In a strong start to its 20th century art sales launched at its London and New York headquarters on Monday, Christie’s sold a group of eight drawings from the family collection of London dealer Thomas Gibson for a collective $25.3 million, well above its estimate of $15.8 million.
Across the several sales held at the house’s New York and London salesrooms beginning on March 1, Christie’s reported a net total of $61 million, realizing a combined sell-through rate of 98 percent.
Leading the works on paper sale was a rare drawing of a French girl by Vincent van Gogh titled La Mousmé (1888). Executed near the end of the artist’s life, the Japonisme-inspired drawing of the young sitter went for £7.5 million ($10.4 million) with fees, against an estimate of $7 million. Acquired by Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum in 1943, following the war-time persecution of its original Jewish owners Kurt and … Read the rest