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Described in the auction catalog as a masterpiece of Viennese
fin-de-siecle art, "Bauerngarten", completed in 1907, depicts
poppies, daisies, zinnia and roses in full bloom in a garden.
It was the star attraction at Sotheby's sale of impressionist,
modern and surrealist art, which took place on Wednesday
evening.
The auction as a whole netted $241 million, which Sotheby's said
was the highest total for any auction staged in London,
propelled particularly by Asian buyers.
"Tonight's outstanding result is a new benchmark for London
sales as much as it is a statement on the momentum of the global
art market in 2017," said Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby's
Europe, in a statement.
The two artworks that previously sold for higher prices at
European auctions were Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti's
"Walking Man I", which sold for 65 million pounds in 2010, and
Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens' "The Massacre of the
Innocents", which went for 49.5 million pounds in 2002.
Sotheby's said another highlight of its Wednesday sale was Pablo
Picasso's 1944 work "Plant de tomates", which sold for 17
million pounds.
The auction also set a record for a work by Alfred Sisley, a
British impressionist who worked mostly in France. His 1874
painting "Effet de neige a Louveciennes" sold for 7.4 million
pounds.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Toby Davis)
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