Jacques VILLON (1875-1963)

Considered an offshoot of Cubism, Section d’Or (Golden Section) artists are not as expensive as the hardcore Cubists like Picasso. While their prices have continued to climb (new record for Juan Gris this year), many works by the major avant-garde artists are still very cheap by comparison.

On 14 April, Christie’s Paris will sell 46 post-WWII works belonging to two European collectors.The sale is expected to generate close to EUR 1.5 million in turnover. Most of the artistic movements featured are French: New Realism, Figuration Libre, Figuration Narrative and a large selection of French post-war abstract art.

Sotheby’s has just made art market history. As we have been predicting since January (see AMI, 26 January 2004), we now have a new all-time record price for an artwork at auction: USD 93 million thanks to Pablo Picasso. Once taxes and commission are included, this was also the first time a painting has broken USD 100 million.

The Carré auction gets down to business: 85% of lots sold exceed their high estimates

Paris hosted an auction festival on 9-10 December. New auction house Dassault held its inaugural sale — breaking up the legacy of Olga Carré, widow of gallery owner Louis Carré — and confounded even the most optimistic forecasts. Piasa and Artcurial-Briest should be well satisfied.