Modernités / Contemporary

The auction on October 21 was marked by the record sale of Show me the Monet, a painting by Banksy, which, after almost 10 minutes of auctioning, reached a price of 9.8 million euros. This is the second most expensive sale of Banksy's works. The first was called Devolved Parliament and sold for 9.9 million euros in 2019 at Sotheby's London.

In short, the sales attracted 42 nationalities, broadcast live via Museum TV in more than 40 countries and watched by 1 million people. Total sales reached $90,421,567. Two categories of works were present at the sale, modernity and contemporary art.

The Modernity sale totaled $28.2 million, and has seen its bidders increase by 60% since 2017. The Contemporary Art of the Evening Sale was even more successful with a total of 62.2 million dollars, it is important to note that 23% of the bidders were under 40 years old.

Among the flagship lots, Jean-Michel Basquiat's work, Justcome Suit, was sold for $6.6 million. Francis Picabia's portraits of men by Picasso and Minos sold for more than 4 million euros each. Other remarkable works were sold at around 2.5 million euros, such as Kazugo Shiraga's Blackboard by CY Twombly.

Finally, other remarkable works such as the French artist Pierre Soulages' La Gouache sold for 451,300 euros and Antony Gormley's marble sculptures sold for more than a million euros.