Sotheby’s had an exciting and unexpected sale of Danish works yesterday:

Sotheby’s in London, Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Ida Reading a Letter sold for £ 1,721,250 / Danish Krone 15,747,499 / US$ 2,677,232,  surpassing its pre-sale estimate of £500,000-700,000 / Danish Krone 4.57 – 6.4 million / US$800,000-1,120,000, and establishing a record for the artist at auction and a record for any Danish work of art at auction.  The painting was hotly pursued by three bidders on the telephones, before finally selling to an International Private Collector. The price achieved was almost three times above the previous record.

The previous record for a work by Hammershøi at auction was established at Sotheby’s on 13 June 2006 when Interieur med staffeli, Bredgade 25 (Interior with easel, Bredgade 25), painted circa 1910, sold for £590,400.

The four other works by Hammershøi sold at Sotheby’s in London:

Lot 31, Interior with Two Candles, painted in 1904, sold for £ 1,105,250 / Danish Krone 10,111,793 / US$ 1,719,106  against an estimate of £400,000-600,000.

Lot 29, Ida in anInterior, also painted in 1904, sold for £ 668,450 / Danish Krone 6,115,565 / US$ 1,039,707  against an estimate of £250,000-350,000.

Lot 32, Ida Standing at a Desk, painted in 1900, sold for £ 457,250 / Danish Krone 4,183,322 / US$ 711,207  against an estimate of £200,000-300,000

Lot 33, Strandgade with Christians Kirke in the background, painted in 1907, sold for £ 361,250 / Danish Krone 3,305,031 / US$ 561,888  against an estimate of £100,000-150,000.