Sothebys : Sotheby's London June 2017 Impressionist & Modern Art Sale Series Totals

Press Release

June 2017

Mitzi Mina | Mitzi.Mina@Sothebys.com | Sarah Rustin | Sarah.Rustin@Sothebys.com | Melica Khansari | Melica.Khansari@Sothebys.com

+44 (0) 207 293 6000

Sales of Impressionist & Modern Art* up 29% in Pounds/ 11% in Dollars on Last Year's Equivalent Series

Participation from Over 47 Countries Across the Sale Series

strong prices - memorably highlighted by the double-bill of record prices for Kandinsky last night

- are also reflected in the notable prices achieved for works spanning paintings, works on paper and sculpture at each of the price points offered across the sale series. There's no doubt that collectors are extremely discerning, but the sustained market momentum we've experienced as clients were drawn from a broader international spectrum than ever before reflects the quality of the works we were entrusted with offering - underscored by the white-glove result for the wonderful Bloch sculpture collection today."

Below is an overview of the sales and highlights that drove this week's results:

IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART EVENING SALE

Auction Total: £127.9m / $161.3m / €145.7m Full Post-Sale Press Release HERE

Bild mit weissen Linien (1913)

Sold for £33m / $41.6m - Record Price for the Artist

The night was led by Kandinsky's powerful abstract masterpiece Bild mit weissen Linien from 1913, which was driven by a prolonged bidding battle to break the auction record for the artist. A profoundly important work that hails from a landmark moment that fundamentally changed the way art was conceived and understood, it reveals the artist's discovery that colour could become the principal subject of a painting. Virtually all of the significant paintings of 1913 are in major museum collections, and this work was appearing on the open market for the first time.

Only minutes - and six lots - prior to this, Kandinsky's Murnau - Landschaft mit grünem Haus from 1909 sold for what was a record £21 million / $26.4 million. One of the finest early works by Kandinsky left in private hands, this painting made its auction debut having remained in the private collection of the same family since the 1920s. A major Expressionist painting of blazing colour, it captures the moment of transition in the artist's career when he was on the cusp of moving from figuration to abstraction. Together with 4 Figuren auf 3 Quadraten from 1943, a late work illustrating Kandinsky's interest in tribal iconography and geometry, the total achieved for Kandinsky tonight was £54.4 million / $68.6 million.

Femme et oiseaux (1940)

Sold for £24.6m / $31m - Record Price for the Artist in Sterling

Another major auction benchmark was set by Joan Miró's Femme et oiseaux, which achieved a new record for the artist in sterling - a price that also marks the third highest result for a work on paper by a Western artist**. A mesmerising example of Miró's celebrated lyricism and freedom of expression during WWII, the work is the eighth of the extraordinary series of twenty-three Constellations - one of the most significant bodies of work by any 20th century artist. Offered at

auction for the first time in 30 years, it was the first of the Constellations to appear on the open market since an auction at Sotheby's in 2001. The previous record for Miró was set for Peinture (Étoile Bleue), which sold at Sotheby's London in 2012 for £23.6 million / $37.1 million.

The strength of results for sculpture, following on from the demand seen in Sotheby's May New York sales, carried through to this week's sales - led by Alberto Giacometti's Grande figure (1947). A further sculpture by the artist, Femme debut sans bras from 1958, was competed for by four bidders to double its pre-sale high estimate at £2.2 million / $2.7 million.

Lot 48 - Record for a Work on Paper by Paul Klee in GBP

Salon Tunisien

Sold for £2m / $2.6m (est. £1.5-2m)

Lot 59 - Record for Théo van Rysselberghe

L'Escaut en amont d'Anvers, le soir

Sold for £8.5m / $10.7m (est. £7-10m)

• Four lots sold for over £10 million.

• Participation from 37 countries - with 20% of lots sold to Asian collectors, 20% to the US and the remainder to Europe and beyond

• Sell-through rate: 73.9%

• The total represented an increase of 24% (GBP) / 6.2% (USD) over the equivalent auction last year

• Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Evening pre-sale estimate: £110.6-142.6m / $141.2- 182.1m / €126.4-162.9m

ACTUAL SIZE: A CURATED EVENING SALE

Auction Total: £20.9m / $26.4m / €23.8m

Still life of flowers in a Berkemeijer glass beaker (1610)

Sold for £2.9m / $3.7m - Record Price for the Artist in Sterling

The curated Actual Size evening auction of small-scale artworks that pack a punch was led by an extremely well-preserved and jewel-like still-life of flowers by Ambrosius Bosschaert - the 'father of still-life painting' by whom only 50 works are documented. The work was both won and underbid by Asian private collectors, pushing the price to an auction record for the artist in sterling.

Buste de femme couchée (1970)

Sold for £2.4m / $3m

An intimate depiction of Picasso's final muse Jacqueline Roque, coloured in a delightfully vivacious palette, was eagerly competed for by eight bidders both in the room and by phone - more than doubling its high estimate of £900,000. Works by Picasso performed well throughout the auction, with six works together totalling £7.9 million / $9.9 million.

Strawberries (1950)

Sold for £1.2m / $1.5m - Record for a Still-Life by the Artist

A small group of luscious strawberries, painted by Lucian Freud at the height of his fascination with the still-life paintings of the Old Masters, soared above its high estimate to bring £1.2 million - or £120,875 a strawberry. A record for a still-life by the contemporary master.

o Actual Size pre-sale estimate: £19.3-27.9m / $25-36.1m / €22.1-31.9m

• Over 20% of were purchased by collectors from Asia

• Sell-through rate: 65.7%

• Over half of the works sold for above their pre-sale high estimates

IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART DAY SALE

Auction Total: £19.6m / $24.9m / €22.3m

Every work in the rare group of twenty-two sculptures from a collection passionately assembled by Mary and George Bloch found a buyer, bringing a combined total of £7,968,000 /

$10,106,611 (est. £4-5.8m) with over 70% of pieces exceeding their pre-sale high estimates. The selection was led by Henry Moore's bronze Reclining Figure from 1957, which sold to an Asian Private Collector at £932,750 / $1.2m, and Barbara Hepworth's Group of four (Cornwall) of 1965, which was acquired by a private collector from the US for £752,750 / $954,788.

Encompassing the full sweep of 20th-century sculpture - through figurative and abstract work, the diverse approaches of male and female artists, and disparate geographical origins (from Taiwan to Cornwall to the Côte d'Azur) - 'Taking Shape' gave insight into a couple who were ahead of the curve in their approach to collecting. The group encompassed important pieces by a diverse group of international artists - acquired before a number of them had found international recognition - uniting European Modernism, the height of post-war British art, as well as the roots of Cubism and kinetic experimentation. Full Pre-Sale Press Release HERE

Rives de l'Eure en été (1899)

Sold for £500,750 / $635,151 - Record Price for the Artist

One of the standout Post-Impressionist offerings of the sale, Gustave Loiseau's idyllic depiction of the verdant poplar trees on the riverbanks of the river Eure soared above its pre-sale high estimate of £250,000-350,000 to set a new auction record for the French painter. Owned by