Art News

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sales Series Totals $360 Million

NEW YORK, NY.- The May sales series of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s New York totaled $360,029,725/ £238,430,281/ €279,092,810, concluding two remarkable days of sales that yielded a new world record for the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction. On Tuesday evening, Christie’s sold Pablo Picasso’s 1932 masterpiece, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody for a record $106.5 million. Wednesday’s Works on Paper and Day sales also yielded positive results, totaling $24,481,725/£16,213,063 / €18,978,081, with 84% of lots sold and 81% sold by value. The top lot was the sale’s cover image, Paul Klee’s Reifendes Wachstum (Ripening Growth), a watercolor and collage work from 1921 which sold for $1,142,500/£756,622 / €885,658. With the results of Tuesday’s Evening Sale,