The Impressionist and Modern evening sale last night at Sotheby’s exceeded all expectations, as the 56 lots sold fetched a rousing $181,760,000, easily hurdling pre-sale expectations of $115,250,000 to 163,600,000. Only 10 works failed to find buyers, delivering a svelte 15 percent unsold rate by lot and an impressive seven percent unsold by value.

Two artist records were set, and 40 of the 56 lots made over one million dollars. Of those, five exceeded the $10 million dollar mark. The evening proved to be a 360-degree turnaround for the market after a relatively lackluster $65.6 million sale at Christie’s on Tuesday evening.

“We beat Christie’s by lot 14,” Sotheby’s Impressionist Modern expert David Norman boasted, indicating the surprise and elation felt by his house after the wobbly evening experienced by its arch rival, Christie’s, on Tuesday night.
 
The Sotheby's sale blasted out of the starting gate with Salvador Dalis enigmatic gouache and charcoal work on paper, 1937's Girafe en feu (est. $150–200,000), which sold to a telephone bidder for $1,874,500 as seven other bidders chased the Surrealist piece.

London jewelry magnate Laurence Graff nabbed Pablo Picassos Femme assise dans un fauteuil, another work on paper, from 1938 (est. $500-700,000) for $902,500, and Swiss private dealer Beda Jedlicka won Alberto Giacomettis Buste de Diego, a 13 1/8 inch high bronze conceived and cast in 1961 (est. $1.5–2 million) for a relative bargain at $1,650,500.

That sale seemed like a bargain compared to the evening’s top lot, Giacometti's rare, painted bronze, L’homme qui Chavire, conceived in 1950 (in plaster) and cast in 1951, which sold after fevered bidding from four determined telephone bidders for a whopping $19,346,500 (est. $8-12 million). Hailing from an edition of six, it was the only cast in the edition to be hand painted by the artist. Collector and publishing titan S.I. Newhouse, Jr. had reportedly decided to offer the piece after shopping it through dealer Larry Gagosian at a price believed to be in the $20 million range. The low-ball estimate seemed, on paper, to admit that number was way too high. Tonight, the market disagreed.

A spectacular result was also achieved for the color-charged Fauve painting by Andre Derain, Barques au port de Collioure (circa 1905), estimated at $6–8 million, which sold to newly minted private dealer Guy Bennett for a record $14,082,500.

It shattered the previous mark set back at Christie’s London in June 1989, when Bateaux dans le port Collioure made $6,160,00.

Bennett, the former head of Christie’s New York Impressionist and Modern department, declined to comment about the purchase, claiming he didn’t want to grandstand about his new role — at least not yet.

Another overachiever — and there were plenty tonight — was the sexy cover lot, Kees van Dongens sultry and bare-chested Jeune Arabe from 1910, which attracted at least four bidders, selling to an anonymous telephone bidder for a record $13,802,500 (est. $7–10 million).

It was part of a rich trove of some 24 works designated as property “from an important European collection.” The group made $58.5 million against a pre-sale estimate of $35.6–51 million.

The seller, Dutch financier Louis Reijtenbagh, had recently settled a number of lawsuits with three separate banks over loans and liquidated the trove to regain some financial footing.

Impressionist pictures also sparkled during the marathon sale, topped by Camille Pissarros stunning cityscape, Le Pont Boieidieu et la Gare d’ Orleans, Rouen, soleil from 1898, which sold to the artist's great-grandson, Lionel Pissarro of the New York and Paris private dealership Giraud Pissarro Segalot, for a hefty $7,026,500 (est. $2–3 million).

“Obviously, the cityscapes keep attracting higher prices than the rural landscapes,” Pissarro said, shortly after the sale. “It’s a big price and couldn’t be more fresh to the market, coming from the artist’s studio to Durand-Ruel.”

Five of the six lots offered from the fabled French dealer family of Durand-Ruel made a total of $18.9 million against a high pre-sale estimate of $12.6 million.

Of the eight Picassos offered during the evening, Femme au chapeau vert from 1947 shot past its high estimate of $6 million, thanks to a quirky telephone bidder who played a kind of cat-and-mouse game, jumping bids at $400,000 increments when it was only necessary to bid $100,000 higher.

The bids were taken by Mandarin-speaking private client specialist Xing Li, who bought another three works for the client with the paddle number L0057, including another Picasso, Claude a deux ans from 1949, one of the two so-called ‘irrevocable bid’ properties. It made $6,642,500 on estimates of $5–7 million.

Opinions seemed crystal clear as bidders and viewers exited the salesroom, trying to catch up with the World Series or late dinner reservations.

“It looks like the rich have fully recovered,” said seasoned private New York dealer Paul Herring.

Next week's Post-War and Contemporary auctions will test whether he is right.