The Big Lot, Léger‘s “Study for ‘The Woman in Blue,'” 1919 (above), achieved a hammer price of $35 million—at the low end of its $35-45 million presale estimate, but enough to set a new auction record for the artist. There have been two unsold lots in the front 20. Only two sold below estimate.
More to come. It’s not over till it’s over.
UPDATE: More records, more buy-ins. Munch‘s “Girls on a Bridge,” 1902, set an auction record for the artist, with a hammer price of $27.5 million. A new auction record for a Giacometti painting was achieved by “Portrait of Caroline,” 1963, with a hammer price of $13 million. There have been a total of five unsold lots on the front 30.
SECOND UPDATE: There’s only one big-ticket buy-in in this sale: Léger‘s “La Partie de Campagne,” unsold at $10.5 million, against an estimate of $12-18 million.