Gustav Klimt painting sells for $59 million in strong London auction week
LONDON -- An exuberant floral landscape by Gustav Klimt has sold at auction for more than $59 million - the third-highest price ever paid for an artwork in Europe.
“Bauerngarten (Flower Garden),” painted in 1907, went for 47.9 million pounds ($59.3 million) at Sotheby’s in London.
Sotheby’s Europe chairwoman Helena Newman said the painting was “one of the artist’s greatest masterpieces ever to come to auction.”
Only two works have fetched more in Europe:
-Alberto Giacometti’s “Walking Man” sculpture, which sold for 65 million pounds in 2010
-Peter Paul Rubens’ painting “The Massacre Of The Innocents,” which netted 49.5 million pounds in 2002.
This has been a strong week for modern art auctions in London. Sotheby’s sale on Wednesday raised a total of 194.7 million pounds ($240.8 million). The auction house says that is a record for a London auction.
Top lots included Pablo Picasso’s “Tomato Plant,” which sold for 17 million pounds ($21 million), a record for a still life by the Spanish artist.
On Tuesday at rival auctioneer Christie’s, Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian landscape “Te Fare” (The House) sold for 20.3 million pounds ($25.2 million). Rene Magritte’s surrealist painting “La Corde Sensible” (“Heartstrings”) sold for 14.4 million pounds ($17.9 million), a record for the artist.
