If proof was needed that huge amounts of cash are available for art, the sale of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection is it. In a historic auction that might yet prove to be a turning point for Paris on the international auction scene, Christie's has scored an unprecedented(无先例的, 空前的) triumph as it sold 59 Impressionist and Modern paintings, drawings and sculpture from the collection for €206.15 million or $266.74 million. (Fernand Léger, "Composition, dans l'usine," 1918, Estimated at €6,000,000-8,000,000)
The first world record price went to an extremely unusual wood sculpture by Constantin Brancusi carved in the years 1914-1917. Despite its title "Portrait de Madame L.R.," the sculpture, pictured, is handled in an abstract geometrical style derived from African art. The Romanian-born artist is mostly sought after for the sleek(圆滑的), finely polished stone sculptures for which he is famous. There was no certainty that "Madame L.R.," as the sculpture is also known, would match the €15 million to €20 million estimate (plus a sale charge in excess of 12 percent) in the current recessionary climate, let alone become the most expensive work by the sculptor ever. As it climbed to an astonishing €29.17 million, loud applause broke out.
A second auction record was set within 15 minutes for Piet Mondrian's 1922 "Composition in Blue, Red, Yellow and Black," pictured, a geometrical colored grid remarkable for its balance in shapes and colors, which rose to €21.56 million, nearly double the highest hopes pinned on it(pin one's hope on,寄希望于).
A fourth world record was established with Giorgio de Chirico's "The Returning Ghost," pictured. The 1918 Surrealist composition sold just under the upper end of the estimate for €11.04 million.
A fifth record was improbably set earlier for a work by Marcel Duchamp, the master of the Dada movement propounding the absurd as an art form, when two banal toilet water flasks with added inscriptions fetched €8.91 million. (Marcel Duchamp, Belle Haleine: Eau de voilette, 1921, sold for nearly 9 million euros, almost six times its estimated price.)
Only two failures affected this brilliant sale. The only significant one concerns a Cubist composition by Picasso, "Musical Instruments on an Occasional Table" (guéridon), pictured, which lacks the usual clarity of the master's early Cubist phase. Otherwise, everything combined to make the sale unique.
Some extremely important works were released on the Paris market for the first time in decades. They were enhanced by the aura(气氛) surrounding the memory of one of France's most famous couturiers(女时装设计师), Saint Laurent, and Bergé, renowned as an entrepreneur. The collection was formed jointly over a period of 30 to 40 years by the two men who had a close personal relationship. (Fernand Leger, "Le damier jaune," 1918, estimated at €3,000,000 - 5,000,000.)