Last April 4th, 104 French art pieces have been put up for auction by Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr at Drouot-Montaigne, following 48 high-quality contemporary art lots. The auction resulted in a total amount of € 3,765 million.

It was coordinated by contemporary art expert Stéphane Corréard, Head of Contemporary Art at Cornette de Saint Cyr auction house.

The Cornette de Saint Cyr auction house had entrusted Communic’Art with the media campaign surrounding this exceptional auction.

World records for 18 French artists :
Gil Wolman, €150,000 – Olivier Mosset, €46,250 -
Jean-Jacques Lebel, €23,750 …

Dedicated to French art between 1960 and 1980, the second part of the auction was truly a hit, with a total gain of €850,000 and world records for 18 of the 59 artists featured.

Among these exceptional hammer prices, Gil Wolman’s Ich Libede was sold for €150,000, three times the estimated price.

Several other French artists held collectors’ interest : Olivier Mosset, with a watercolor sold at €46,250 ; Alina Szapocznikow, Polish artist from France whose very rare ink on paper was bought at €23,750, a record price for a work on paper ; 1970s French art iconMichel Journiac also did well, selling his Hommage à Freud for €5,000.

Jean-Jacques Lebel’s achievements deserve to be noticed, with two artworks sold €21,250 and €23,250. The works of Robert Malaval, Noël Dolla (€16,875), André Raffray (€31,250) and French action group Présence Panchounette (€10,000) also came up from this French art selection.

Finally, a drawing from Jean-Marc Reiser hit a record price of €4,500 (estimated price : €1,200), a figure worth noticing as the « Drawing Now » fair closes in Paris.

Fine results for international contemporary art

Offered during the first part of the auction, before the French art selection, some of the 48 international contemporary art lots were welcomed by great bids: €892,000 for an oil painting by Zao Wou-ki, and €75,000 for a piece by Gustave Singier estimated €25,000. Highlight of the catalogue, a painting by Basquiat coming from a Spanish collection was purchased for €724,000.

Upcoming auction : Modern and Impressionist Art

June 9th, 2011, 8pm, Drouot-Montaigne

Coordinated by Constance Lemasson, Head of Modern and Impressionist Art at Cornette de Saint Cyr auction house.