SOTHEBY'S New York | Lauren Gioia / Shannon Demers | Lauren.Gioia@Sothebys.com| Shannon.Demers@Sothebys.com| +1 212 606 7176
RECORD PRICES AT SOTHEBY'S SALES OF IMPORTANT JUDAICA AND
ISRAELI & INTERNATIONAL ART
-Mordecai Ardon's The Awakening Achieves Record Price for Any Israeli Artist at Auction-
Sotheby's 4 December 2014 Auctions Total $9.9 Million
NEW YORK, 4 December 2014 - Sotheby's sales of Important Judaica and Israeli & InternationalArt concluded Thursday evening with an outstanding total of $9,910,444. The Important Judaica auction well-exceeded its high estimate of $5.6 million, achieving $6,327,256. The sale saw 82.9% of all sold lots command prices at or above their pre-sale estimates. Leading today's auction was an illustrated prayer book from 1716 by the renowned scribe-artist Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer ben Elhanan Katz (above left), which sold for $875,000 (est. $550/750,000). Other highlights included a Hebrew Bible by Benayah ben Saadya ben Zechariah, who has long been acknowledged as the greatest scribe of Yemenite Jewry. The manuscript nearly tripled its high estimate of $300,000, selling for
$845,000.
Sotheby's sale of Israeli & International Art brought a strong total of $3,583,189, well within pre-sale expectations, and saw record prices achieved for two of Israel's top artists. Mordecai Ardon's The
Awakening soared to $821,000 - a record price at auction for any work by an Israeli artist (est.
$500/700,000). Renowned Israeli artist Reuven Rubin also reached new heights with his painting of the view seen from the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, selling for $653,000 (est. $350/550,000).
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*Estimates do not include buyer's premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium.
Images are available upon request
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