A brand new red Ferrari from 1962 raised $51.7 million (about €48.3 million) this Monday at an auction at Sotheby's and eclipsed a day of sales focused on modernist art, surpassing sought-after painters such as Claude Monet. According to Sotheby's, the sporty GTO model achieved the double milestone of becoming Ferrari's most expensive vehicle and the second most expensive in history sold at auction, behind a Mercedes-Benz that fetched 135 million euros last year.
The institution broke the news before giving way to a sale of art from the 19th and 20th centuries in which the best estimates were around 30 million dollars and there were no surprises, especially after last week's large figures .
The French impressionist Monet signed the two most valuable works this Monday: Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, temps couvert, which sold for 30.8 million, and Le Moulin de Limetz, for 25.6 million; Two other paintings of his sold for 8.6 and 4.8 million.
One of the featured works, Compotier et guitare by Picasso, estimated at around 25 million, was left at 23.4; while a Chagall and a Balthus who aspired to raise up to 18 million settled for 15.6 and 14.7 million, respectively. An unusual painting on paper by Mark Rothko, untitled and in blue tones, did surprise when it became the subject of a tense bidding in which a buyer present in the room finally won, spending more than double its maximum range: 23.9 millions.
Of the nearly 40 works that were auctioned, several were withdrawn and others did not find a buyer, and generally the final prices were below the most optimistic estimates, but in many cases also below the minimum.
Despite the milestones marked, the Ferrari protagonist of the afternoon was part of that trend, since according to specialized media it started at around 60 million dollars, a sign that even buyers of luxury items seem to be being cautious.
Sotheby's raised more than 400 million last week with the Emily Fisher Landau collection, the most profitable collected by a female collector and which featured the second most expensive Picasso, "Femme a la montre", which reached 139 million.
