Farmer’s dance, a 211/2in x 121/2in (54.5 x 31cm) oil and mixed media on board in pointillist-inspired style, signed in hangui and roman letters, had been acquired by the vendor direct from the artist.
Sotheby’s expectations of £150,000-200,000 were left behind as a phone bidder battled against a hefty bid left on commission that finally secured the piece at £480,000,
setting a new auction high for the artist. The same commission bidder also included the artist’s Three Girls Playing, a smaller 51/2in x 31/4in (14 x 8.5cm) oil on board entered by the same vendor, signed in the same manner and dated 1964.
Farmer’s dance image reaps a record at £480,000
Korean Art: IT was the half dozen pieces of Korean works of art that rounded off the Japanese sale at Sotheby’s Olympia rooms on November 11 that provided the auctioneers with their sale highpoint in the form of this painting by Park Sookeun (1914-65), one the country’s most sought-after artists.
