Una Torá española, vendida en Nueva York por 220.503 euros

El pergamino, de 700 años de antigüedad, está considerado el más completo que existe

Un rollo de pergamino de la Torá de origen español y de unos 700 años de antigüedad, considerado el más completo que existe, se ha vendido hoy en Nueva York por 330.000 dólares (220.503 euros) en una subasta de obras hebreas organizada por la firma Sotheby’s. El manuscrito, adornado con dibujos cabalísticos y que data de finales del siglo XIII, es el único de los cuatro textos religiosos judíos de origen español en salir a la venta que ha logrado comprador, en una puja que ha recaudado 3,2 millones de dólares (2,1 millones de euros) con la venta de objetos ceremoniales y obras religiosas hebreas.

Nota completa

The Group of Seven – Lawren Harris
24 November 2009

The Old Stump, Lake Superior. oil on board, 30.5 X 38.1 cm. Lawren Harris

I’m not sure if you can truly appreciate the work of The Group of Seven until you’ve been condemned to the Great Ontario Wasteland in Canada.  There really isn’t much to look at outside of Toronto aside from meagre infrastructure and farmland.  But if you look beyond that, you see what The Group of Seven saw:  a strange, haunting beauty in a land completely controlled and inspired by its environment.  Some how, these artists conveyed, through the stroke of a brush, the daunting yet calming feelings aroused by Canadian landscape.

Take for example Lawren Harris’s “Lake Superior Sketch III.”

Lake Superior Sketch III, oil on board, 30.5 X 38.1 cm. Lawren Harris.

There’s something very different in feeling, comparing this view to the view of Second Peak off the Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia.  Both are similar in view, and yet the Lake Superior Sketch III brings to mind the lung-piercing cold from the chilling Ontario winter.  For me, when I see the painting, while it stirs a frosty feeling inside, it’s almost soothing reminder that the winter, like Lake Superior, isn’t boundless and does have an end.

Both these paintings and a Tom Thompson painting will be for auction in Toronto starting this week… Aren’t we still kind of in a recession?  Who can even afford these??

Related links:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/thomson-harris-works-kick-off-fall-auction-season/article1374747/

Per Milanoincontemporanea si profila  un periodo davvero entusiasmante in quanto a eventi e manifestazioni.

Per darvi il tempo di segnare in agenda tutte le novità  più interessanti, oggi mi “porto avanti con i lavori” e vi segnalo l’asta di arte moderna e contemporanea di Sotheby’s (via Broggi 19) del prossimo mercoledì 25 dicembre, facente parte del progetto ”Arte contemporanea per i Rifugiati” . Si comincia alle ore 20.30.

Oltre a sperare che qualcuno di voi possa concorrere alla gara aggiudicandosi qualcuno dei pezzi in catalogo – siamo un po’ tutti aspiranti collezionisti, no? – ci tengo a indicarvi questa serata per due motivi molto semplici: si tratta di un’asta a scopo benefico e credo rappresenti una buona occasione per scoprire un mondo davvero eccitante.

Molti non lo sanno, ma è quasi sempre possibile visitare gratuitamente le opere messe all’incanto anche dalle grandi case come Sotheby’s e Christie’s, oltre che partecipare alla serata.

Mi raccomando, però, non fate gesti, altrimenti all’uscita vi toccherà firmare un assegnino niente male…

L’asta di Sotheby’s in questione riguarda l’annuale inziativa dell’ “Arte Contemporanea per i Rifugiati“, sostenuta dall’Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati (UNHCR) proprio per i rifugiati.

Molti artisti contemporanei hanno partecipato attivamente all’idea mettendo a disposizione delle opere a tema. Tra tutte quelle in catalogo (ve ne ho esposta qualcuna, virtualmente, nella gallery) mi è piaciuta un sacco la soluzione di Alfredo Jarr, Silence (2001) – una romantica finestra con le tende mosse dal vento per nascondere, o stare per svelare, chissà quale novità; e il cinema-teatro vuoto di Kim Sooja – la sua opera è del 2007 e si initola Invisible needle invisible mirror.

Oltre a partecipare all’asta e fare del bene, sappiate che l’esposizione delle opere è gratuita fino a domani, 24 novembre, dalle 10 alle 13 e dalle 14 alle 19: vi troverete tutte le crezioni degli artisti per il progetto “Water for Refugees“, a favore dei rifugiati della Repubblica Democratica del Congo e del Burundi attualmente ospitati in tre campi UNHCR in Tanzania.

Un’ occasione speciale per conoscere un mondo, quello delle aste, poco noto e ancora un po’ di nicchia – ma vi assicuro elettrizzante –  nonchè per apprezzare da vicino opere contemporanee di artisti molto quotati.

Qualche nome? Alfredo Jaar, Tomas Saraceno, Kimsooja, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Grazia Toderi, Marcello Maloberti, Gea Casolaro, A12, Moira Ricci.

Asta di arte moderna e contemporanea
Sotheby’s
via Broggi 19
Esposizione: fino a martedì 24 novembre 2009, ore 10-13; 14-19
Asta:   mercoledì 25 novembre 2009, ore 20.3o

Encore une vente que j’ai découverte un peu tard, cette fois chez Sotheby’s et à Paris bien sûr, Paris Photo oblige. Le catalogue est ici. Pas de vraiment du surprises habituellement dans ce genre de vente avec toujours les mêmes noms vendeurs soit dans l’ancien (genre Atget) soit dans le contemporain (genre Avedon) mais ici on voyait apparaitre Fullerton-Batten (pour une estimation ridiculement élevée) ce qui est étonnant vu sa jeunesse (a priori elle est restée invendue).

ARTE – 22h35 – jeudi 19/11    documentaire

Après la bulle financière, la bulle de l’art contemporain. Explosera, explosera pas ? Ben Lewis a filmé cette aventure comme un polar.

Le 15 septembre 2008, le jour où Lehman Brothers faisait faillite, les oeuvres de Damien Hirst se vendaient pour plus de 70 millions de livres chez Sotheby’s. Depuis la fin de 2007, tandis que le reste de l’économie s’asphyxiait, la bulle de l’art n’avait cessé d’enfler. Mais un mois après la vente Hirst, le marché entamait sa dégringolade. Tourné comme un policier, le film de Ben Lewis révèle les pratiques du milieu et démonte le mécanisme de la spéculation à travers des interviews de critiques, commissaires-priseurs, galeristes et collectionneurs, dont certaines obtenues de haute lutte.

Rediffusions :
30.11.2009 à 09:55
07.12.2009 à 03:00

www.arte.tv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV8LgmPVfi0

SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG’S COMPETING ART MARKET

Singapore’s art scene has grown rapidly since its 1989 government mandate to recognize the “importance of culture and the art.” Thriving to a point that, according to The Wall Street Journal, Hong Kong–Asia’s epicenter of art–is beginning to take its competitor seriously.

Hong Kong’s challenging art scene

Today’s numbers would suggest that Hong Kong has nothing to worry about for competition.  Hong Kong is currently the third-largest auction market in the world with both Christie’s and Sotheby’s in its territory, and has set aside close to US$3 billion in order to create a much needed world class arts and culture development known as West Kowloon Cultural District. The project, however, has been slow to start and left many frustrated.

“The Hong Kong government first hit upon the idea in 1998 of building an integrated arts and culture neighborhood on 40 hectares of reclaimed land in the West Kowloon district. After many fits and starts, planning for the project recently picked up some momentum…Nevertheless, even if it all goes as planned, the first phase won’t be open until 2016.”

One of the proposed models for the West Kowoon Cultural Centre

The West Kowloon project has been “frustrating and painful,” says Asia Art Archive’s Ms. Hsu, who is also on the advisory panel for the museum at the new West Kowloon development. “For the public it has looked like the government is stalling, but it gives me a lot of hope. The government is very concerned about getting it right.’”

Singapore makes its move

The time spent behind making Hong Kong’s “necessary cultural move” may eventually result in Singapore gaining ground in the market by the country’s pushing ahead with so many art-hub projects of their own.

“It [Singapore] invested more than US$1 billion in infrastructure, including several museums and a 4,000-seat complex of theaters, studios and concert halls called the Esplanade, which opened in 2002, and spiced up its arts programming with diversity and a regional flavor.”

The Esplanade, Singapore

The benefits of Singapore’s art initiatives are already apparent. According to Singapore’s National Arts Council “between 1997 and 2007, the ‘vibrancy’ of the local art scene, measured by the number of performances and exhibition days, quadruped to more than 26,000.”

However, Singapore is still missing a key ingredient to perhaps prosper further: a big art-auction market like Hong Kong’s.

“Some smaller art-auction houses hold sales in Singapore, but the big ones — Christie’s and Sotheby’s — have pulled out and moved their Southeast Asian art auctions to Hong Kong, the former British colony that is home to seven million people and became a Chinese territory in 1997.”

For a city, having the ingredients for a thriving art market creates a virtuous circle. The powerful marketing machines of the big auction houses, including public previews of coming sales, raises awareness and appreciation of art in the community. All this encourages local artists to create more art. And that momentum, in turn, contributes to the development of a city’s broader cultural scene, including music, theater and design.”

Singapore looks ahead

The relationship between big art-auction markets and a thriving art scene can be so entangled that it would appear difficult to navigate a new course in order to adequately compete. Singapore, it seems, is trying anyways.

“Undaunted, Singapore is diligently pushing ahead and has opened several museums and other arts venues while Hong Kong has dithered on the construction of West Kowloon. Christie’s also recently picked Singapore to be the site of a global fine-arts storage facility to open in a duty-free zone in January.”

Related Posts

• ARTSingapore 2009 Fair-new photography fair, high value sales and gallerists pick top fairs in Asia today- October 2009
• New auction houses with new strategies open in Singapore art market – October 2009
• Liquidity propels prices, Chinese Political Pop is back- Sothebys Contemporary Asian Art Auction 2009 Hong Kong- October 2009

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Michael Appleton for The New York Times

It was the sale of the season. When a seminal Warhol — one of the artist’s first silk-screen paintings — came on the block at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art on Wednesday night, the auctioneer, Tobias Meyer, opened bidding at $6 million and was stunned when a bidder instantly doubled it.

The price rose at breakneck speed as five collectors vied for the classic image, “200 One Dollar Bills.” It ended up selling for $43.7 million (including fees to Sotheby’s), more than three times its high estimate of $12 million. The buyer, whom Sotheby’s refused to identify, bid by telephone through Bruno Vinciguerra, the company’s chief operating officer. Sotheby’s would also not identify the seller, although people familiar with the collection said it was Pauline Karpidas, a London-based collector.

Just a year after the art market was in the doldrums with the world’s financial markets, buyers with deep pockets were not shy about stepping up for tried-and-true artists. The sale topped Sotheby’s expectations, totaling $134.4 million, well above its $67.9 million high estimate. Of the 54 works on offer, only two went unsold. The evening also eclipsed Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art on Tuesday night, which brought in $74.1 million. While both sales featured big-name artists, Sotheby’s had just enough blockbusters to make for a successful evening.

In pristine condition, “200 One Dollar Bills” was enticing to any Pop Art collector. Add to that the provenance — it had once been part of the celebrated collection of Robert C. Scull, the taxi tycoon — and it was irresistible.

(Final prices include the commission paid to Sotheby’s: 25 percent of the first $50,000 of the hammer price, 20 percent of the next $50,000 to $1 million and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.)

Warhols of all ages and subjects brought strong prices. A 1965 self-portrait with a top estimate of $1.5 million sold to Laurence Graff, the London jeweler, for $5.4 million ($6.1 million with Sotheby’s commission). Warhol himself gave the work to Cathy Naso, who as a teenager in the mid-1960s worked after school in his legendary Factory.

Scared that it might get stolen, she had stashed it in the closet of her Connecticut home. As a result, its purple and red background colors were as brilliant as they were when it was painted, and collectors knew that. Mr. Graff, who sat in the first row of Sotheby’s salesroom on York Avenue, was not intimidated by five competing bidders.

“It’s a gem,” he said after the sale. “I came to New York for it and for the little Dora Maar,” he added referring to a Picasso painting at Sotheby’s last week. “And I am taking both home.”

Even Warhol drawings fetched solid prices: A 1962 sketch of a roll of cash topped expectations when Larry Gagosian, the Manhattan dealer, bought the work for $4.2 million, above its high $3.5 million estimate.

And one of Warhol’s “Tunafish Disaster” silk-screen paintings, this one from 1963 and being sold by Mr. Gagosian, was snapped up, too. It had been estimated at $1.5 million to $2 million, and Jose Mugrabi, a Manhattan dealer, bought it for $1 million ($1.2 million with fees). At Christie’s on Tuesday night, a more compelling composition of the same subject was up for sale by Peter Brant, the newsprint magnate. It had been estimated at $6 million to $8 million, but there were no takers.

By contrast, on Wednesday, a 1957 Jasper Johns painting, “Gray Numbers,” drew a lot of interest. In 2003 Richard Hedreen, a Seattle collector, bought it for $5.2 million. On Wednesday it was estimated at as much as $7 million, and brought $8.7 million.

Philippe Ségalot, a Manhattan dealer who was one of the unsuccessful bidders for “200 One Dollar Bills,” said: “I think the painting was worth it. It was rare and great. And the appealing estimate helped encourage bidding. It was really Warhol’s night.”

President of Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty, George Damianos recently attended the de Rham Sotheby’s International Realty Sailing Competition in Switzerland. The competition which was sponsored by Julius Baer presented a great opportunity for Damianos to socialize and network with the de Rham team as well as to discuss the real estate industry in their areas. Damianos commented that he had looked forward towards his trip to Switzerland as he was able to deepen his relationship with the European Sotheby’s affiliates.

The Julius Baer Challenge 2009 ended on September 20th, 2009 with the SUI 1 Alinghi and SUI 5 Foncia winning first place on the Grand Prix du Beau Rivage, which is the last step of race. The entire event was a great success and concluded with a sit down dinner for around 500 people held at the Beau RIvage Palace. The invited guest were customers and bankers and other fund managers who help finance de Rahm Sotheby’s International Realty development projects.

“I like money on the wall. Say you were going to buy a $200,000 painting. I think you should take that money, tie it up, and hang it on the wall. Then when someone visited you, the first thing they would see is the money on the wall.”–The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

Manipulating a representation of some estimated value until it delivers insane dividends to a group of privileged investors appears to be a skill shared by Wall Street and Warhol, whose 200 One Dollar Bills sold for $43.8 million at Sotheby’s last week.

My understanding of moral hazard is slippery (is it possessing information that is used to the detriment of others or is it engaging in risky behavior based on a presumption of protection?)–more intuitive than precise–but the phrase makes me think that sales like these must stick in the craw of Joe Simons and others who have been prevented from partaking in Warholian currency while folks like Larry Gagosian, Peter Brant, and Jose Mugrabi swim in it.

To read more about the superfreakonomic, morally hazardous accusations that underscore Simons’s lawsuit against the Warhol Foundation, read Richard Dorment’s “What is an Andy Warhol? in last month’s New York Review of Books and “Authenticating Andy Warhol,” an article I wrote for ARTnews in 2004.

Strikingly, on the day that 200 One Dollar Bills went on the block, a front-page article in the New York Times questioned the ethics of the New Museum of Contemporary Art for its decision to turn the museum into a private showcase for mega-collector and New Museum Trustee Dakis Joannou and his favorite art star/investment/yacht painter Jeff Koons, who has been engaged to curate the exhibition of Joannou’s holdings.

“Sure, I am a trustee. Would it be different if I weren’t? Some people may think some things,” Joannou told the Times. “For me, it’s a nonissue. I know who I am and what I am doing.”

In the NYT ArtsBeat blog, Deborah Sontag, an author of the Times article, took a stab at revealing the “dizzyingly insular circle of art world insiders” and their connections to programming at the New Museum. I propose an addition to Sontag’s list – Pauline Karpidas, the seller of 200 One Dollar Bills (she paid $385,000 for it at Sotheby’s in 1986–lucky girl), a major benefactor of the New Museum, and a neighbor of Joannou’s in Hydra, Greece, whose most recent Hydra Workshop was devoted to Joannou-collectible Nate Lowman (with Mary-Kate Olsen in tow). In 2005, the featured artist of Karpidas’s Hydra Workshop was Urs Fischer, another Joannou collectible and the subject of the New Museum’s current exhibition. As Jerry Saltz points out, Fischer is represented by Gavin Brown who has secured exhibitions at the New Museum for four of his artists in the last two years.

But at least someone out there (who are the Erasers? perhaps these guys?) has a sense of humor: www.dakisjoannou.com. So, apparently, does society scribe Christopher Mason (eh hem): The Bowery’s New Museum Song.

After hearing about the Warhol that sold for over $40 million on the radio, I headed over to ArtForum to get more of the auction drama. The Sotheby’s folks must be thrilled after their banner night.

The U.S. art market appears to be on the mend. The major fall art auctions may not have sold everything on offer, but collectors showed a renewed willingness to bid up top examples of artists’ work. Dealers also said inflation fears and expectations of higher bonuses in the financial markets stoked strong bidding.

New York’s two chief auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s International, brought in about $596 million combined from their semi annual sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art in the past two weeks. The total surpassed the houses’ $409 million spring sales in May, a gain that could signal a measure of returning confidence in high-end art values.

Despite the uptick, the market isn’t likely to recapture its boom-era exuberance anytime soon. The volume of art changing hands at these sales is still much smaller than it was last November, when the two houses brought in a combined $729 million, or two years ago at the market’s peak, when their fall sales totaled $1.6 billion.

Just as well that the faux-fur polar bear in [she who shall remain nameless]’s latest video was (re)-made by Benjamin Cho and NOT Louis Vuitton, otherwise, the “huge cult following of almost crazy people” a.k.a. LV fans would be rabid on the Champs-Élysées…according to Marc Jacobs at least.

In his latest interview with The Times, Marc gives reason to why LV has managed to survive/do so well in the recession:

In terms of what’s selling at Louis Vuitton, the recession hasn’t changed anything. I’ve cut back, because my partner Lorenzo and I are buying a house in the West Village in New York. And obviously there are a lot of people suffering out there, but our sales are up and I haven’t noticed that people’s tastes have got more subdued. They may be buying less, but if anything, they want it to be even more special. There’s this huge cult following of almost crazy people at Vuitton who just want whatever they buy to be exclusive. The charity angle also means that people feel more comfortable about spending openly.

The interview took place to mark 150 years of the Red Cross, for which Marc has created a Louis Vuitton dog carrier. “L’Excellence du Savoir-Faire” will be at Sotheby’s, London, from November 13. The auction will occur on November 17, by invitation only; louisvuitton.com

Arguably it’s a net loss of $43,699,800, but Andy Warhol’s silk screen “200 One Dollar Bills” sold for $43.7 Million tonight at Sotheby’s — well over the anticipated $12 Million. No, it’s not a sign of the times: in troubled economies, the rich stay rich. Nevertheless, after the irresponsibility on Wall Street, its simultaneously comic and tragic to watch a room full of the moneyed eagerly try to outbid one another for a work of and about money. Of course, as one unsuccessful bidder said, “I think the painting was worth it.”

ASIAN ART MARKET

Visitors enter a Sotheby's auction room in Hong Kong for a sale of modern and contemporary art on October 6, 2008.

For the first time ever, the total auction revenue from “contemporary art in Asia” is greater than the total of the United States artprice reports. The statistics are collected from a 12-month period spanning from July 2008 to June 2009. Asia generated €130 million versus the United States’ €123 million. China is the highest gainer out of this trend, having generated €95 million from contemporary art during the same period.  According to the report, this means China is continuing to “hold on to its third place global geographical art auction revenue ranking.”

The establishment of foreign auction houses such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams in Hong Kong, in combination with the financial strength of Hong Kong and Shanghai are to be accredited for China’s position. For those who are looking to begin collecting Asian art, this does not mean that the price of contemporary Chinese art is back up to its sky-high prices of a couple of years ago. Artprice’s report tell us that in the first half of 2008 the average price of contemporary works sold in China was $65,500, however, in the first half of 2009, this average dropped to $26,800.

Related posts:

• Liquidity propels prices, Chinese Political Pop is back- Sotheby’s Contemporary Asian Art Auction 2009 Hong Kong- October 2009
• Trends and opportunities in the contemporary photography market- October 2009
• Newslink round up Art Basel 2009- Indian, Japanese artists dominate coverage of Asians- June 2009

Subscribe to Art Radar Asia for more market and auction house news

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Des photos à vendre chez Sotheby’s demain et après-demain. Plus d’infos ci-dessous.

Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, November 11 and 12, 2009 @Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales follow directly on the heels of those at Christie’s this season. There is only one photographic lot in the Evening sale (a Baldessari); the rest of the contemporary photographs can be found in the Day sale.

via DLK COLLECTION: Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, November 11 and 12, 2009 @Sotheby’s.

Sothebys 6648
Sale location: NEW YORK
Sale date: December 19, 1994

Title, description:
CAPITALIST TOYS: A SELECTION OF TOY BOATS & MOTORCYCLES FROM THE FORBES MAGAZINE COLLECTION

203 lots with 31 lots in color & others in black & white, about 56 pages.

There is a 2 page article by Robert Forbes (son of Malcolm Forbes) who formed this collection with his father. Most of what they sold in this collection came from the Main Lodge of their Colorado Ranch and Conference Center. Many of these items were duplicates in their collection and some were extremely rare pieces.
Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, English, German & American toys from the 1920’s to the 1960’s.

About 67 lots of lithographed tin motorcycles and about 22 lots of cast iron motorcycles and related cars & vans. About 113 lots of boats. Many of the lots included more than 1 toy.

Makers of tin lithographed motorcycles include: Louis Marx, Tipp & Co., L.Y.T., Arnold Mac, Paya, J.M.I., Hubley, Schuco, German, Japanese, Gunthermann, Saalheimer & Strauss, Technofix, Rico, INGAP, Italian, SFA, English, American, Lehman, KW, Masudaya, Distler, Greppert-Kelch, Meier, and Kellerman.
Makers of cast-iron motorcycles and traffic cars include: Hubley (3 Indian models shown in color) and a large variety of Harley Davidson models, plus Champion, Kilgore, and Vindex.

Makers of the toy boats include: Bing, Fleischmann, German, Carette, Ives, Marklin, Arnold, Hornby, French, Falk, Orkin, American, J.E.P., Maltete, and Sutcliffe.
Types of boats include: Painted Tin, Tin Live Steam, Tin Clockwork, Wooden, Friction Driven Tin, Paddle boats, Riverboats, Warships, Battleships, Gun Boats, Battle Cruiser, Ocean Liners, Speedboats, Motor Boats, and Passenger Boats.

1994 Sotheby’s Toy Motorcycles & Boats Auction Catalog & Sales Results available at www.DadsVintageAds.com in the “ Motorcycle Gifts & Collectibles ” category

Search our Magazine Back Issue Index for old Motorcycle Magazine Back Issues for sale.

To search our full inventory of Vintage Motorcycle Advertisements, Articles, and Road Tests CLICK HERE.

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art sale last night beat the company’s top estimate as sellers including Conde Nast chief S. I. Newhouse Jr. and investor Louis Reijtenbagh unloaded Giacomettis, Picassos and Renoirs.

The $181.8 million auction was Sotheby’s first evening Impressionist sale in New York in 3 ½ years to beat its high estimate ($163.6 million), the publicly traded auctioneer said. The tally was nearly triple Christie’s International’s Nov. 3 result and Sotheby’s equivalent sale in May, when its top two lots failed to sell in the wake of the financial crisis. All but 10 of the 66 artworks sold.

“Panic is out,” said New York dealer Helly Nahmad. “The market is back.”

The two-hour sale contrasted with the hour-long, 40-lot auction at Christie’s the night before, which missed its low estimate because of a dearth of high-quality works, dealers said.

“People are not blind,” said Montreal-based dealer Robert Landau. “People were bidding on the good stuff.”

As real estate investor Fred Elghanayan and jeweler Laurence Graff looked on, auctioneer Tobias Meyer kept up a brisk pace, employing aerobic arm gestures to accept bids from around the room. He said the auction was the most active Impressionist and modern sale he’s presided over.

Collectors were back “after a year of abstinence,” Meyer told the press.

Falling Man

The evening’s top lot was Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture “L’Homme Qui Chavire” (Falling Man), sold by Newhouse. The slim two-foot-tall figure of a man stumbling in space, created in 1950-51, fetched $19.3 million, above the $12 million high estimate.

It is from an edition of six. Another version sold for $18.5 million at Christie’s in May 2007, at the peak of the art market boom.

“There was an air of confidence in the room,” said Sandy Heller, a New York art consultant who advises hedge fund managers.

Picasso’s six-foot tall painting of a man in a jaunty yellow hat seated in an armchair — the 1969 “Buste D’Homme” – – fetched $10.4 million. Painted just five years before the artist’s death, it was estimated to sell for up to $12 million.

Andre Derain’s 1905 wildly colored waterscape, “Barques au port de Collioure” set an auction record for the artist, at $14.1 million. The winning bidder was Guy Bennett, former head of Christie’s New York Impressionist department, who cupped a phone to his ear as he bid.

Bank Collateral

More than a third of lots came from Reijtenbagh, a Dutch doctor-turned-investor who settled legal disputes over loans with three banks earlier this year; he sold 22 artworks for $58.5 million.

Some of works had previously been pledged as collateral for loans with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and ABM Amro Bank NV, according to the banks. The works are listed in the auction catalog as “Property from an Important European Private Collection.”

Reijtenbagh, with homes in New York, Monaco and Belgium, watched the sale from a darkened skybox, accompanied by his family. He sipped white wine as his collection found plenty of competition among bidders.

A Matisse-like 1910 Kees van Dongen painting “Jeune Arabe,” with a swaggering tangerine-toned man, was his most coveted work. The painting fetched $13.8 million from an anonymous phone bidder, topping the $10 million estimate and setting a record for the artist.

Smaller Sale

While Sotheby’s sale bested rival Christie’s this week, the auction was smaller than its $269.7 million sale in November 2007, when 10 lots sold for more than $10 million each. Last night five lots surpassed $10 million.

Modern art wasn’t the only material in demand. The heirs of famed Impressionist art merchant Paul Durand-Ruel, who died in 1922, sold paintings by Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, raking in $18.9 million.

One of the artist’s great-grandsons, private dealer Lionel Pissarro, placed the winning bid on a $7 million 1898 Pissarro of an industrial landscape “Le Pont Boieldieu et la Gare d’Orleans, Rouen, Soleil,” with puffy clouds and polluting smokestacks.

Estimates do not include commissions, which are 25 percent on the first $50,000, 20 percent between $50,000 and $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million.

Igår var det auktion på Sotheby’s. Det auktionerades ut Livestrong-cyklar och allt går förstås till Lance Armstrong Foundation. Den dyraste blev den här Damien Hirst-designade Trek Madone’n. Innan du läser vidare, gissa vad den såldes för.

Cykeln som Lance använde på Champs Elysses gick lös på en halv miljon dollar. Nej det var inte jag som köpte den. Hyundaien är inte intecknad haha