Gustave Courbet’s Le chasseur d’eau
As we have seen with many of the 19th-century sales, the results come down to the condition, quality and estimate ranges. When they are all aligned things go well, when they are not then trouble arises.
George Clausen’s Holiday Time
I decided to watch this sale live (yes, I sat in the room from beginning to end). As you would expect, they started with lot 1, a painting by H.C. Delpy. The small Barbizon landscape was estimated to bring $10-15K and bidding started at $700 (no, I am not missing a zero). There wasn’t much action, but the auctioneer was able to get it up to $1,300 and it sold! After that happened, I figured we were in for a nauseating ride … thankfully, things got a little better. In fact, of the first 26 lots, only 2 failed to find buyers … then it got a little choppy (10 of the next 23 were bought-in), but I managed to make it through without getting seasick.
Louis de Schryver’s Marchand de fleurs, la rue du Havre, Paris
Taking the number one spot was Gustave Courbet’s Le chasseur d’eau at $500K ($615 w/c – est. $500-700K) – it last sold in 1998 for $256K. Coming in a close second at $430K ($531K w/c – est. $250-350K) was George Clausen’s Holiday Time, which saw some active bidding; and third place was nabbed by de Schryver’s Marchand de fleurs, la rue du Havre, Paris that brought $420K ($519K w/c – est. $300-500K) – this one last sold in 2016 for $225K. The fourth spot was filled by Grimshaw’s Spirit of Night at $290K ($363K w/c – est. $300-500K). This was not one of the fresher works … in 2002 it brought $538K, in 2015 is was offered with a $700-1M estimate and bought-in, and in 2016 they tried again at $600-800K and no takers. Rounding out the top five were Lhermitte’s La vendange à Mont-Saint-Père (est. $200-300K) and Gérôme’s Pygmalion et Galatée, esquisse à l’huile (est. $100-150K), both of which hammered down at $240K ($300K w/c).
While there weren’t many other true highlights, there were some sizable failures. Bouguereau’s L’Attente (est. $600-800K), Boldini’s L’amica del marchese (est. $300-500K), Gervex’s Une séance du jury de peinture – étude ($300-500K), and Sala’s The Anichkov Bridge on Nevsky Prospekt at Dusk, St. Petersburg (est. $150-250K) all failed to entice some bidding.
By the time the final lot came across the block (and failed to sell), 64 of the 87 lots found buyers (73.6% sell-through rate – pretty respectable), and they generated $5.05M ($6.29M w/c). Sadly, even with the buyer’s premium, they fell just short of their expected low end – $6.33M. Of the 87 works offered, 19 were below, 30 within, and 15 above their estimates; this left them with an accuracy rate of 34.5% (which is ok).
Stay tuned, May is here and you know what that means – more sales!