Tuesday night’s auction at the Christie’s ended with overall sales of $395 million (€271 million), which is the second highest ever achieved in fine art auctioneering. A 1937 Henri Matisse painting set a new auction record for the artist at Christie’s and it was sold for a whopping $33.6 million (€23 million). The Matisse work, “L’Odalisque, Harmonie Blueue,” displays one of the artist’s much loved models lounging behind a bouquet set on a table.
Guy Bennett, who runs Christie’s Impressionist and modern art department in New York, bidding on behalf of a client on the telephone won the bidding at $30 million ($33.6 million, including Christie’s buyer’s premium). The previous auction record for a Matisse painting was $22 million (€15 million) for “Danseuse dans le fauteuil,’ which was sold at Sotheby’s in London in June.
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