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19th Century European – Christie’s London

August 23, 2018
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Ernst “In the Mosque”

Let’s wrap up those July sales over in London… the last of the bunch was Christie’s 19th Century European and Orientalist Art on July 12th, and the results weren’t great… I could have told you that before I even looked at any of the numbers – why? Because as usual, when Christie’s doesn’t have some impressive results to write about they don’t write anything… no press release, no auction results, and on top of that, they pull the unsold works from the website which makes it a bit more difficult to get an understanding of what happened – so much for transparency.

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Ernst “Le Marchand de coquillages…”

As I alluded to, the numbers weren’t through the roof… in fact, only the top lot eclipsed the $100,000 mark and we waited a long time for it to come… it wasn’t until lot 81 (of 95) that we saw something impressive – the lone star lot of the night. The work, In the Mosque by Rudolf Ernst was only expected to bring between £100-150K but far surpassed that mark as it sold for a bit over £488K ($626K). It seems the work has never appeared at auction before, and Christie’s did not provide any provenance to accompany the lot… without much else to go on, I have to believe the “freshness” of the material accounted for the elevated price-point.

Falling to second was another piece by Ernst – Le Marchand de coquillages… it was expected to bring between £80-120K and fell right in the middle at an even £100k ($128K). Provenance on the work dates back to 1908 when it made just 475 francs… a few years later it was exhibited at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees and was resold for 1,200 francs – for more than 100 years, the work has since remained in the same collection in Fontenay-aux-Roses in France, where Ernst himself died in 1932.

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Corot

There was a three-way tie for third… lots 6 (Corot), 35 (Ziem) and 85 (Fausto Zonaro) all came in at £93,750 including premiums ($120K).  The large and uninspiring Corot was expected to bring £80-120K… it depicts a group gathering under trees along the water’s edge at sunset… a scene that would make for a tranquil picture yet the messy brushwork and sketchy feel in conjunction with the muted palette of browns and yellows leaves more to be desired. The work was last sold in 1986 through Sotheby’s London and has remained with the buyer since.  The Ziem was also expected to bring between £80-120K… the only record of sale was in 1901 in Paris, though no price was provided. Featuring Saint Georges leading a procession before Saint Mark’s Basilica, this work appeared thin and sketchy while lacking contrast and vibrancy – probably why it failed to hit its estimate (before you factor in the buyer’s premium). The last of the three, Zonaro’s  A view of Constantionple…, was only projected to bring £60-80K, so it performed relatively better than the Corot and Ziem.  This canvas felt fresh and lively composed of luscious greens and blues surrounding the town below – it’s no surprise this one went above its estimate.

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Ziem

As always, there were a handful of lots that failed to sell… unfortunately, this time around there were a few that really impacted the bottom line… a Corot estimated at £100-150K; a large interior by Mihaly Munkacsy estimated at £200-300K; a Boldini estimated at £250-350K; and a work by Franz Von Stuck estimated at £200-300K – all estimated higher than the Ernst that made the top price.

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Zonaro

In the end, 68 of the 95 works found a buyer, yielding a 72% sell-through rate. Even with the strong price the Ernst made along with the collective buyer’s premiums added in, the sale could not make up for the failures and still fell short of the estimate… as a whole, Christie’s expected to bring in a minimum of £2.79M yet the sale totaled just £2.47M.

 

 

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