Edourard Manet’s self portrait was sold by Sotheby, London for $33.1 million (22.4 pounds) on Tuesday. Setting a record for the artist at the auction the painting is one of the two self-portraits by the artist and the only one in private hands.
The expected pre-sale value was 20-30 million pounds. Only one bidder from New York, Franck Giraud had made the offer. Overall the auction fetched 112.1 million pounds which was within expectation of 101-148 million pounds but towards the lower end.
Sixteen of the fifty-one works did not sell. A New York dealer, Richard L. Feigen said that part of the issue remained in Manet’s not having the marquee appeal like Picasso and Giacommetti.
Steven A. Cohen who runs the SAC Capital Management was the owner of the painting and had reportedly paid $35-$40 million for the painting nearly a decade ago from art loving casino mogul Steve Wynn. Cohen himself moved on to the modern art, picking up a 1958 “Flag” painting by Jasper Johns for $110 million.
Three works were sold for eight figures at Sotheby’s which included ‘Self Portrait with a palette’, Andre Derain’s ‘Arbres a Collioure’ sold for 16.3 million pounds and Henri’s Matisse’s ‘Odalisques jouant aux dames’ sold for 11.8 million pounds.
via artdaily
