Array of Greek art excites buyers in London sales
Organizers of the Sotheby’s Greek Sale held earlier this week at Olympia in the English capital were pleased with the outcome of sales in what was the third auction just this year of Greek artworks held by the esteemed house. The net worth of these sales has been 677,000 euros. Of the 143 works that went under the hammer in a jam-packed hall, 75 were sold, with several bidders calling in from outside. The leading acquisition was «Woman With Hat» by Georgios Bouzianis, which was purchased by a Greek collector for 107,079 euros. The second most expensive lot to be sold was Pericles Pandazis’s «The Blacksmiths,» which went for 48,185 euros, followed by Paris Prekas’s «Tankers,» sold at 39,262 euros – a record price for the artist. Alecos Fassianos came in fourth with the sale of «Departure and Goodbye» for 39,262 euros, and the fifth place was held by Christos Caras’s «Mission,» which went for 35,693, a record for this artist, too. Another work by Bouzianis, «Portrait of a Gentleman,» came next, and seventh place was held by «A Walk Through the Fields,» a work by Epaminondas Thomopoulos sold at 15,200 euros. The top 10 were rounded off by Dimitris Mytaras’s «Reclining Figure,» Thomas Thomopoulos’s «Angel of War» and Vassilis Mitilias’s «Portrait of Nikolaos L. Mbiricos.» At Bonhams After Sotheby’s, another esteemed auction house, Bonhams, put Greek 19th and 20th century art under the hammer on Tuesday in London. The auction, which netted 2.7 million euros, saw 185 of the 240 works of art on sale change hands. The highlight of the event was the sale of Yiannis Moralis’s «Dialogue,» which at 310,000 euros fetched the highest price ever for a work of art by an artist who is still alive at a foreign sale. The painting, which is one of the most significant works by Moralis ever to go on sale, was painted in 1981 and estimated at a value of 150,000-224,000 euros. The buyer was an anonymous Greek collector. The buyers in attendance, and those who placed their bids over the phone, showed a good deal of enthusiasm for the auction. Constantinos Volanakis’s «Sunset Over the Bay» and «The Crossing» took second and third place in the sale, fetching 294,000 and 142,800 euros respectively. In fourth, with a price of 106,200 euros, was Nicholaos Ghyzis’s «Farmer from Tinos,» and in fifth, with 99,000 euros, was Theofilos Hadzimichail’s «The Hero Miltiadis Yiataganas.» Next came Michalis Economou’s «Landscape with Cypresses,» at 86,400 euros, and Spyros Papaloukas’s «School on the Island of Lesvos,» which went for 79,200 euros. Finally, the 17th century painting «Saint John Chrysostomos» from the Cretan School was sold for 68,400 euros, and Nikos Eggonopoulos’s «Apollo and Daphne» fetched 61,200 euros.
