Two pieces by sculptor Alexander Calder sold for a combined total of over £1m from Galerie von Vertes. At the same stand, The Black Palette (1973) by Serge Poliakoff brought around £400,000 and Sonnenblum by Emil Nolde also went for a six-figure sum.
Other modern art sales included De Jonckheere’s stand highlight, a painting by René Magritte. Also on offer was a white Concetto Spaziale by Lucio Fontana which sold on the opening night for a six-figure sum. At Galeria Mayoral, Personaje (3), a post-war Spanish painting by Manolo Millares, sold for around €225,000.
A total of 68 exhibitors stood at the fair in Berkeley Square from October 2-8. More than 25,300 visitors attended this year, a record for the event. Former Christie’s chairman Francois Pinault, Princess Michael of Kent, Agent Provocateur founder Serena Rees and actors Jeremy Irons and Kristen Scott Thomas were among those in attendance at the collectors’ preview and patrons of the Tate, Royal Academy and Design Museum visited during the week.
Stand-out sales
Decorative arts did well at the stand of Oscar Graf, which presented a curated overview of the major 1900s decorative arts movements including Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau and Jugendstil. A rare John Moyr Smith chair (c. 1875) was one of the highlights, selling around £50,000. Lalanne’s Babouin fireplace was a key sale at Jean-David Botella. It was snapped up by a collector for a six-figure sum.
Among the antiquities specialists, Phoenix Ancient Art sold a bronze figure of Mercury from the first century AD and a west Asian Steatopygous female idol from the first millennium AD, each for five-figure sums.
Twelve new exhibitors stood at the fair, including Rossana Orlandi. The Milanese gallery sold all its available editions of a digital installation ANOTHERVIEW N.5 – Carnival from Palazzetto Pisani for €26,000. Other contemporary sales included a JinShi Pink Jade Coffee Table which sold for €42,000 at Galerie BSL.
The next PAD fair is its inaugural edition in Geneva from February 1-4. Next year’s PAD London takes place from October 1-7.
