20th Centuary Art Auction

On Friday (6th June 2008), Christies of London hosted the 20th Century Art Auction with a special few paintings hidden within the catalogue.

LS Lowry, the 'matchstick men' painter was featured, including 'An Old Church' (1943) which was estimated as £1m but sadly didn't sell. (See picture right)

Also failing to sell at the auction was Lowrys' 1938 painting 'Manchester City vs Sheffield United' (see picture below). The painting did however sell after the auction to a private collector for an unknown price.

The biggest seller of the day however was 'A Cricket Match' which went for its top of the estimate at £770,000. I also mentioned in my previous blog about this auction that the canvas 'Seascape' was estimated at £250,000 which looked like a better deal than a house. Well it sold for £313,000, still worth the money, and guaranteed to increase in value.

Christies 20th Century Art collection sold for a total of £11.5 million pounds a Christies spokeswoman said in a post auction press release.

Claude Monet sells for $41m

"Le Pont Du Chemin De Fer A Argenteuil" (1873, see right) by Claude Monet sold yesterday for a record breaking $41,481,000 (£20.9m). Christies of New York ran the auction which set a new record for French impressionist artist.

The previous best for a Claude Monet was set last year when "1904 Nympheas" sold for $36.5m (£18.6m). Christies said the buyer wishes to remain anonymous, yet some sources are reporting the Nahmad family have purchased the painting.

Unseen 60 Year Old Lowry To Be Auctioned

In June Christies of London will see the sale of 4 Lowry canvases go up for auction with estimates at between £2m and £3m for the pieces.

Among these paintings is "An Old Church" (see left) Which hasn't been seen in public since 1940. The rare painting is expected to fetch £700,000 to £1m yet I expect it will go for a lot more. It may not sell as well as "Good Friday, Daisy Nook" (which sold last year for £3.8m) but £1m does seem a little low.

The second painting estimated at the same £1m mark is "Manchester City vs Sheffield United, 1938" whilst the 2 remaining paintings, "A Cricket Match" (not seen in the public for 10 years) could fetch £600,000 - £800,000. However, if your wallet won't stretch that far, "The Sea" is estimated at £250,000. Sounds like a better bet than a house at the moment!