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 Varo's 1960 "Hacia la Torre," (Towards the Tower) fetched
$4.31 million and Carrington's 1945 "The Temptation of Saint
Anthony" sold for $2.63 million on Monday evening at Sotheby's.
"There was more interest in them because the bidders were
interested in Surrealism as a field; they didn't care where the
artist was from," said Axel Stein, Sotheby's Latin American art
chief, noting that bids came from the Western Hemisphere and
Europe.
At Christie's, Botero's "Adam and Eve," a bronze sculpture of a
corpulent and nude man and a woman, fetched $2.57 million. The
sculptures, coated in a dark brown patina, stand nearly 3.6
meters (12 feet) tall.
The works in the Sotheby's auction came from the collection of
Mexican tycoon Lorenzo Zambrano, who led global cement company
Cemex until his death in May at age 70.
In total, Sotheby's sale totaled $17.6 million. Christie's
auction, also on Monday evening, fetched $20.18 million.
Both the Varos and Carrington works set records for the artists.
Varos' "Hacia La Torre" evokes her days in a convent school in
her native Spain, Stein said.
ROBED SCHOOLGIRLS
It depicts six elongated robed schoolgirls, with apprehensive
looks, exiting a 12-tower building. A circle of swooping black
birds guard them, preventing their escape, according to the
artist.
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The work by the English-born Carrington portrays three faces of a
frail bearded St. Anthony, enveloped in a torn dirty white canopy,
his feet at the edge of a turbulent azure river, which pours out of
an earthenware jug.
The Christie's sale also set an artist auction record for Uruguayan
Juan Manuel Blanes, whose "Aurora," painted about 1879-1885, which
went for $905,000.
At Sotheby's, other auction records were set for Mexican Angel
Zarraga, whose "Futbolistas en el Llano," (Soccer players on the
Plains), went for $929,000 and for Cuban-born Tomas Sanchez, whose "Meditador
y Laguna Escondida en el Bosque" (Meditator and Hidden Lagoon in the
Forest) fetched $653,000. Nicaraguan Armando Morales' "Selva
Tropical" (Tropical Jungle) sold for $521,000 and Mexican Rodolo
Nieto's "La Raison du plus Fort" (The Reason of the Strongest)
fetched $497,000, also setting records.
On Tuesday, Christie's and Sotheby's hold more Latin American art
auctions.
(Editing by Richard Borsuk)
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