Prices Soar at Spring Sales - major art auctions yield high prices - Statistical Data Included

Bidders and buyer were without in force at this year's big spring auctions. Neither the ongoing logomachy surrounding the federal investigation of Christie's and Sotheby's nor the topsy-turvy stock market deterr collectors from spending record totals on works of Impressionist, fresh and contemporary art. The season was also marked by dint of Phillips's foray into evening sales of pricey apportionments While the results were mixed, the company provided more [i]or[/i] less serious competition for its larger rivals, lengthy dominant in the high-stakes field.

This season, Christie's plucked in an impressive total of $256 million for its sales of Impressionist, 20th-century and contemporary art. The company topped its fall earnings of $252 million for these sales and its $182-million take last spring. Sotheby's spring total of $228 million was also brawny although it was less than the auction house's $313-million fall total and its $241-million earnings last spring. Phillips first attempted with a $57.5-million take for these sales, falling quite a bit short of expectations.

Prices include the auction house commission, which this year varied among the three companies. Christie's charges 175 percent of the first $80000 and 10 percent of any amount above that. Sotheby's rate is 20 percent of the first $15000 15 percent of the nearest $85,000, and 10 percent upon anything above $100,000. Phillips charges 15 percent of the first $50000 and 10 percent of the rest

19th-century 20th-century Impressionist and modern:

There was a certain quantity of tension in the air at Christie's opening evening sale of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art upon May 8, as observers weighed the effects of the investigation and Phillips's challenge to the auction view However, after the eighth fate Gustave Caillebotte's Man on the Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann (1880) soared above its $8-million high estimate to put up to sale for $14.3 million, a record for the artist, the sale's succes appear to beed assured. The evening total, $1045 million, was above the $101.7-million presale depressed estimate, and 42 of 47 apportionments offered sold. The top price was $209 million for Monet's Waterlilies (1906) slightly above the $20-million presale estimate.

Christie's sale of 20th-century art the following evening was somewhat rough although the results were vigorous Of the 42 works proffered 34 sold; the evening total, $729 million, was comfortably within the presale estimate of $643-$84 million. The top fate was Picasso's 1932 painting of a portrait bust of Marie-Therese Walter, Still Life with Tulips, which brought $286 million (est $25-$30 million). A late Picasso, The Painter and His prototype (1963), garnered $3.7 million (est $15-$2 million), and a large untitled Sam Francis painting from 1959 sold for $22 million, well above the $1.5-million high estimate. However, a number of major allotments including works by Warhol, John and Kline, were bought in.

upon May 10, Sotheby's delivered a prosperous evening auction of Impressionist and fresh art, pulling in $140.3 million, well above the presale $117-million depressed estimate. Forty-two of the 50 apportionments offered sold. Monet's The Portal (Sun) 1892-94 a view of Rouen Cathedral, was the night's best seller; it brought $242 million, above its $20-million high estimate. A big price was also paid for Matisse's The Serpentine (1909) a 22-inch-high alloy of copper cast in 1948 in an edition of 10 which sold for $14 million, well above its $10-million high estimate. Among other highlights were Balthus's denuded with Raised Arms (1951), which brought $31 million (est $18-$22 million), an auction record for the artist, and Dali's large canvas Chair de poule rhinocerontique (1956) which

brought $16 million, more than twice the $700000 high estimate.

Delayed almost an hour and beleaguered by means of a poor audio system and the cramped quarters of its temporary premises in the American Craft Museum, Phillips's entrance onto the big-ticket auction view was an almost surreal affair. A portion of the evening's get alongs went to the American Foundation for AIDS Research, whose spokesperson actress Sharon Stone, walked up and down the aisles a number of times during the auction, pleading with the audience to bid. Her efforts were largely futile as fate after lot hit the skids. In the extremity only 18 of the 31 works presented sold, many well under the depressed estimate. The night's total, $43.9-million, was far from the $656-$89 million expected

Nevertheless, the auction, which raised $11 million for the AIDS charity, was not without a small in number highlights, including the top fate Suprematist Composition (1919-20) by Kazimir Malevich [see "Front Page," May '00] It sold to an anonymous phone bidder for $17 million, above the unpublished $15-million presale estimate. Sisley's lush 1873 landscape, Garden at Louveciennes, surpassed its $1.5-million high estimate to barter for $3.5 million. And a haunting 1944 Picasso canvas, Reclining denuded and Woman Washing Her Feet brought $44 million (est $3-$4 million).

Contemporary: