Christie’s closes the exceptional 20th Century Art Week in Paris with a combined total of €33,367,410

On 4 April, the week opened with the Art Impressionniste & Moderne : Œuvres choisies sale which realised €20,687,400. Christie’s Paris set three new world auction records for the sale of works by the biggest names in Impressionist and modern art. Henri Matisse’s Nu Couché II led the way realising €4,482,000 – a new auction record for this model, followed by Auguste Rodin’s Le Baiser, Barbedienne Cast, 3rd reduction which fetched €756,000 and Camille Claudel’s Çacountala sold for €302,400.

The following day, the Art Impressioniste & Moderne sale produced similarly stellar results. The top lots of the sale were a marble by Jean (Hans) Arp which doubled its estimate, selling for €604,800 and Balthus’ Portrait of Laurence B. which fetched €201,600 – more than 10 times its estimate.

The online auction Chagall and Music: Works from the artist’s estate sold 100% by lot and totalled €5,370,750, demonstrating a keen enthusiasm among collectors. The work on paper Orphée fetched €378,000, the top price achieved in the sale.

Other notable results included two preemptions by the Musée National Marc Chagall in Nice – each artwork realising well above their high estimates. To end this extraordinary week, the last part of the online sale Roland Petit & Zizi Jeanmaire : Un patrimoine pour la danse achieved a total of €367,542.