| Connect to share and comment |
Jennifer MattsonJune 20, 2012 19:05
Joan Miro painting sells for record $37 million at Sotheby's auction
Sotheby's sale of Miro's "Peinture (Etoile Bleue)" was an auction record for the late Spanish artist.
Sotheby's sale of Miro's "Peinture (Etoile Bleue)" was an auction record for the late Spanish artist.
Enlarge
Joan Miro's 'Peinture (Etoile Blueu)' is placed on a wall at Sotheby's on June 14, 2012 in London, England. (Bethany Clarke/Getty Images)
A painting by the Surrealist Spanish artist Joan Miro sold for a record $36.9 million at a Sotheby's auction in London.
The Los Angeles Times reported the sale of Miro's "Peinture (Etoile Bleue)" was part of an auction of Impressionist and modernist paintings by well-known artists such as Pissarro and Kandinsky, which brought in a reported $117.7 million.
Although the painting set a world auction record, the New York Times called the auction "the thinnest evening sale of Impressionist and modern art held at Sotheby’s in a very long time" with 15 painting not even garnering a single bid.
According to Sotheby's, "Peinture (Etoile Bleue)" dates back to 1927 and was purchased by its most recent owner in a Paris sale in 2007.
It is part of Miró’s “dream paintings” series and was inspired by a circus act performed at the Cirque Medrano in Paris throughout the 1920s, the New York Times wrote.
Sculptor Henry Moore's "Mother and Child with Apple," which brought in approximately $5.8 million, also sold on Tuesday, the LA Times reported.
More from GlobalPost: Roy Lichtenstein's 'Sleeping Girl' expected to fetch $40 million at Sotheby's
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/culture-lifestyle/120620/joan-miro-painting-sells-record-37-million-at-sothebys-auctio
.
-
Photo
Jaume Plensa's "Tel Aviv Man" at Art Basel, the world’s premier trade fair for leading galleries and collectors focused on modern and contemporary art.
- [/] -
Photo
The front of the Art Basel building. This year’s show attracted 303 of the world’s top galleries from 36 countries, showing the works of more than 2,500 artists. It drew more than 62,000 visitors, a new record.
- [/] -
Photo
Platform Gallery's Chen Wei and one of his "Recovery Room" series at Liste Young Artist's show. By the time the week was over he had sold more than 10 works, with prices ranging from $1,800 to nearly $3,000.
- [/] -
Photo
A performance spectator admires some of the pieces at Basel Art.
- [/] -
Photo
A performance piece at Basel Scope, done by an unidentified nearly naked man who moved in slow motion up and down the aisles dressed like a Greek version of Mars, the god of war.
- [/] -
Photo
A performance piece at Scope. The man clutched a staff, on which a plastic container for motor oil with the BP logo was impaled.
- [/] -
Photo
An installation piece at Basel Art.
- [/] -
Photo
An installation piece with paper tubes at Basel Art.
- [/] -
Photo
A gallery scene at the Scope Basel show.
- [/] -
Photo
A sculpture of Sperone Westwater Gallery's employee, Michael Short, by Evan Penny.
- [/] -
Photo
Evan Penny's sculpture of Michael Short.
- [/] -
Photo
A woman views Jaume Plensa's "Tel Aviv Man," (Study) 2010, Galerie Lelong, Paris.
- [/] -
Photo
"Medusa marinara," 1997 — a photographic representation of the Medusa in spaghetti and tomato sauce by New York-based Brazilian artist, Vic Muniz.
- [/] -
Photo
Children play around Ai Weiwei's piece, "Field," 2010.
- [/] -
Photo
Heimo Sobernig's "Black Cube" sits on display outside outside.
- [/] -
Photo
A piece by Yayoi Kusama titled "Pumkin."
- [/]
Follow us: