Paris Art Week heralded in promising results for both Sotheby’s and Christie’s, giving hope that the art market might finally be turning a corner.
Sotheby’s two sales, titled “Surrealism and Its Legacy” and “Modernitês,” took in a combined €89.7 million ($104 million) on Friday, the highest-ever totals in France for surrealist and modern art auctions. The result also marked a 50 percent increase on the same double-header sale last year. Christies, for its part, also hosted four auctions last week in the French capital, taking $107.4 million, which was 16 percent up against the same week in 2024.
The Christie’s sales covered 20th and 21st century art and were titled “Avant-Garde(s) Including Thinking Italian” (achieving a total of $68.5 million); “Moderne(s), une collection particulière européenne” ($15 million); “Art Moderne” ($11.4 million), and “Art Contemporain” ($12.3 million).
The top lot across all for auctions was Yves Klein’s 14-foot-wide California (IKB 71), which carried an estimate on request of €16 million ($18.6 million) before selling for €18.4 million ($21.4 million). The work is in the largest size the artist made in his signature pigment, International Klein Blue (IKB); its sale set a record price for Klein in France.
“The strong emotions California (IKB 71) stirred among the large audience that came to view the painting is a testament to the genius of Klein,” Paul Nyzam, director of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s France, said in a statement. “A tremendous artist who passed away at the age of only 34, just a year after creating this masterpiece.”
Klein wasn’t the only artist to see his auction records in France tumble; Max Ernst, Paul Signac, Lee Ufan, Fausto Melotti, Dan Flavin, Berthe Morisot, Maurizio Cattelan, César Domela, Gino de Dominicus, and Dan Sluijters also recorded new high prices in France last week at Christie’s.
“Amid a contemporary art-focused week, modern and impressionist works, such as the exceptional relief painting by Max Ernst from 1919 [Fruit d’une longue experience, which sold for $3.2 million], ignited fierce bidding wars, highlighting both the resilience and recognition of these categories in the market,” said Antoine Lebouteiller, director of Impressionist and modern art at Christie’s France.
