The Los Angeles Times reports that Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg will headline the spring round of Impressionist and modern art sales with works from Heinz Berggruen's collection, including five by Paul Cezanne and two by Vincent van Gogh, projected to bring $98.5 million to $135 million in total. The auction features Cezanne pieces such as La Montagne Sainte-Victoire valued at $35 million to $45 million, L’Allee a Chantilly valued at $10 million to $15 million, two portraits of a young girl with a doll (estimates $12 million to $18 million and $6 million to $8 million), and a flower garden drawing/painting estimated at $1.5 million to $2 million; the Van Goghs are also part of the Berggruen holdings in the sale.
Paul Cézanes La Montagne Sainte-Victoire, 1888/90, erzielt 84,5 Millionen Mark bei Phillips in New York, der höchste Preis für ein Landschaftsbild Cézanne. Cézannes Allee von Chantilly I, 1888, versteigert für 20,57 Millionen Mark. Das Porträt Junges Mädchen mit Puppe, 1902/04, brachte 36,3 Millionen Mark ein. Vincent van Goghs Rohrfederzeichnung Weizenernte vor der Stadt Arles erzielte 9,68 Millionen Mark. Nebenforderungen: Cézannes Mädchen mit Puppe und van Goghs Herbstgarten fanden keine Käufer. Gesamtbetrag der Berggruen-Bilder 64,7 Millionen Dollar laut Korrektur; ursprüngliche Schätzung lag bei 35–45 Mio USD (angebliche Gesamt- und Kommentarstellen variieren).
The Berggruen sale in New York fetched a record price for a Cézanne landscape, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire (1888–1890), sold for 38.5 million dollars; the painting was part of the Berggruen collection previously acquired in 1982 from George Embiricos.
Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles are depicted in a Jeff Koons porcelain statue from the Banality series, which sold for $5.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York in 2001.
The page reports on a Sotheby’s auction where a ceramic Michael Jackson statue with his chimp Bubbles sold for 5.6 million dollars, and Jackson Pollock’s 1951 Black and White Number 6 fetched 7.9 million dollars; both were anonymous winning bidders, and the Michael Jackson sculpture set a record for a work by pop artist Jeff Koons.
Jeff Koons created a porcelain sculpture of Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee Bubbles that sold at Sotheby's in New York for a record price of almost £4 million. The piece was bought by an anonymous telephone bidder, believed to be a private collector, from Lew Manilow of Chicago, who had been selling it.
Maurizio Cattelan's sculpture La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour) sold for $886,000 at Christie’s, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. The work features a wax figure of Pope John Paul II felled by a meteorite in a room-sized installation, with shattered glass from the skylight impact.
Bacon Estate v Marlborough gallery to go to High Court in January (The Art Newspaper, May 31, 2001) reports that the Francis Bacon Estate’s lawsuit against Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd and Marlborough International Fine Art Establishment will proceed to trial in London’s High Court after a May 15 judgment by Mr Justice Patten. The case could reveal details about Bacon’s finances and private life, and involves the estate’s claim, which may reach up to £100 million; the proceedings likely to start in January. The executor is Prof. Brian Clarke, and John Edwards is the estate’s beneficiary.