Monet painting fetches £19.7mln at Sotheby’s

PanARMENIAN.Net - Confidence in the market for Impressionist and modern art was boosted last night in London as a $165 million auction beat its high estimate, helped by Claude Monet’s painting of a Venetian palazzo, Bloomberg reports.

“Le Palais Contarini,” dating from 1908, sold for 19.7 million pounds ($30.5 million) at Sotheby’s, becoming another profitable investment for its seller, the Nahmad family of dealers.

The evening’s 105.9 million pounds total with fees beat the 64.1 million pounds raised the previous night at Christie’s International, which had prompted dealers to question whether the houses should continue to hold four Impressionist and modern evening sales in New York and London each year.

“Sotheby’s had better material that was fresh to the market,” Fotini Xydas, adviser in Impressionist and modern art at Citibank N.A., said. “They had works from collections with reasonable estimates that made bidding competitive. Prices were solid and measured.”

The Monet attracted four telephone bidders, as well as an “irrevocable” bid from a third party guarantor. Purchased at auction in 1996 for $4.2 million, it had been estimated at 15 million pounds to 20 million pounds.

The painting had been entered by the Nahmads, who also consigned the two top lots at Christie’s, persons with knowledge of the matter said.