Collectors converge at Christie s art sales in New York

New York May 23 (IANS) A confident and distinctly global community of collectors converged at Christies flagship US saleroom in Rockefeller Center driving its 20th Century Art sales of Impressionist Modern Post-War and Contemporary Art to a combined $842 535 375.

This eclipses the presale estimate of $670 million and represents a $220 million increase over Christie s November 2016 New York series. The art sales achieved the highest total for an Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale at Christie s since May 2010 and the strongest sell-through rates for a Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale in a decade.

We are pleased by our strong results this week in New York especially given the scrutiny of these major spring auctions which are considered a bellwether for the broader global art market. The quality of the offer assembled by our teams with a mix of great individual pieces and well-curated collections was rewarded by several record prices and incredibly high sell-through rates. Despite turbulence in the US stock markets we witnessed continued participation from buyers and bidders from all over the world demonstrating the depth and resilience of the art marke Guillaume Cerutti Chief Executive Officer Christie s informed IANS in a statement.

American buyers emerged as the dominant buying force underpinned by determined competition from Asian and European collectors particularly for Impressionist and Modern Art.

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