Les buveurs d’absinthe (Les Déclassés) by Jean-Francois Raffaelli quadruples its pre-sale estimate of $400-600,000 and sells for $2,994,500 at Christie’s Impressionist/Modern sale.  Photo by Art Observed.

The art market received another, enormous boost of confidence last night at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern evening sale, as Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932) sold to anonymous telephone bidder for a record-breaking $106,482,500. The staggering price comes hot on the heels of Sotheby’s historic sale of Alberto Giacometti’s iconic bronze, L’Homme Qui Marche I (1961), for $104,327,00 in February this year. The Picasso helped drive the sale’s overall total to $335,548,000, making it the third biggest sale ever witnessed at Christie’s in New York.  Of the 69 lots offered, 56 sold with over 30 lots exceeding $1 million, and of those, 9 exceeded the $10 million mark. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust was part of a 27-lot single-owner sale from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody, a noted Los Angeles collector.  The Brody group was 100% sold by lot and value and realized $224,177,500 making it the biggest single-owner sale offered at Christie’s New York, surpassing the landmark sale of the Collection of Victor and Sally Ganz sale in 1997, and coming second only to the mammoth Yves Saint Laurent/Pierre Berge sale that made $443 million at Christie’s, Paris in February 2009.

More images, a detailed report and related links after the jump….
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