) so as to ensure the consignment of the collection and thereby boost public interest in the auction. The trick worked last week and a buying frenzy ensued, showing that US buyers were prepared to pay top prices. The most successful lot was Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's Die Lesende which fetched $ 3.9 million (€ 4.3 million) against an estimate of $ 1.8-2.5 million (€ 2-2.7 million), a new record for the artist. Record prices were also made for Emil Nolde, Max Liebermann, George Grosz, Max Pechstein and Hermann Hesse. In the Smooke collection sale the same afternoon, 93 % of lots sold to raise $ 86.1 million (€ 96 million) with new records for Antoine Pevsner, George Minne and Oskar Schlemmer. Top-selling lots included Egon Schiele's Haus mit trocknender Wäsche which sold within its estimate for $ 9.9 million (€ 11 million), Amedeo Modigliani's Almaïsa which fetched $ 7.1 million (€ 7.9 million), again within estimate while Leger, Kandinsky, Beckmann, Vlaminck, Matisse, Feininger, Braque and Picasso all fetched good prices.

The next day Christie’s, New York, held their key auction of Impressionist and Modernist works with a total of 39 lots up for grabs, 25 of them from the René Gaffé collection. Two lesser quality auctions in the same category followed on the 7^th of November. Like the Smooke and Hoener sales, the rarity of the Gaffé works attracted buyers far and wide with a big turn out of non-US bidders. The sale made $ 108.9 million (€ 121.5 million) with 77% of lots offered finding buyers. However the 25 Gaffé paintings all sold, accounting for two thirds of the entire sale or $ 73.3 million (€ 81.7 million). Top sales of the evening included Fernand Léger's Le Moteur which quadrupled its estimate to sell for a massive $ 16.7 million (€ 18.6 million), a new record for the artist to a private buyer who eventually won out against 10 other telephone bidders.

Joan Miró’s Portrait of Madame K went for $ 12.6 million (€ 14 million), twice its high estimate while his Landscape on the Banks of the River Love was snapped up by a telephone bidder for $ 11 million (€ 12.2 million), again against a high-end estimate of $ 6 million (€ 6.7 million). Picasso made some big hits in the sale, including Etude pour 'Nu dans une fôret' which sold at the high-end estimate of $ 6.1 million (€ 6.8 million) and Buste de femme à la chemise which went to Chicago dealer, Richard Gray for $ 6.8 million (€ 7.5 million), $ 1.8 million (€ 2 million) above its top-end estimate. None of the 25 René Gaffé works had reserve prices and the proceeds, Christie’s tells us, go to UNICEF as beneficiary of the sale (in accordance with the owner’s will). Certainly a charitable act on the part of the vendor’s heirs is to be applauded, but Christie’s were bagging their profits, with the sale more than trebling its expected final result. With the strategy of not giving reserves, debate as to possible sale prices was rife amongst collectors, which probably increased buyer interest and competition.

Sotheby’s staged two sales of Impressionist and Modern paintings on the 7^th and 8^th of November, the latter date the same afternoon in which Alfred Taubmann, the company’s ex-boss faced trial on antitrust charges in a Manhattan court, (stemming from collusion charges over auction commission rates). Sotheby’s main sale (part I) consisted of 38 works, but buyer fatigue after a high spending week and a poorer quality sale, left 34% of lots unsold. The sale totalled $ 33.1 million (€ 36.9 million) and the two top sellers were only marginal successes: Camille Pissarro’s La Rue Saint Lazaire made $ 6.6 million (€ 7.3 million) against an estimate of $ 4-6 million (€ 4.4-6.7 million) while Henri Matisse’s Anémones au miroir noir sold for $ 4.5 million (€ 5 million) against an estimate of $ 3.5-4.5 million (€ 3.9-5 million). All-in-all, the three auction house sales in New York pointed to Modernist works being the popular choice vis-à-vis Impressionism, but this does not suggest any particular trend. Rather it again highlights the insatiable competition for quality, which on this occasion regarded early 20^th century works.