Paris Art Week brought promising results to Sotheby’s and Christie’s, bringing hope that the art market is finally turning a corner.
Two Sotheby’s auctions on Friday, titled “Surrealism and Its Legacy” and “Modern Art,” brought in a total of 89.7 million euros ($104 million), the highest total in the history of French Surrealist and modern art auctions. The results also mark a 50% increase in sales from the same double-header last year. Christie’s held four auctions in the French capital last week, bringing in a total of $107.4 million, up 16% from the same week in 2024.
Christie’s auctions covered works of art from the 20th and 21st centuries, with titles such as “Avant-garde Art, including Reflections on Italy” (total $68.5 million); “Moderne(s), une Collection pariculière européenne” ($15 million); “Modern Art” ($11.4 million) and “Contemporary Art” ($12.3 million).
The top lot of all auctions was Yves Klein’s 14-foot-wide lot California (IKB 71)which was valued at €16 million ($18.6 million) upon request before being sold for €18.4 million ($21.4 million). The work is the largest work ever created by the artist using his signature pigment, International Klein Blue (IKB); its auction set a French auction record for Klein.
“Strong emotions California (IKB 71) Paul Nyzam, director of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s France, said in a statement: “Klein’s work of genius caused a sensation among the large audiences who came to see the painting. A great artist died at the age of 34 just one year after creating this masterpiece.”
Klein is not the only artist whose French auction records have fallen. Max Ernst, Paul Signac, Lee Ufan, Fausto Melotti, Dan Flavin, Berthe Morisot, Maurizio Cattelan, César Domela, Gino de Dominicus and Dan Sluijters also achieved new high prices at Christie’s France last week.
“In a week centered on contemporary art, modern and Impressionist works such as Max Ernst’s outstanding 1919 relief painting [Fruit d’une longue experience, which sold for $3.2 million]Antoine Lebouteiller, Director of the Impressionist and Modern Art Department at Christie’s France, said:
