OAKLAND, CALIF. — Clars has announced it established the new world auction record for Raimonds Staprans (American/Latvian, b 1926) with the painting “Blue Boats” selling for $187,500. This beats the previous artist’s record of $147,600, which was set by Clars in September 2020. As Rick Unruh, chief executive officer of Clars, stated, “Staprans has incredible upward momentum at auction at the moment. There is a scarcity issue with his exceptional works currently. ‘Blue Boats’ was one of those exceptional works. Reaching a new price level and ‘raising the bar’ is challenging but rewarding when it occurs.” The winning bidder on the Staprans was from the East Coast. The painting was the top lot at Clars’ 239-lot June 17 Modern + Contemporary / Art + Design sale, which totaled $1,070,250 on the day.