Miro sets new record but others disappoint

LONDON - Reuters

Spanish Catalan artist Joan Miro’s ‘Peinture’ is seen at Sotheby’s auction house. It fetched 23.6 mililion pounds and set a new record during the sale on June 19. AFP photo

Sotheby’s set a new auction record for Spanish artist Joan Miro on June 19 when his 1927 painting “Peinture (Etoile Bleue)” fetched 23.6 million pounds ($36.9 million), but elsewhere the sale failed to meet expectations.

Overall, the auctioneer raised 75.0 million pounds ($117.7 million) at its impressionist and modern art evening sale in London, just beating the low estimate of 73 million pounds but falling short when buyer’s premium is taken into account.

The auction was the first in a busy season of sales of fine art in London which, if the highest expectations are met, could raise up to $1 billion.

The next highest price went to Picasso’s “Homme Assis,” sold for 6.2 million pounds, again just above the low estimate but falling short after the buyer’s premium is subtracted.