Christie's London Evening Sales: New Records for Salvo, Paula Rego, and Félix Vallotton

Christie's London closed Frieze week with two evening sales: the 20th/21st Century auction and the first sale from the Sam Josefowitz collection. The 20th/21st Century session achieved £96.5 million aggregate, with nine artist records across both sales. New records were set for Paula Rego (Dancing Ostriches from Walt Disney's 'Fantasia', £3 million), Félix Vallotton (Cinq heures, £3.7 million), and Salvo (Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle, £693,000). Other records included Aristide Maillol, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Pam Evelyn, Sahara Longe, Winston Branch, and Alvaro Barrington. The Josefowitz collection sale realized nearly £52 million, with top lot La Quiétude by Kees Van Dongen selling for £9.1 million (hammer) after a 15-minute bidding war. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Future Sciences Versus the Man sold for £8.8 million (hammer), below its £9 million low estimate. The sale also included bronzes of Buddha, Assyrian reliefs, and Japanese wooden sculptures from the 11th–13th centuries. Seven lots went unsold, including Paul Gauguin's Clovis endormi. The Josefowitz collection will continue with five more auctions in London and Paris through December.