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Berthe Morisot
(1841-1895), "Après le
déjeuner", painted in
1881, signed 'Berthe
Morisot', oil on canvas,
81 x 100 cm.
AUCTION RESULTS INTERNATIONAL THE MAGAZINE
£6,98M
Success for the girls
This was the best total – £136.46 M – ever obtained in a February auction! Christie's satisfaction is all the more
understandable in that the lots offered on 6 February in London sold 89% by number and 94%, by value – ten of them
for over £3 M, and 32 for over £1 M. The sale was one with a strong feminine influence in terms of both artist and
subject. For example, the top bid (£26.92 M) went to Modigliani's elegant "Portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne in a large hat",
a painting from 1919 whose first owners included Léopold Zborowski, the painter's friend and dealer, and Paul
Guillaume, also a prime supporter of the Italian artist. Next, at £9.67 M, came Renoir's "L’Ombrelle" of 1878 in the purest
Impressionistic vein, while a 1960 "Nu féminin accroupi" by Picasso inspired a battle up to £7.32 M. Shortly before, a
superb Berthe Morisot from 1881 entitled "Après le déjeuner" set a new record for the artist (and for any painting by a
woman) when it fetched £6.98 M, light years ahead of its estimate, £2M. We regretfully leave these feminine successes
for two landscapes with similar dates and sizes: a 1909 "Vue de Murnau" by Kandinsky, and "Arbres à la maison bleue",
painted three years earlier by Maurice de Vlaminck. They sold for £6.76 and £3.40 M respectively. Like these landscapes,
"Le Plagiat", a Magritte from 1940 (now the joy of a collector), sold for a fine sum: £5.19 M. In fact, all the Surrealist works
by the Belgian painter achieved excellent prices. Xavier Narbaïts
N° 23 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
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