Auction Season Opens Strongly

While Sotheby's auction of Impressionist and modern art last night was a tame affair compared to the nearly half-billion dollar, record-breaking sale at Christie's this past November, it was still the second highest in Sotheby's 263-year history.

With a total take in excess of $278.5 million -- against a pre-sale estimate of $218.7 million to$295.8 million, it trailed only the May 1990 auction at the height of the boom in the Impressionist market..

Cezanne's Nature morte au melon vert brought the highest price, at $25.52 million -- including the buyer's premium of 20 percent on the first $500,000 and 12 percent on the remainder of the hammer price -- against an estimate of $14 million to $18 million.

The watercolor, once owned by legendary dealer Ambroise Vollard, was sold by London dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi, who had acquired it from the British Rail Pension Fund sale at Sotheby's in 1989. Eskenazi paid $4,301,990 for the piece then, a record for a work on paper by the artist that was shattered last night by a factor of almost six.

Larry Gagosian lost the still-life to an anonymous bidder, who went on to buy a number of other lots in the sale, including Paul Gauguin's Cavalier devant la case and Picasso's Femme nue assise.

A painting by the lesser-known artist Lyonel Feininger was, perhaps, the greatest surprise of the sale, fetching $23.28 million against an estimate of $7 million to $9 million. The piece, which depicts priests looking on a well-dressed woman who may be a prostitute, was the cover lot of the evening. It was quickly bid up from $5 million, sparking a war between two collectors. The lot more than tripled the record for the artist at auction.

That's not to say that the sale was without its disappointments. Matisse's Odalisque grise et jaune barely moved from its opening bid of $12 million, selling for more than $14.7 against an estimate of $15 to $20 million.

"It is a strong indication that the nights to come will follow this path," said Franck Giraud, a private dealer and former director of Impressionist and modern art at Christie's.

by Callen J. Bair

Photograph of Cezanne's Nature morte au melon vert courtesy of Sotheby's