Splendid folk painting and carving decorate a Seventeenth Century sailor’s chest with interior lid painting from the Eighteenth Century.

Christie’s International Reports Auction Sales Totaling $989 Million

LONDON – Christie’s International reported worldwide auction sales totaling $989 million for the first six months of 2002, January 1 through June 30, an increase against the 2001 half year total of $974 million.

In Christie’s salesrooms around the world, 91 works of art sold for more than $1 million, led by Pablo Picasso’s “Nu au collier,” which fetched $23,919,018 at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sale in London. This outstanding 1932 portrait of Picasso’s favorite muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, was the most expensive work of art to be sold at auction globally in the first six months of 2002.

“Led by exceptionally strong results from our European sale centers, Christie’s enjoyed a strong first half of 2002 punctuated by several extraordinary sales and works of art,” said Edward Dolman, chief executive officer, Christie’s International.

“Against the volatility of the financial markets,” he added, “the relative strength of the art market has been readily apparent as evidenced by exceptional prices achieved at Christie’s for collections such as The Forbes Collection, Works of Art from Longleat and The Anton C.R. Dreesmann Collection, as well as magnificent object such as the Jenkins Venus and Brancusi’s ‘Danaide.'”