Impressionist, Modern Art Fetches $290mn in New York

Sotheby's on Wednesday auctioned off more than $290 million in impressionist and modern art in New York with old favorites Picasso, Monet and Giacometti commanding the highest bids.

The flagship November evening sale attracted record interest from Asian and Latin American buyers, underscoring extraordinary growth in an increasingly global market.

The top lot was a bronze bust by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti of his brother Diego, considered one of his best sculptures, which went for $50 million, its highest pre-sale estimate.

A 1935 Pablo Picasso portrait of his muse and mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, who was pregnant at the time, also sold for $39.9 million, well over its estimated $20-$30 million.

Picasso's "Mousquetaire a la pipe" set a new auction record for a late work by the artist, going for just under $31 million soaring above its pre-sale estimate of $12-18 million.

Another record was set a piece of work by Italian futurist Giacomo Balla, whose "Automobile in corsa" sold for around $11.5 million, although just below the estimate of $12-18 million.

There was also strong sales of work by French favorite Claude Monet, whose "Glacons, effet blanc" led at $14.25 million.

Sotheby's haul of $290 million is its second highest for impressionist and modern art at an evening sale after May 2012 when Edvard Munch's "The Scream" sold for $119.9 million, the most expensive piece of art ever sold in the world.

Most of the 64 lots, including the top five selling works, had never before been offered at auction, a key factor that drove sales, Sotheby's officials said.

One of the most marked trends of the evening was the continued power of Asian bidding, said David Norman, co-chairman of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's.

"We've just seen an explosive growth. This is a very sophisticated group of buyers. They enter the market at the highest level... It's really quite extraordinary," he said.

Sotheby's success came one day after rival auction house Christie's fell short of expectations, netting $144.3 million for its own sales in impressionist and modern art.

The house initially estimated sales at $188.8 to $277.7 million.

Next week are the sales of post-war and contemporary art, which feature some of the finest masterpieces of 20th century art and will be the highlights of New York's November auction season.