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13th November 2010 news Trio make for strong series


RECORD prices for three European artists helped lift the latest round of Impressionist and Modern art sales in New York.


With the market much more selective


since the downturn two years ago and most of the competition focusing on the prize lots, the new saleroom highs for Henri Matisse, Juan Gris and Amedeo Modigliani provided further evidence of recovery at the top end. Making a combined $134.5m


(£87.9m), the trio contributed significantly to the auctioneers’ rising totals. Overall Sotheby’s and Christie’s sales


raised $465.5m (£304.3m) hammer (including day sales), significantly up on the $260m (£166m) for the equivalent series last year. The top lot of the series was Amedeo


Modigliani’s (1884-1920) Nu Assis sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine) which drew five bidders at Sotheby’s evening sale on November 2 and sold to a telephone bidder at $65.5m (£42.8m). This was above the pre-sale estimate “in excess of $40m” and broke the artist’s record which previously stood at €38.5m (£33.5m) for the limestone sculpture,


Tête, at Christie’s Paris in June. The price for the iconic c.1917 nude


was also well above the then-record $15.25m (£9.47m) which the work fetched last time it was auctioned, at Sotheby’s New York in November 1999. The Sotheby’s sale made a hammer


total of $200m (£131m), just over the lower end of the $195m-266m pre-sale estimate but significantly above last year’s $159m (£101m). Of the 61 lots, 46 sold. Elsewhere in the sale, a Claude


Monet (1840-1926) painting from his water lilies series took $22m (£14.4m) against a $20m-30m estimate, selling to an American collector, while the highest price for the seven works by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was the $18.5m (£12.1m) for the 1942 oil on canvas Danseuse dans le Fauteuil, Sol en Damier. Making its third appearance at auction within the last 10 years, it sold to a buyer bidding by phone through Mark Politmore, chairman of Sotheby’s Russian department in London. That price was trumped the night after


when Christie’s sold the large Matisse sculpture Back IV for a record $43.5m (£28.4m). Bought by dealer Larry Gagosian for


a client, the 6ft 3in (1.89m) high bronze cast of a woman with a ponytail went


well above the $25m-35m estimate and just pipped the previous saleroom high for the artist – the €32m (£28m) seen for the still life Les Coucous at Christie’s Yves Saint Laurent sale in Paris in 2009. The price seemed particularly high


considering this was the last of a set of four sculptural reliefs conceived between 1909 and 1930, but not cast until 1978 in an edition of 12. However, it was the first time a work from the celebrated Back series had come to auction. Another record at Christie’s was the


$25.5m (£16.7m) for the 1913 Cubist painting Violin and Guitar by Juan Gris (1887-1927) which sold to a European private buyer on the phone. Estimated at $18m-25m, it was the highlight of four works sold from the collection of American financier Henry Kravis and his wife Marie-Josée Kravis who is president of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. From the same source was Joan Miró’s


surrealist landscape L’Air which was knocked down below estimate at $9.15m (£5.98m) to London dealer Alan Hobart of the Pyms Gallery. Overall, Christie’s evening sale was


patchier than their rival’s. Although their $203m (£132m) hammer total was slightly higher, it was from a


Credit card fraud hits regional rooms continued from front page


counterfeit and the London address provided was a derelict house in Mitcham. As the cardholder was not present when the transactions were made, the auctioneers are liable for any losses and hold little hope of recovering the stolen goods. The diamonds obtained by this deception will


be virtually untraceable when removed from their mounts and recut. Credit card providers say the auctioneers


erred when agreeing to accept payment over the telephone across various cards, some of which were declined. In these circumstances the warning bells should have rung, but in practice such scenarios are not unknown when dealing with bona fide members of the trade. The auctioneers concerned have all expressed


frustration that on such occasions competition laws and the Data Protection Act prevent them from exchanging information regarding problem bidders, and in this case allowed the fraudster to operate for two weeks and at numerous salerooms. Moreover, to guard against similar damage


in the future, they expressed the need to adopt new industry-wide protocols when dealing with ‘persons unknown’ asking to pay by credit card. These may be prove unpopular in a business that has long operated on trust (see right) but are wholly understandable, both in the light of recent events and the increasing popularity of absentee bidding.


The police enquiry is in its early stages but


DC Amanda Carver of the Wiltshire Police is urging auction houses to be very cautious when accepting bids from new clients who ask to bid and pay in this way. If any auction houses have been approached with this method of operation, whether or not any offences have actually occurred, she asked if they could contact her on 0845 408 7000 ext 722544 or Amanda.carver@wiltshire.pnn.police.uk • This comes after a case was recently heard


in the High Court surrounding the issue of credit card authorisation when a London dealer took legal action against Natwest/RBS after he lost £359,000 worth of jewellery to a fraudster. The dispute arose after Mr Casey Conway of


Hatton Garden precious metals dealers Do-Buy 925 was offered a debit card as payment for a high value diamond ring and suite of jewellery. The prospective buyer provided a passport as identification but, after the chip and pin mechanism was unable to process such a large amount, Mr Conway phoned the bank to get authorisation for the transaction before releasing the goods. After receiving confirmation from the


bank, including an authorisation code for the transaction, he released the goods only to find out later that the transaction was declared invalid. The six-day hearing for the case concluded on


October 28 and both sides are awaiting a ruling. If Natwest lose the case it is expected they will appeal as the case could act as a legal precedent for banks to guarantee transactions.


Above: Nu Assis sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine) by Amedeo Modigliani that made a record $65.5m (£42.8m) at Sotheby’s New York.


greater number of lots. The total was just within the $199m-$287m pre-sale estimate but greatly up on the somewhat disappointing $56.9m (£36.2m) seen for the equivalent sale last year. Of the 84 works on offer, 67 sold.


Alex Capon


VENUE CHANGE The sale scheduled by Steven B Bruce auctioneers to take place in The Paddock Suite, Stratford upon Avon Racecourse on Saturday, November 13 will now be held in The Falstaff Suite (Centre Course). Tel: 07778 595952.


CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS


It is frequently the subject of some incredulity that, in the event of a ‘cardholder not present’ credit card transaction being annulled, it is the merchant and not the credit card company that stands the loss. In the light of the October credit card fraud, Halls of Shrewsbury have


introduced a new protocol for dealing with purchasers unknown to the firm (see below). Other regional auctioneers consider exercising similar precautions and contact their bank for up-to-date security advice.


BUYER REGISTRATION For ‘purchasers unknown’ the following identification is required: A copy of either passport or driving licence along with a copy of a recent bank statement or utility bill.


METHODS OF PAYMENT • Cash provided that the total does not exceed £15,000 • A recognised bank debit card • A direct bank transfer • A credit card up to a maximum of £5000 per auction transaction (incurs a 2.5% transaction fee). • A bank cheque with bank statement or utility bill • A banker’s draft with identification Transactions in excess of £5000 cannot be settled by credit card


RELEASE OF GOODS • Goods will not be released until full, cleared payment has been received. • Goods will only be handed over upon sight of a paid invoice. If a paid invoice is not produced, written authority from the purchaser and confirmation of all funds being cleared for payment of the account, will be required before any goods will be released. • When goods are collected by a non-recognised courier, photo identification will be required, a copy of which will be taken, along with a note of the registration number of the vehicle used. • For non-vehicular collections, production of photo ID and a recent bank statement or current utility bill will be required, a copy of which will be taken.


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