The sale was led by Brancusi’s (1876-1957) La muse endormie, an early cast from 1913 and the first in the artist’s series of ovoid sculptures.
The original marble version was carved in 1909-10 but this 10.5in (27cm) long bronze ended up being acquired by the French collector Jacques Ulmann in the 1950s and remained in his family ever since.
Drawing five interested parties and subject to a prolonged nine-minute bidding battle, it was eventually knocked down at $51m (£39.5m) to art adviser Tobias Meyer, the former worldwide head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s, who was in the room taking instructions from a client on his mobile phone.
Outstripping a $20m-30m estimate, it set the top price of the night. The sum was also a record for the artist, surpassing the previous high of €29.2m (£25.5m) posted back in 2009 for the larger 1914 sculpture Madame L.R. (Portrait De Mme L.R.) which sold in the sale of the Yves Saint Laurent collection at Christie’s Paris.
Picasso's Dora Maar portrait
Overall, the sale achieved a premium-inclusive total of $289m (£224m) with 43 of the 55 lots (78%) finding buyers. Christie’s said it was its highest total in this category since 2010.
Also making a significant contribution to the final figures was Picasso’s (1881-1973) Femme assise, robe bleue from 1939. The 2ft 5in x 2ft (73 x 60 cm) oil on canvas depicting the artist's model and muse Dora Maar was estimated at $35m-50m and was knocked down to a bidder on the phone at $40m.
The buyer’s premium at Christie’s was 25/20/12%.
£1 = $1.29
