Sotheby’s is trying to generate interest in their Nov. 4th sale of 19th Century art by getting Demi Moore’s name attached to two of the lots. Carol Vogel had the exclusive yesterday with the details of Ms. Moore’s buying prices:

So in 1995, when “Frère et Soeur,’’ an 1887 canvas of a young girl carrying her baby brother, came up for sale at a Christie’s auction in New York, she bought it for $178,500. It wasn’t all she purchased at that sale. Ms. Moore also snapped up a painting by the Belgian artist Alfred Stevens, from 1883, called “Mère et Ses Enfants,’’ for $200,500.

Moore may want to be seen as a market savant but there’s no getting around that the 19th Century market seems to be narrowing around some high value works. The rest of Sotheby’s sale of 82 works has 8 works estimated over $1 million for a total estimate at between $20 and $30 million.

19th Century Paintings – 4 November 2010

That’s So 19th Century: Demi Moore Rethinks Her Collection (Arts Beat/New York Times)