Sculptures by Alberto Giacometti and Amedeo Modigliani soared to $101 million and $70.7 million on Tuesday to lead Sotheby's biggest auction in its history, with Modigliani's "Tete" setting a new auction record for the artist. The sale of Impressionist and modern art took in a total of $422.1 million, virtually meeting the high pre-sale estimate of $423 for the 73 works on offer, of which 80 percent were sold.Sculpture went a long way towards driving the record results, with 12 pieces bringing in a total of $191 million, including the top lot, Giacometti's 1951 bronze "Chariot."While just shy of record for both the artist or any sculpture at auction, the $101 million price was likely to remain the top-priced work of the two weeks of key autumn sales at Sotheby's and rival Christie's.Sotheby's had estimated "Chariot" would sell for in excess of $100 million and Modigliani's "Tete," a 1911-12 stone work never before auctioned, in excess of $45 million. Estimates do not include commission fees of just over 12 percent.
Sotheby?s is a global auctioneer of authenticated fine art, decorative art, and jewelry. Shares of BID fell by 1.42% or $-0.56/share to $38.92. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $34.74 and as high as $54.00. On average, 967795 shares of BID exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 605079.
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