Lights and Shadows for Modern Art at Sotheby's

The second catalogue of several properties saw, instead, two million-plus lots withdrawn, despite being initially guaranteed by the auction house, including a female portrait with cat by Picasso (estimate $7-10m), and no less than seven unsold lots all from million-plus estimates, including three more works by Picasso and, most notably, a female nude by Matisse 'Torse se jeune fille' that remained at the post from an estimate of $12-18m, the highest in the catalogue, secured only by the auction house which is now in possession of this unsold work, thus paying a sum that equates to a significant percentage from the total commissions received out of the $93m total realised (to the low estimate only after commissions have been added): an added problem for the already cash-strapped auction house, further demonstrating the risk posed by guarantees in a down market. There were 11 third-party guarantees and in three cases they probably saved the lot from going unsold.

They were, however, far exceeded in the case of the two works by Leonora Carrington, including the rare large-scale sculpture 'La Grande Dame (The Cat Woman)' from 1951 that sparked the first of three bidding battles in the second half of the evening, ending up for $11.4 million from an estimated $5-7 million to serial collector of Latin American art Eduardo Costantini, who also holds the artist's most expensive painting paid $28.5 million also at Sotheby's in May. Thirty years ago, the same sculpture sold for $300,000. Carrington's painting 'Temple of the Word' from 1954, on the other hand, confirmed its estimate of 3-5 million to $4.6 million with commission. In general the positive trend for Surrealist artists was confirmed with good results also for Leonor Fini and Remedios Varo..

While South American collectors supported Surrealism, Chinese collectors took home a sunny pontillist work by Paul Signac, a view of Antibes that fetched close to $10 million, double the low estimate, after a long contest between two Asian-linked telephones. In vain the guarantees protecting Tiffany Studios' large decorative work 'Danner Memorial Window' contended to a new record of $12.5 million from an estimate of $5-7 million. By contrast, the catalogue's most important realisation, a bronze 'Bust of Diego' made by his brother Alberto Giacometti and changing hands within the $10-15m estimate to $13.250m with commissions, did not arouse particular enthusiasm.

Among the ten lots that sold below low estimates before commissions were added was a work byFrancois Marc 'The Long Yellow Horse' which fetched $4.3m from an estimate of $8-12m, effectively bid without reserve. The worst performance, however, was for the seven Picasso lots in the catalogue: one work withdrawn, three unsold, two saved by third party guarantees at low estimates, and the Francois Gilot portrait sold below low estimate at $8.5m which became $10m with commissions.