The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

Posted: 16 May 2013 01:24 AM PDT

Impressionist 'chef' cooks up record art sale in New York.

AN Impressionist oil painting depicting a chef in his whites has fetched a tasty US$18mil (RM54mil) – the most ever paid at auction for a work by the artist Chaim Soutine.

Soutine's Le Petit Patissier (The Little Pastry Chef), was the highlight of the Christie's auction in New York last week. Christie's said Soutine's rosy-cheeked chef, the sixth of a renowned series painted in about 1927, set an auction record for the Russian-born French artist. The previous highest result for any of his works was US$17.2mil (RM51mil) in London in 2007.

Marc Chagall's unusual Three Acrobats was the second most expensive work at the Manhattan sale, taking US$13mil (RM39mil).However, Andre Derain's 1905 Portrait de Madame Matisse au kimono, failed to find a buyer. Christie's had heralded the painting of Matisse's wife as "the most important portrait" ever auctioned by Derain, the co-founder of Fauvism.

There was better news for Egon Schiele's Selbstbildnis mit Modell (Fragment), from 1913. It sold for US$11.3mil (RM33.7mil).

Christie's said the overall performance showed a strong market, with 94% of 49 lots selling. Four of these sold for more than US$10mil (RM29.8mil) and 10 others for more than US$5mil (RM14.9mil) .

Brooke Lampley, Christie's head of Impressionist and modern art, said that with "all but three works sold and exceptional sell-through rates of 94% by lot and 90% by value, this sale ranks among the strongest we have hosted in this category in New York.

"In all, it was gratifying to witness a sophisticated and intelligent market at work, and see the strong collecting trends from our winter sales in London gain even more momentum here in New York." –AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 16 Mei 2013