RESULTS: 19th Century European Art including The Orientalist Sale, April 18, 2008 Sotheby’s, the sale of 19th Century European Art including The Orientalist Sale achieved a total of $26,377,050 (est. $23.7/32.9 million).
News-Antique.com - Apr 22,2008 - HIGHEST TOTAL EVER FOR A DEDICATED SALE OF ORIENTALIST ART IN NEW YORK
REDISCOVERED MASTERPIECE BY JEHAN GEORGES VIBERT SETS A RECORD FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION
ARTIST RECORDS ALSO SET FOR ORIENTALIST PAINTERS WALTER GOULD, RUDOLF ERNST, ARTHUR VON FERRARIS, CLEMENTE PUJOL DE GUSTAVINO AND FEDERICO BARTOLINI.
New York, New York, April 18, 2008 – Today at Sotheby’s, the sale of 19th Century European Art including The Orientalist Sale achieved a total of $26,377,050 (est. $23.7/32.9 million*). Today’s sale was the first time in almost a decade that Sotheby’s held a dedicated offering of Orientalist Art, highlighted by exceptional masterpieces representing the entire region including North Africa, the Middle East and Turkey, and Sotheby’s was the only auction house to offer such a sale in New York this Spring. The Orientalist Sale, comprising lots 122-212, realized $9,025,750 (est. $7.4/10.3 million), the highest total ever for a dedicated offering of Orientalist Art in New York, and set auction records for several artists including Arthur von Ferraris, Walter Gould, Rudolf Ernst, Clemente Pujol de Gustavino and Federico Bartolini.
Polly Sartori, Head of the 19th Century European Art Department, said, “Seven paintings in today’s auction sold for over $1 million and the average lot value in the sale was $152,000, thereby demonstrating the increased demand for the best examples of this genre, a trend we have been seeing in our market over the last two years. The great Academics were the most popular, led by William Bouguereau and Jean Léon Gérôme, with Vibert’s delightful depiction of Gulliver proving to be one of the most popular paintings we have ever offered in an auction.”
A great selection of works by the Academic painter William Bouguereau were highly sought after in today’s sale. The top lot in today’s sale was the artist’s Le Déjeuner du Matin (Morning Breakfast), which sold for $2,057,000 (lot 33, est. $1.2/1.5 million). La Première Discorde (Cain and Abel), from 1861, a rare example of Bouguereau’s Salon submissions, brought $1,721,000 (lot 67, est. $1.2/1.5 million). La Liseuse, which realized $892,200 (lot 37, est. $250/350,000), depicts a young peasant girl sitting on a stone bench.
The masterpiece Gulliver and the Lilliputians, by the 19th century French artist Jehan-Georges Vibert, was sought after by nearly ten bidders both in the room and on the telephone. Gulliver and the Lilliputians more than doubled its high estimate and set a record for the artist at auction, achieving a price of $1,497,000 (lot 18, est. $500/700,000). This work from 1870, recently discovered in a private American collection, depicts the first chapter of Jonathan Swift’s famous 1726 satire.
Ali Can Ertug, Sotheby’s Vice President for Business Development in Turkey and Emerging Markets, said, “Recognizing the strong international demand for Orientalist paintings, Sotheby’s decided to organize a specialized sale for the spring of 2008 in New York. The Orientalist Sale comprised the best examples of the movement by both American and European artists. The result of over $9 million for The Orientalist Sale was the highest total
