Sotheby's sold an Edouard Manet self-portrait for £22.4 million yesterday, a record for the artist but towards the lower end of pre-sale expectations of £20-30 million.
The painting, one of only two self-portraits by the artist and the only one in private hands, was the centrepiece of the auctioneer's main impressionist and modern art sale in London this summer.
Overall the auction fetched £112.1 million, within expectations of £101-£148 million, although the sale tally included buyer's premium while the estimate did not.
Three works of art sold for eight figures - Manet's Self Portrait With a Palette, Andre Derain's Arbres a Collioure, which sold for £16.3 million, double the previous record for the artist, and Henri Matisse's Odalisques jouant aux dames (£11.8 million).
Sotheby's said the results were "strong", although the auction total was smaller than the equivalent sale in London in February which raised £146.8 million.
Alberto Giacometti's L'homme qui marche I sold for £65 million, which was then a world record for any work of art at auction.
Christie's, Sotheby's main rival, holds its main sale today and expects to sell art worth £164-£231 million. If it makes even the lower end of the target, it would set a record for an art sale in London.
Reuters