Vincent van Gogh, "Arbres dans le jardin de l’asile" (1889). Private collection
The painting "Trees in the Garden of the Asylum" (1889) by Vincent van Gogh became the second most expensive lot of Evening Sale and also surpassed expectations. It was sold to another telephone bidder for $40 million against a low estimate of $25 million.
The artwork became the most expensive Van Gogh to sell since Christie’s offered "Enclosed Field with Ploughman, 1889" from the collection of Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass in November 2017, and it sold for $81 million with fees. But the most expensive work of the artist, ever hit the auction, it is still "Portrait of Dr. Gachet", bought in 1990 for 82.5 million dollars (with inflation, now the price would be 158.2 million).
Pablo Picasso. La Lettre (La Réponse), (1923)
The Collection of H.S.H. Princess "Titi" von Fürstenberg encompasses more than 30 works ranges from Pablo Picasso to Mark Rothko and Andre Derain to Lucio Fontana. It appeared on the market for the first time as a highlight and closed out the sale with an 11-lot run, and saved the best for last: Picasso’s Le Lettre landed between its low and high estimates to go for $22 million hammer, seized by Christie’s Los Angeles Imp/mod specialist Morgan Schoonhoven. With fees, the price was $25.2 million.
Based on materials from Christie’s official site, The New York Times, Artsy.net