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The blockbuster Impressionist and Modern Art sales have taken place this week in the big New York auction houses. Using ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ data, here’s a look at the highlights.

Claude Monet, Meules (1890), which sold for over $110 million this week 

The final hammer fell on each of the big auction houses’ New York sales of Post Impressionist and Modern Art (affectionately known as Imp. & Mod.) this week. They’re ever a sure bet for tumbling records and eye-watering realized prices, and the 2019 iterations did not disappoint.

Christie’s Evening Sale realized $399,041,000 (including buyer’s premium) in total, with the Day Sale bringing in $37,182,500 alongside an impressive return for the auction of Imp. and Mod. works on paper at $12,847,375. The Sotheby’s Evening Sale posted a final sale total of $349,859,150.

An exquisite bronze sculpture by Marino Marini led the way at Bonhams. Studio per Miracolo (1953-4), which house specialists called “a powerful reflection of the artist's dramatic view of the world,” depicts a horse and rider in fall. The bronze describes itself in two rhyming arcs, the horse’s rear legs and the rider’s stretched body, intersected by the dramatic angular line of the horse’s back, which plunges into the ground. The piece sold within an estimate range of $500,000 - 700,000, raising a total of $620,075.

Marino Marini, Studio per Miracolo (1953-4) 

Though seemingly a modest performance against estimate, this will be an encouraging result for collectors of Marini’s work, particularly his sculptures. Marini is historically a consistent market favorite. 2537 works, including paintings and bronzes, have come to auction over the last ten years and he posts solid performances. A breakdown of sales of his sculptures, however, shows a marked drop in demand during 2018.

ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Intelligence data-visualization showing the total realized price by year for sculptures by Marino Marini since 2010. An overabundance of offered lots in 2018 coincided with a marked decrease in total sales value. 

Of 24 Marino Marini sculptures offered for sale that year, only 7 sold, raising a total of $887,372. Compare this to 2011 when 12 of his sculptures sold for nearly $17 million, and one begins to see the cause for concern. The strong performance of Studio per Miracolo this week might point the way to a more prosperous 2019.

Camille Pissarro, Paysage d’Hiver (recto, 1876); Basse-cour avec poules et canards (verso, 1877) 

Elsewhere in the sale, the lot with the highest estimate was withdrawn. An interesting verso-recto piece by Camille Pisarro carried a price tag of $600,000 - 800,000, but was removed from consideration. Whether consignors feared the estimate was too high or if there were other reasons for the withdrawal is unclear. What’s certain, though, is that the Bonham’s sale posted a disappointing overall total against estimates. $2,122,125 was raised against a total maximum estimate of $6,901,000.

There was no such underperformance at Christie’s, and amongst several big-ticket headlines came the astonishing performance of Pierre Bonnard’s La Terrasse Ou Une terrasse à Grasse (1912). The high-end pre-sale estimate stood at $8,000,000. The hammer fell at $19,570,000.

Pierre Bonnard, La Terrasse Ou Une terrasse à Grasse (1912) 

Coming off the back of a major retrospective of Bonnard’s work at the Tate Britain, the sale appears to coincide with a swell in public interest and critical acclaim for Bonnard’s cognitively charged use of color, his threshold-scenes of windows and doorways, his explorations of the human emotional landscape. More than doubling a high estimate is usually a market anomaly. A result like this is sure to prompt further activity in the coming year for dealers in Bonnard’s paintings. It will be very interesting to see how consignors and auction houses respond when placing pre-sale estimates on his significant works, and how bidders react, too.

ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Intelligence data showing the performance against estimate of Pierre Bonnard works by year since 2010 

It’s worth noting that the other Bonnard piece offered in the same sale went for a modest price below the estimate bracket, whilst over at Sotheby’s his Femme à Sa Toilette (Le Peignoir) (c. 1923) also sold below its low estimate of $4million. The market for mid-range Bonnard works is perhaps experiencing a moment of flux and readjustment in the aftermath of this month’s high-profile legal case concerning a forgery.

Vincent van Gogh, Arbes dans le jardin de l’aisle (1889) 

Christie’s evening sale also saw strong performances from Cézanne and Van Gogh. The former’s masterful still-life, Bouilloire et Fruits (1888-9) sang to the tune of $59,295,000, whilst a beautiful Van Gogh canvas, Arbes dans le jardin de l’aisle (1889), went for a round sum of $40 million.

Paul Cézanne, Bouilloire et Fruits (1888-9) 

At Sotheby’s, it was all about the Monet. Perhaps the most important of the French master’s hay-bail paintings, Meules (1890) generated enough interest to realize an astronomical price of $110,747,000. Every brushstroke of the painting seems to emanate its own special light. It’s an absolute exemplar of all that is so captivating and powerful about the Impressionist school, each worldly object appearing to exist simply by its shimmering relationship with air and light. The warmth of the canvas is palpable, and throughout the painting is suffused the glow and the energy of nature and human perception. It’s a landmark painting in art history, and now a landmark sale in the Impressionist and Modern market.

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