Two exquisite sculptures sell for USD 172 mn at NY auction

Two masterpieces of modern sculpture have been sold for nearly USD 172 million at auction in New York, a 1950 bronze by Alberto Giacometti for USD 101 million and a Modigliani for USD 70.7 million.
Auction house Sotheby's yesterday said the sculpture by Swiss artist Giacometti, "Chariot," is one of the seminal achievements of modern art.
It depicts a goddess frozen in motion and was considered a beacon of hope for the post-World War generation.
The record price for a Giacometti work at auction is USD 104.3 million, paid for "Homme qui marche I" at Sotheby's in 2010.
The identity of the buyer was not immediately known. The sculpture had been in the same private collection for four decades.

"Chariot" was the most expensive valued lot in a week of auctions at Sotheby's and rival Christie's, which began yesterday and last until November 12.

It was the highlight of Sotheby's evening sale, which as a whole fetched more than USD 422 million, the highest total for any auction in the house's history.
At the same sale, Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani's small sculpture "Tete" smashed pre-sale expectations by selling for USD 70.7 million.
Sotheby's said the price was an auction record for the artist.
"The market in the last 10 years or so has reappraised great sculpture," Simon Shaw, Sotheby's co-head of impressionist and modern art, told reporters.

"To have the Modigliani and the Giacometti achieve those exceptional prices tonight is something we're delighted about."
The Modigliani dates from 1911-1912, and is one in a series of rare sculptures carved from blocks of stone scavenged from construction sites across Paris.
It had been valued at USD 45 million.
Sotheby's said competition was intense and appetite great in the market for ever dwindling impressionist and modern masterpieces of museum quality.
"Sculpture has risen and taken its due," said David Norman, Sotheby's co-chairman of impressionist and modern art. "Today they're now rivalling the top prices for any art works," he said.

Of the paintings on offer, an Asian buyer snapped up Vincent van Gogh's "Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies" for USD 61.8 million, which surpassed its pre-sale estimate of USD 30-50 million.
The artist painted it three months before his death. The price was an auction record for any still life by the artist, said Sotheby's.