NEW YORK CITY — Sotheby’s fall auction of prints and multiples on October 27-28, offering more than 350 lots ranging in value from $1,000 to $500,000, totaled $8.3 million.
Works by Edvard Munch from the estate of Mary Cross, spanning iconography and subject matter, were the top draw, with “Angst (Woll 63: Schiefler 61,” fittingly for the times, leading at $826,000, including the buyer’s premium.
Appreciation for Munch, one of the most significant and influential artists in the world of printmaking, reached new heights with the Cross collection, which itself totaled $1.4 million. Captivated by photography and journalism at a young age, Mary Cross (1936-2016) made her mark traveling around the globe, capturing her discoveries in written word and snapshots. Cross’s passion and in-depth study of the Norwegian artist Munch was swiftly matched by collectors, with interest in the room and on the telephones. While the “Angst” lithograph is considered a synthesis of Munch’s most famous work “The Scream,” another image conveying physical proximity yet emotional distance — “Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones) (W.13:S.20), also did well, tripling its presale estimate of $30/50,000 to bring $122,500. An etching of “The Girls on the Bridge (W. 232: S.200) sold for $87,500.
For information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com.