A painting by the Italian Futurist artist Gino Severini sold for $29.6 million including fees, a record for the artist, at a Sotheby’s auction of Impressionist and Modern art in London on Wednesday. The sale brought in a total of more than $200 million.
The brightly colored 3-foot, 3-inch-high canvas, “Danseuse” (1915) had not been seen on the auction market for more than 80 years. It had been expected to fetch up to $20 million, Sotheby’s said. The seller of the painting had been guaranteed a minimum price, the New York-based auction house said. The previous record for Severini was $3.6 million, the saleroom result tracker Artnet said.
There were four telephone bidders for the work, which sold to a senior specialist in Impressionist and Modern art at Sotheby’s Europe, Philip Hook, taking instructions from a client. Mr. Hook was underbid by Mark Poltimore, who presides over Sotheby’s Russian auctions.
The 1939 Pablo Picasso oil-on-canvas portrait, “Tête de Femme (Dora Maar),” measuring 16 inches high, sold for $15.6 million.
It was one of five works being sold from the estate of the Norwegian dealer and collector Haaken Christensen to benefit the charity Médecins Sans Frontières. Never offered at auction before, the portrait of Picasso’s mistress had been expected to fetch up to $10 million, Sotheby’s said.
A sculpture by Alberto Giacometti sold for $18 million with fees, by telephone, to a New York-based Sotheby’s Contemporary art specialist, August Uribe, who was also taking instructions from a client.
The 2-foot, 4-inch-high bronze, “Trois Hommes Qui Marchent I,” had been estimated to sell for between $8 million and $12 million.
The 1948 sculpture was cast during the artist’s lifetime in an edition of six, Sotheby’s said. (Bloomberg News)