Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modern art in Paris bought in $59.5m in sals from 107 lots sold but the bulk of that total came from Amadeo Modigliani’s Tete from 1910-1912 which set a record for a sale in France and a record for the artist.
Kelly Crow adds some details in the Wall Street Journal:
Only 10 of his 27 sculptures remain in private hands, with museums owning the rest, Christie’s said.
This 1910-12 work, which depicts the head of a woman with a tribal-mask of a face and a sweeping bouffant, comes from the storied collection of Gaston Levy, the founder of retail-chain Monoprix who bought “Tête” in 1927. Christie’s, which offered the work on behalf of Mr. Levy’s heirs, priced it to go for up to $7.2 million but wound up toggling 20 bidders over the course of a 10-minute bidding war. The winner chose to remain anonymous, the house said.
Christie’s Sells Modigliani for $52.6m (Wall Street Journal)