Swiss art auction nets SFr10m
An auction of Swiss art in Zurich has made nearly SFr10 million. The auctioneer, Sotheby's, said SFr2.36 million was paid for a work by Félix Valloton, a new world record.
The price was four times higher than the low estimate put forward by Sotheby’s before the auction. The work, “Coucher du Soleil” was painted by Valloton at Honfleur, in northern France, in 1911. The Lausanne-born artist used to spend his summers in the seaside resort in Normandy.
Another highlight was the sale of Ferdinand Hodler’s “Der Mönch im Morgenlicht”, a painting of one of the most famous peaks in the Bernese Oberland. Also painted in 1911, the work fetched SFr2.3 million.
The four-hour auction on Monday also saw the sale of many other Swiss works from the start of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. “Le Bois d’Amour”, an early work by Cuno Amiet (1868-1962), was bought for SFr826,000, while two pencil drawings by Johann Heinrich Füssli (1741-1825) largely exceeded their estimates, going for SFr271,400 and SFr236,000.
A total of 199 lots were on offer at the sale, which fetched a total of SFr9.88 million.
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