Gauguin Semi-Nudes Lead $437 Million of London Auctions
Bloomberg/Culture By Linda Sandler
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Gauguin's ``Deux Femmes,'' depicting a duo of gold-skinned South Sea women in a mauve-walled room, will be the priciest -- if not the most admired -- painting at next week's London auctions.
Sotheby's Holdings Inc. has a top value of 14 million pounds ($25 million) for the 1902 picture, painted after Gauguin left Tahiti for Hivaoa island. Christie's International and Sotheby's will offer as much as 245 million pounds ($437 million) of art starting on Feb. 6, including later 20th- and 21st-century works by Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Martin Kippenberger.
Gauguins and Monets that starred in the 1980s have been laggards in the latest 10-year run-up of art prices, and now may be rising faster than contemporary works. A European impressionist index advanced 17 percent last year, while contemporary art added 13.8 percent, according to index-maker Art Market Research.
``People are becoming more learned in their buying and less just flinging around the dough,'' said Michael Steinhardt, a former hedge-fund manager in New York whose collection runs from Picasso to an ancient bronze gorgon. As they become connoisseurs, collectors see more value in an impressionist or old master painting than in a Damien Hirst, he said.
Among the sellers, Fred Olsen, the Norwegian ship-owner, will liquidate eight paintings by Edvard Munch at Sotheby's. Their combined high estimate is about 11 million pounds.
More:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=aj_cP8HCBnQ0&refer=culture
Sotheby's Holdings Inc. has a top value of 14 million pounds ($25 million) for the 1902 picture, painted after Gauguin left Tahiti for Hivaoa island. Christie's International and Sotheby's will offer as much as 245 million pounds ($437 million) of art starting on Feb. 6, including later 20th- and 21st-century works by Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Martin Kippenberger.
Gauguins and Monets that starred in the 1980s have been laggards in the latest 10-year run-up of art prices, and now may be rising faster than contemporary works. A European impressionist index advanced 17 percent last year, while contemporary art added 13.8 percent, according to index-maker Art Market Research.
``People are becoming more learned in their buying and less just flinging around the dough,'' said Michael Steinhardt, a former hedge-fund manager in New York whose collection runs from Picasso to an ancient bronze gorgon. As they become connoisseurs, collectors see more value in an impressionist or old master painting than in a Damien Hirst, he said.
Among the sellers, Fred Olsen, the Norwegian ship-owner, will liquidate eight paintings by Edvard Munch at Sotheby's. Their combined high estimate is about 11 million pounds.
More:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=aj_cP8HCBnQ0&refer=culture
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