Matisse painting sells for $33.6 million
Published on: 08-Nov-2007
A Matisse painting sold to an unidentified telephone bidder has fetched $33.6 million at auction, setting a new record.The picture, depicting a curvy young woman in green pantaloons, entitled L'Odalisque, Harmonie Bleu, realised the money at Christies auctioneers, New York.
It eclipsed the previous record of $21.7 million for a work by Matisse fetched by Sotheby's of London in June.
Total sales, which included paintings by such luminaries as Cezanne, Picasso and Signac, reached $349 million, the second highest ever achieved at auction.
The sale allayed fears of recent turbulence in the financial markets spilling over into the art world.
"I thought it was strong given what's been going on in the markets", Christopher Eykyn, a private dealer, told Bloomberg news.
"Expectations were somewhat dampened," he added.
Concerns about the effects of the fall-out from the general financial instability strengthened when the chief executives of Merril Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc. resigned over resultant losses.
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