Good Fine Art Falls Like The Dow

The Dow fell 7% today.  Perhaps this was the hangover from the terrible results of the Jeanne Lanvin auction at Christies in Paris this morning.  Pre-sale estimates were for a total sale of between Euros 13 million and 19.7 million.   Total sales actually realised:  just Euros 7.7 million.   One has to wonder how many guaranteed prices Christies are eating tonight.

The big picture — Renoir’s Tapisseries dans le parc — failed to sell.   Of the other high-priced pre-sale estimates, another Renoir barely cleared its 800,000 minimum, as did the delightful L’embarcadère à Trouville by Eugene Boudin.   A third Renoir found 1.15 million against the anticipated minimum of 1.2 million, and Picasso’s La Coiffure fetched Euros 840,000 against an expected low of 1 million.  Both Degas’ Femme au chapeau bleu and Mademoiselle Salle, each estimated at around Euros 1 million, failed to find buyers.

There were some successes, however.  Pieces by Pierre Bonnard, Jean-Louis Forain, Eduard Vuillard, Roger de la Fresnaye — along with Renoir’s jeune fille — all sold well over their pre-sale highs.

The Sale Ends

Since our last report, a $2 million Chagall, a $10 million Cezanne, another $3 million Pissarro, and a $20 million Monet all failed to sell.  Renoir’s beautiful Portrait de Nini made $5.5 million, within the estimates range, but his portrait of Louise Benzel made only $3.4 million, more than half a million below the low estimate.

The Surrealists were, quite rightly, all over the place.  A delightful Dali miniature sold for $542,500 (see image left), well within its estimate, but a strange little statue of his failed to sell.  A Klee was below estimate, but a Jean Arp work and one by Rene Magritte both climbed above the minimum bar.

The second half of the evening didn’t see any improvement for Picasso.  His Nus Masculins sold for $1.8 million, well under the $2 million pre-sale minimum estimate, and Le Modele dans l’atelier was bought in.

A total of $224 million was paid — and a quarter billion can’t be a bad haul in these straitened times.  But still, a lot of canvas didn’t get on the moving van.  The catalogued minimum for the show didn’t include the Malevich (sold for $60 million), Munch’s Vampire ($38m.) or Danseurs au repos ($37m.)  Deducting those amounts from the take leaves just $89 million actual against the minimum estimate of $218 million for the balance of the catalogue.  Not so great.

Update: The New York Times today has a review of the sale that comes to much the same conclusions as me.  However, it includes good details about price guarantees the auction house has to honour to its cost, and the “irrevocable bid” — the only bid, in fact — that pushed Malevich to such heights.