Sotheby's Results - 19th Century European Art Brings $20.6 Million in New York

A historic week of sales concluded today at Sotheby’s New York with the action of 19th Century European Artthat totaled $20,628,550, well within its $17.5/24.8 million estimate. The top lot of the sale was William Bouguereau’s L’Orientale à la grenade, a rare example of the artist’s Orientalist subject matter that more than tripled its high estimate in achieving $2,322,500 – evidence of the artist’s enduring appeal among collectors (est. $500/700,000).



Polly Sartori, Head of Sotheby’s 19th Century Paintings department in New York, commented: “In addition to the great result for the Bouguereau portrait and prices over $1 million for works by James-Jacques-Joseph Tissot, Giovanni Boldini and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, we are thrilled to have set a new auction record today for John William Godward, with his A Fair Reflection that sold for $1,454,500 above a high estimate of $600,000. The Godward was one of several discovery stories in our sale, and the ability to draw such works from private collections is one of the great benefits of auction. The market recognized and responded to the wonderful quality on offer in today’s auction, for which we sourced property from coast to coast across the United States and curated to include the best possible examples by each of the artists represented.”